Dr Charles Silverstein: Joy Of Gay Sex Author Dies Aged 87

We recently lost one of the great pioneers of the modern gay movement.

Dr. Charles Silverstein (April 23, 1935 – January 30, 2023), who died aged 87, was the co-author (with Edmund White) of the revolutionary 1977 book, The Joy of Gay Sex. Silverstein also closely assisted in the campaign to remove homosexuality from the mental health list in America – a pivotal moment for no longer viewing homosexuality as a mental illness.

Decades before the internet, it became the go-to gay male sex manual covering subjects as wide-ranging as backrooms, meeting others, loneliness, rimming, foreskins, fidelity, crabs, cock size, and bisexuality. The world of the 1970s had not seen anything like it as a manual/dictionary for an entire closeted gay male community.

It was revolutionary in every sense. In the privacy of our home, we became educated, empowered, and sexually fulfilled – titillated too.

Having Gay Sex…And Enjoying It

The book’s subject matter is further enhanced by Julian Graddon’s (and others’) line-drawn illustrations. They’re not only informative but graphic and diverse in their depictions of gay men enjoying sex. Yes, having sex – AND enjoying it!

Satisfaction is everywhere in the visuals, with each illustration saying to the reader that it is ok to be gay, sexually have fun, and to know that this is a normal, daily activity for like-minded men the world over. Guilt and shame were not to be tolerated.

Remember that this was at a time when decriminalizing homosexuality was only beginning to happen in Australia.

A Gay Revolutionary

The authors were unlocking us from that closet and setting us free to grow, develop and share our sexuality without self-guilt hindering us. For a repressed minority, an underground community like ours back then, this book was the golden bullet – the right book at the right time with the right attitude.

For the first time since the ancient Greek paintings, there was a universally available manual that said it like it was in a body-friendly, honest, and educative manner.

In my view, this book was equally important to my older generation of gay men worldwide as the invention of the printing press or the arrival of the internet were.

We should not forget such trail-blazers as Silverstein and White (and their brave publisher), nor the power of words and visuals to change lives. Such honesty and bravery changed millions of men’s lives, especially mine, for the better. Revisit your bookshelf and rediscover that revolutionary publication that probably changed your life, too. 

You will be surprised how relevant it remains today.