Women's Activism NYC

Gladys Bentley

1907 - 1960

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Gladys Bentley was Harlem's most famous LGBTQ figure making way for other artists during the Harlem Renaissance to flourish. In 1940, Langston Hughes called her an "amazing exhibition of musical energy" and Harold Jackman claimed that "when Gladys 'sings St. James Infirmary,' it makes you weep your heart." Her rise to fame during that time gave us an insight of how liberated the Prohibition culture of the Harlem Renaissance had become. In her songs she would confront male entitlement and sexual abuse often declaring and celebrating her sexual independence. Bentley was in fact the first prominent performer to embrace a trans identity. At the beginning of her career she started performing at buffet flats, were people often went to gamble, drink, and had access to prostitutes. However, it was at the Clam House were Bentley established herself as the main attraction, making the House the talk of Harlem. At the height of her career she was paying $300 a month in rent which is about $5,000 today with a team of servants and a luxurious car. She had told reporters that she had married a white woman in New Jersey but the woman's identity was not disclosed to the public. However, during the 1930's after the 18th amendment was repealed she became less accepted by the public and performing south of Harlem became hard. In 1937, she left New York and went to Los Angeles were she became a leading entertainer especially at Mona's 440 club, the first lesbian bar in San Francisco. The Red Scare came with a repressive atmosphere and the McCarthyite attacks on artists targeted homosexuals in particular. In 1950 she told reporters she had married twice even though it was denied by the men she allegedly married and in 1952 she signed a record deal with Swingtime Label where she claimed she had undergone a hormone treatment to help her identify as heterosexual. In 1960, Bentley passed away after some complications with the flu but she is still remembered by many Americans.

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