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Writer and curator Hugh Ryan is the author of When Brooklyn Was Queer, the first ever LGBTQ history of Brooklyn. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Tin House, Buzzfeed, the Los Angeles Review of Books, Out, and other venues. He earned an MFA from the Bennington Writing Seminars, and he received a 2016-2017 Martin Duberman Fellowship at the New York Public Library, a 2017 New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship in Nonfiction Literature, and a 2018 residency at the Watermill Center.

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The Stonewall Riots Weren’t NYC’s Only Queer Uprising

PAST PRESENT

The Stonewall Riots were not in isolation. As their 50th anniversary approaches, we should remember New York City's other cops vs. queers clashes of the era, like the Haven riot.

Hugh Ryan | Published Apr 06, 2019

The WWII Nazi Spy Gay Sex Scandal That Rocked the Senate

LGBT HISTORY

In 1942, the exposure of a Brooklyn townhouse where wealthy men had sex with members of the armed services led to an anti-gay witch-hunt and heated political scandal.

Hugh Ryan | Published Mar 29, 2019

Social Media Frees Moroccan Gays

QUORUM

Two men are beaten by a mob—and then arrested for homosexuality. Then the video of their attack went viral.

Hugh Ryan | Published Apr 21, 2016

Being Gay in Nirvana

Quorum

What’s it like to be gay in a country where ‘gross national happiness’ is the stated policy of the government?

Hugh Ryan | Published Oct 28, 2015

Kyrgyzstan’s More Anti-Gay Than Russia

Quorum

Although most Americans couldn’t locate Kyrgyzstan on a map, life for LGBT people there is no joke—and is about to get worse.

Hugh Ryan | Published Sep 18, 2015

When 8 Adults & 3 Children Are a Family

Postmodern Family

Justice Alito used them as a scare tactic, but why doesn’t the law recognize unusual family configurations?

Hugh Ryan | Published May 10, 2015

Wonder Woman Takes a Big Step Back

But Can She Cook?

Now a husband-and-wife team is in charge of Wonder Woman’s image and her story line, and the first comic they produced is both leering and condescending.

Hugh Ryan | Published Dec 16, 2014

The Fall's Best YA Fiction

Addictive

<p>A look at three of the season’s best: <i>I’ll Give You the Sun</i>, <i>Rainey Royal</i>, and <i>Belzhar</i>.</p>

Hugh Ryan | Published Nov 08, 2014

A Warhol Girl With Banksy Talent

Composite Portrait

The ’60s hip icon Edie Sedgwick provides a lot of the inspiration for Adele Griffin’s genre-busting YA novel about a glamorous, talented, and tragic artist.

Hugh Ryan | Published Aug 14, 2014

Smells Like Teen Terror

‘No Dawn Without Darkness’

<p>A mall full of scared kids battling a lethal enemy—or just the fraught road to adulthood? The captivating metaphor driving the latest in Danya Lorentz’s <i>No Safety in Numbers</i> YA series.</p>

Hugh Ryan | Published Aug 03, 2014

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