On 9 February, Professor Dagmar Herzog (City University of New York), a leading historian of modern sexuality, delivered the 6th Southampton Stonewall Lecture at the University.
Entitled: Love and Perversion: The Modern History of Homophobia, Professor Herzog took themes from her latest monograph Cold War Freud (2016) to explore how American psychoanalysts did their utmost to stigmatise homosexuality and perpetuate homophobia in the USA after 1945.
The movement particularly challenged the work of Alfred Kinsey, asserting that his findings on sexuality had nothing to do with love. Only by the 1970s were psychoanalysts finally in retreat, but by that time many lives had been ruined as a result of their influence in the medical profession.
You can read a full interview with Professor Herzog on the LGBT Research Community website by clicking here.
Love and Perversion secured a record audience of University staff and the general public for the lecture series, raising over £160 for the Stonewall charity.
The annual Stonewall lecture is dedicated to LGBT history, seeking to educate the public about the latest research in the field. The lecture series resonates with the University’s commitment to equality and diversity, publicising that engagement to the wider public.
