Both of the men are bare and indicate comfort with their nakedness in one another’s company. This second image dates from the middle to late 1950’s again using the hairstyle as a time reference. During that era, men who had sex with other men were collectively referred to as homosexuals at best and deviants or queers (or worse) as a pejorative. The fact that two men, naked, posed so close to one another hints that they were both either gay or bisexual. Their hairstyles indicate early 1960’s to middle 1960’s. Both are nude, and their physical proximity suggests a possible physical intimacy. The picture used as the heading for this post, above, shows two men in a semi-embracing pose. Many of these photos date from the mid-20th century and often feature unnamed men whose life story, their personal history, is simply unknown and can only be speculation. These are offered in the spirit of historical celebration and trying to document the tradition of gay, nude Black men in the recent history of African-Americans. In commemoration of February being Black History Month here in the USA, a photo-oriented post showing some historical (vintage) images of Black gay bareness from days gone by.
