More than 60 years ago, a gay couple found the freedom to show affection for each other in the safe confines a photo booth.
By today’s standards, this photo shouldn’t raise any eyebrows, but in 1953, the year it was taken, this photo would have been reason enough for law enforcement to harass and arrest these men, says Kyle Morgan, an archivist at the ONE National Gay and Lesbian Archives at the USC Libraries.
This was a “time when purposefully vague statutes on morals, lewd conduct, or disorderly conduct in many states and cities allowed the police to target and arrest gay and lesbian people for such transgressions as wearing items of clothing of the opposite sex, propositioning someone of the same sex, or even holding hands with a member of the same sex. This photo could have gotten these men arrested,” Morgan says.
The photo is owned by the ONE Archives – the largest repository of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer materials in the world. It was owned by Joseph John Bertrund Belanger, the man on the right. The photo was taken at the PGE exhibition in Hastings Park, Vancouver, Canada.
What’s poignant and memorable about the photo is its emotional significance. By closing the photo booth’s small curtain, Belanger and another man have briefly created a private, safe-space inside the confines of the tiny booth. They are free from harassment.