Rictor Norton
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Rictor Norton (born 1945) is an American writer on literary and cultural history, particularly
queer history LGBT history dates back to the first recorded instances of same-sex love and sexuality of ancient civilizations, involving the history of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) peoples and cultures around the world. What survives aft ...
. He is based in London, England.


Biography

Norton was born in
Friendship, New York Friendship is a town in Allegany County, New York, United States. The population was 1,960 at the 2020 census. The town's name was adopted to mark the resolution of earlier conflicts. Friendship is near the center of Allegany County and is nort ...
, USA, on June 25, 1945. He gained a BA from
Florida Southern College Florida Southern College (Florida Southern, Southern or FSC) is a private college in Lakeland, Florida. In 2019, the student population at FSC consisted of 3,073 students along with 130 full-time faculty members. The college offers 50 undergradu ...
in 1967, and a PhD from Florida State University in 1972. His doctoral dissertation was on homosexual themes in English Renaissance
literature Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include ...
. He worked as an instructor at
Florida State University Florida State University (FSU) is a public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher education in the st ...
from 1970–72, where he taught a course on gay and
lesbian literature Lesbian literature is a subgenre of literature addressing lesbian themes. It includes poetry, plays, fiction addressing lesbian characters, and non-fiction about lesbian-interest topics. Fiction that falls into this category may be of any genr ...
in 1971, one of the earliest gay courses in the United States. He was an active member of the
Gay Liberation Front Gay Liberation Front (GLF) was the name of several gay liberation groups, the first of which was formed in New York City in 1969, immediately after the Stonewall riots. Similar organizations also formed in the UK and Canada. The GLF provided a ...
from 1971–72, and was involved in campaigning for the repeal of Florida's sodomy statute. In 1973, he moved to
London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
, UK, where he has lived since, working as a journalist, publisher, researcher and freelance scholar. He worked as a research editor for the fortnightly London news journal, ''
Gay News ''Gay News'' was a fortnightly newspaper in the United Kingdom founded in June 1972 in a collaboration between former members of the Gay Liberation Front and members of the Campaign for Homosexual Equality (CHE). At the newspaper's height, circul ...
'', from 1974 to 1978. He wrote articles on gay history and literature for publications such as ''Gay Sunshine'' and ''The Advocate'' throughout the 1970s, and for ''
Gay Times ''Gay Times'' (stylized in all caps), also known as ''Gay Times Magazine'' and as ''GT'', is a UK-based LGBTQ+ media brand established in 1975. Originally a magazine for gay and bisexual men, the company now includes content for the LGBTQ+ commu ...
'' later. In December 2005 he formed a civil partnership with his partner of nearly thirty years.


Work

Norton's first book grew out of his PhD thesis on homosexuality in English Renaissance Literature. It was published as ''The Homosexual Literary Tradition'' (1974). Norton has published academic articles in '' Renascence'', ''American Imago'', ''Yearbook of Comparative and General Literature'', the ''London Journal'', etc. He has also contributed to ''Sex Doctors and Sex Crimes'', ''Who's Who in Gay & Lesbian History'' (Routledge, 2001) and the ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography''. His work includes ''Mother Clap's Molly House'' (1992; 2nd edition 2006), a history of the molly house in England, and ''The Myth of the Modern Homosexual'', a critique of social constructionism and the Foucaultian model of sexuality. His work ''My Dear Boy'' (1998) contains sixty sets of love letters from men to other men throughout history, from Ancient Rome to twentieth-century America.


Publications


Books

*''The Homosexual Literary Tradition: An Interpretation.'' New York: Revisionist Press, 1974. *''Mother Clap's Molly House: The Gay Subculture in England, 1700—1830.'' London: Gay Men's Press, 1992. **A second edition, revised and enlarged, was published by The Chalford Press, Stroud (an imprint of Tempus Publishing, United Kingdom) on October 10, 2006. *''The Myth of the Modern Homosexual: Queer History and the Search for Cultural Unity.'' London: Cassell, 1997. *(ed.) ''My Dear Boy: Gay Love Letters through the Centuries''. Leyland Publications, San Francisco. 1998 *''Mistress of Udolpho: The Life of Ann Radcliffe.'' London: Leicester University Press, 1999 *''Gothic Readings: The First Wave, 1764-1840.'' London: Leicester University Press, 2000. *(ed.) ''Sex Doctors and Sex Crimes.'' Vol. 5 of Eighteenth-Century British Erotica Part I *(ed.) ''Sodomites, Mollies, Sapphists & Tommies.'' Vol. 5 of Eighteenth-Century British Erotica Part II


Essays reprinted in Gay Roots

Gay London in the 1720s; Ganymede Raped - The Critic as Censor; Reflections on the Gay Movement; The Passions of Michelangelo; Hard Gemlike Flame: Walter Pater and His Circle; The Historical Roots of Homophobia (containing material not previously published). Ed. Winston Leyland, San Francisco: Gay Sunshine Press, Vol. I, 1991; Vol. II, 1993.


Essays reprinted and translated

Enter Willie Hughes as Juliet; in Ist besser, verdorben auch zu sein ..., 21 Shakespeare Nachdichtungen von Leander Sukov, Kulturmaschinen Verlag e.K. 2008,Berlin, Kulturmaschinen Verlag der Autoren, 2020, Hamburg


References


External links

*
A conversation with Rictor Norton
* The Writers Directory. 16th edition, 2001. Detroit: St. James Press, 2001. * My Dear Boy: Gay Love Letters through the Centuries. Leyland Publications, San Francisco. 1998 (some biographical material extracted from the "About Author" on back leaf)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Norton, Rictor 1945 births Living people 21st-century American historians 21st-century American male writers American male non-fiction writers American expatriates in the United Kingdom Florida State University alumni Gender studies academics Historians of LGBT topics LGBT rights activists from the United States American LGBT writers LGBT writers from the United Kingdom