James Fugaté (February 13, 1922 – March 28, 1995) was an author and activist in the gay rights movement. Fugaté wrote several works under the pseudonym James Barr. He is well known for his two novels, short stories, a play, and writings in three reputable gay publications. The Wichita State University Libraries has a special collection about Fugaté, including letters, photographs, and other artifacts.

Life

Fugaté was born in an oilfield boom town and is believed to have worked as a

roustabout Roustabout (Australia/New Zealand English: rouseabout) is an occupational term. Traditionally, it referred to a worker with broad-based, non-specific skills. In particular, it was used to describe show or circus workers who put up tents and boo ...

on an oilfield. He attended college, likely at the

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma, United States. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two territories became the ...

. In 1942, he joined the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

ended, he worked in advertising until publishing his first novel, '' Quatrefoil: A Modern Novel'', in 1950. This caused him to become known as a celebrity in the gay community, as the book was lauded as a milestone in American gay fiction, breaking the stereotype of other gay novels typical of the time. In 1952, Fugaté voluntarily returned to active duty with the Navy, and was stationed in Alaska. Later that year, his true identity as the author of ''Quatrefoil'' was revealed, which led to his being honorably discharged from the Navy. This experience marked an epiphany for Fugaté, who realized that in defending himself, he was also defending the rights of others in the gay community. Fugaté worked as a contributing writer to ''

ONE 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

'', ''

Der Kreis (, ''The Circle'') was a Swiss gay magazine. Founded as the lesbian magazine ''Freundschaftsbanner'' in 1932 it turned into a male-only magazine in 1942 under the name ''Der Kreis''. It was trilingual and distributed internationally and gained ...

'', and '' Mattachine Review'', writing about gay experiences and issues. In ''ONE'', he also commented on organized religion. He later worked in newspapers in Kansas before moving to New York in the early 70s. He finally returned to Oklahoma, where he worked for ten years in a hospital before dying of liver cancer in 1995.

Works

Under the pseudonym James Barr: * '' Quatrefoil: A Modern Novel'' (1950) * ''Derricks'' (1951) * ''Game of Fools'' (1954) * ''The Occasional Man'' (1966)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fugate, James 1922 births 1995 deaths American gay writers American LGBTQ novelists American LGBTQ dramatists and playwrights American LGBTQ rights activists Deaths from liver cancer in the United States Deaths from cancer in Oklahoma 20th-century American LGBTQ people