Timeline: Walt Whitman and Same-Sex Sex Intimacy, 1848-2021

Arts and Culture

Sexuality / Sexual Behaviors

Education and Intellectual Life

A chronology of references to same-sex desire and sexual activity in the life of Walt Whitman and in the works of Whitman's biographers and critics. This timeline is a collaborative work-in-progress. Some of the language used and concepts referenced, influenced by colonialism, imperialism, racism, sexism, and anti-LGBTQ+ beliefs and practices, might have been considered offensive or otherwise problematic by the individuals discussed in the historical documents; some might be considered offensive or otherwise problematic by LGBTQ+ people today or in the future. All of this is part of LGBTQ+ history. We welcome new contributions; please contact outhistory@gmail.com. First published on OutHistory in 2020; last edited in 2023.

1800s

1900-1920

1920-1940

1940-1960

1960s

1970s

1980s

2000s

Whitman, Walt

New York

New York City, NY

New Jersey

Washington, D.C.

whitmansex

Timeline

Bibliography