In the prologue of Weird Rehoboth Beach: Beyond the BoardwalkJames T. Sears recounted an incident that occurred one night when he and his husband dined out at a local restaurant in the Rehoboth Beach area.
After the meal, Sears, a Nicaraguan green card holder, and her husband were confronted by a trio of straight couples at an adjacent table when they accused the waitress of falsely telling them they would receive a discount. He criticized it as “cheap”. for their meals.
The situation escalated from there, with Mr. Sears giving the couple his middle finger, one of the men shouting profanities at Mr. Sears’ husband, and another man telling him to go home because it was a “family-friendly” restaurant. . .
Sears initially believed the incident was motivated by racism, xenophobia and homophobia, but wondered what had caused the couple to be at odds. This incident made me realize how people can view the same scenario differently based on their own perspectives, experiences, and sensitivities.
This realization came as historians sought to retell the story of how Rehoboth Beach, originally a small, Methodist, largely rural outpost on the Delaware coast, changed. , told me how the historian approached his book and the different perspectives it contains. It has been transformed into a queer resort for people in the DC and Philadelphia area, rivaling other LGBTQ resort towns like Fire Island, Provincetown, and Key West.
“I started thinking, ‘How is Rehoboth queer beyond just the surface?'” he says. “‘How open are you to different groups of people?’ So these two parallel questions, how did Rehoboth become the Rehoboth we know, and is Rehoboth superficial?” That was really the motivating question for me.
While conducting research for this book, Sears relied on local newspaper articles, selected writings by historians, and some first-hand accounts written by lesbians and gay men, including I realized that there was a lack of first-hand sources of information covering people. Identity. So he reached out to several key community organizations, including the Rehoboth Beach Historical Society & Museum, local historians, and the local community center CAMP Rehoboth, to gather a diverse group of “storytellers” to discuss the town’s evolution. Ta.
In addition to having access to CAMP Rehoboth’s meeting minutes, Sears was the first to be granted access to the Rehoboth Beach Homeowners Association’s board minutes from the 1970s to the 2000s, when the town’s identity began to change. He was also a person.
“The first and most important part for me was to make sure I captured these people’s voices and their perspectives. That way I could make sure that I received what they had to say fairly and that it was appropriate for my position. I didn’t just selectively quote them,” Sears said. Say. “I think some people think of oral history as turning on the microphone and asking questions and then asking other questions and allowing people to say what they want to say and then recording it. That’s not my position.
“My position is more of a gentle interrogation, if you want to call it that. So I don’t just allow people to talk about what they want to say and talk about their lives – which is important – , I also try to push it a little bit when it comes to facts.”
The book tells the story of the 1980s “Battle for Rehoboth” among local homeowners, including older gays and lesbians, who viewed the straight newcomers to town as trouble-making outsiders. I’m digging into details. The newcomers were interested in preserving the town as a “family resort” and sought to use law enforcement to crack down on nightlife venues and harass the LGBTQ community.
It also looks at how LGBTQ activists were able to slowly change things through the political process, and ultimately the town accepted that appealing to the LGBTQ community is part of its identity . Beyond the LGBTQ community, Sears provides an example of how local conservatives were largely resistant to social change of any kind.
But Sears does not view the historical record as an “us” versus “them” conflict, nor does he classify key figures simply as protagonists or antagonists. Instead, he gathers a wealth of information from a variety of perspectives and allows readers to draw their own conclusions, providing a nuanced and insightful picture of what was happening at the time, including conflicts within the LGBTQ ranks. We offer a comprehensive perspective.
“My perspective is, ‘How does a conservative small town change and what is the process of social change?'” And how much is that likely to change? , or will it change? ” Sears said. “In some ways, Rehoboth is very different from other places. But in other ways, it’s no different from the small corn-surrounded Midwestern town in the middle of Indiana where I grew up. But nevertheless, Rehoboth has evolved, just as every other town has evolved, and how that social change occurs is important.
Weird Rehoboth Beach: Beyond the Boardwalk ($30, Temple University Press) is available wherever you purchase the book below. Amazon.com.
James Sears will appear in conversation with Deacon McCubbin (free) on Friday, October 18th at 7pm at Little District Books, 737 8th St. SE. Registration proposed. Call 202-629-2975 or visit us. www.littledistrictbooks.com.
Source: Metro Weekly – www.metroweekly.com
