Gertrude “Ma” Rainey and is one of the biggest names in Blues history. She was extremely talented and touched on many issues through her songs, including alcohol, death, abandonment, erotica, injustice, love, murder, poverty, sex and homosexuality. Through this paper I hope to take a look at M...

I. Introduction A gay man remembers his high school years filled with loneliness, fear, and self-hatred. Another man recalls spending every lunch period in a bathroom stall. A lesbian recollects her bottling up all her emotions and silencing all impulsive gestures, terrified of saying or doing a...