Women in Germany have had the right to vote for 105 years, they have been allowed to open their own bank accounts for 40 years, rape in marriage has been prohibited for 26 years and four years ago the principle “No means no” against sexual harassment was included in the penal code recorded. Progress? no What sounds progressive is actually a veritable small denominator in a centuries-long struggle. March 8th marks the anniversary of International Women’s Day, or rather Feminist Day of Struggle – and women all over the world still have to fight for their equality and recognition. Gender pay gap, female poverty in old age as well as sexual harassment and abuse are still part of everyday life for most women. And that in 2023!
However, instead of giving in to anger and frustration, the author of this text would like to use the month of the month to call attention to all the pioneering women who changed the world – and yet often do not appear in history books. Welcome to the new ME section “FLINTA*, whose art changed the world”. You’ve never heard of FLINTA*? No worries: The term is relatively new and refers to all people read as female who are discriminated against in patriarchy – thus not only heterosexual cis women are included, but also homo- or bisexual, intersex and non-binary women, as well as trans and agender people .
Portrait: Gladys Bentley – blues star, Harlem Renaissance icon, LGBTQ* pioneer
Gladys Bentley is one of those historical figures that, after researching it, makes you wonder why you’ve never heard of her before. Her achievements were groundbreaking, her biography tragic. And yet she is still treated as a marginal figure in the story. Gladys Bentley was one of the most successful blues musicians and pianists of the Harlem Renaissance and the most famous lesbian entertainer of the 1930s. With her disreputable performances and her masculine style, she managed to overcome the boundaries of gender and sexuality almost playfully. But their unbridled freedom was ultimately followed by alienation from their true identity—a tragic end for a colorful personality.
Their homosexuality should be “cured” by doctors
Gladys Alberta Bentley was born on August 12, 1907 as the eldest of four children and daughter of the warehouse worker George L. Bentley and his wife Mary Mote from Trinidad and grew up in Philadelphia. Throughout her childhood, Gladys felt unwanted in her family – in an interview she later said her mother wanted a son so badly that she refused to touch her daughter when she was born. From a young age, she liked to dress up in her younger brothers’ suits and discovered early on that she was attracted to women – even if she couldn’t quite put her finger on it at first. Meanwhile, her parents observe their daughter’s behavior with great uneasiness and drag her to several doctors to “cure” her. At the age of 16, Bentley could no longer stand it and fled to New York in 1923 to try his hand at music. At this point, the Harlem Renaissance is already in full swing.
As a result of the “Great Migration” – a movement of millions of African Americans* who moved from the southern United States to the northern industrial cities of the country – the New York neighborhood of Harlem developed into a sparkling hotspot for African American cultural forms in the 1920s such as art, music, poetry and literature. This heyday, which began in Harlem but caused a stir around the world, is now referred to as the Harlem Renaissance. At the same time, the US was affected by Prohibition; the statewide ban on the manufacture, transportation, and sale of alcohol between 1920 and 1933. This led to a proliferation of so-called “speakeasies” in Harlem – illegal bars and clubs run by criminal gangs and high-profile mobsters like Al Capone and in where smuggled alcohol, gambling and prostitution were the order of the day. These were establishments that rewarded being different and celebrating deviating from the norm: the perfect moment for a queer misfit like Gladys Bentley to step onto the scene.
Her trademark: tuxedo and top hat
At first, the underage singer performed at various illegal private parties, but after a short time she was able to get a gig at the well-known club “Mad House” and immediately became a sensation there. Soon word of her talent spread across New York and Gladys Bentley became the main attraction of Harlem’s most notorious underground queer club – the “Clam House”. There she established the look that would later become her trademark: the obligatory tuxedo and top hat. With her deep, baritone voice, she reinterprets successful blues songs and complements them with raunchy lyrics, dances on stage or strolls through the room and flirts with women in the audience. Word spreads like a beacon for their unique performances, soon attracting guests outside of the Harlem community as well. In 1928 she recorded eight singles with the music label “Okeh Race Records” and in 1930 she already had her own weekly radio show. Shortly thereafter, she embarked on a nationwide tour, playing in front of famous personalities such as Cary Grant and Barbara Stanwyck. By 1933, Bentley was a fixture at New York’s top clubs, including The Cotton Club and The Apollo – and created her own musical revue show at the well-known Ubangi Club, with a 30-piece ensemble, all of them perform in drag. She has reached the zenith of her success.
At the height of her career, Gladys Bentley lives in a luxury apartment on Park Avenue, drives an expensive car, and has a large entourage of servants. She tells the press that she and her lover were legally married, but the identity of the woman is still unknown to this day. But just as everything seems to be going well in Bentley’s life, something unexpected happens: With the sudden lifting of Prohibition in 1933 and the global economic crisis that took place at the same time, public tolerance for homosexuals fell – and with it the popularity of the variety show star. As a result of a lack of jobs, the blues musician moved to her mother in Los Angeles in 1937 and got by with various small appearances – now in a dress, of course. It wasn’t until the beginning of the Second World War that it became easier for them to live out their true identity again, when numerous gay and lesbian clubs opened on the west coast. During this time she performs, among other things, as a headliner in “Mona’s 440 Club” – the first lesbian bar in San Francisco.
The repressive McCarthy era has left its mark on Gladys Bentley
World War II was followed by the Cold War and a concomitant anti-Communist hysteria, manifested in a wave of repressive social policies. Political leftists, immigrants and homosexuals are stigmatized, persecuted and silenced in this so-called McCarthy era. Gladys Bentley was also affected by this political development. Although she does not stop touring, she now consistently changes her tuxedo for women’s clothes. In 1952, she wrote an article in Ebony magazine entitled “I Am A Woman Again,” in which she told the public that she had undergone hormone treatment and was now straight. Shortly thereafter, she married chef Charles Roberts, who was 16 years her junior, but who later always denied the marriage. In 1958, she made her first and only television appearance on the show You Bet Your Life, wearing a dress and singing the jazz hit “Them Their Eyes.” Two years later, Gladys Bentley died at the age of 52 from complications of pneumonia – shortly before she could complete her training as a Christian pastor.
Gladys Bentley is considered one of Harlem’s colorful personalities, a queen of the night. Not only was she an attraction with her gender-bending performances, she also paved the way for numerous LGBTQ* pioneers to come after her. Her lyrics were critical; she sang about sexual liberation and the fight against patriarchy. Her fearlessness and sense of freedom made her one of the most famous entertainers of the 1920s and 1930s. So it is all the more tragic that she could not end her life in freedom. But as Gladys Bentley herself once said, “I have earned the distinction of being the first, and in some cases the only, black performer to perform at the best glitter venues. I’m still a star.”
This text first appeared on musikexpress.de in March 2021 and has now been updated.
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