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The Sexuality of Malcolm X

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 November 2016

CHRISTOPHER PHELPS*
Affiliation:
Department of American and Canadian Studies, University of Nottingham. Email: christopher.phelps@nottingham.ac.uk.

Abstract

This article engages the controversy over whether Malcolm Little, who would become Malcolm X, had same-sexual encounters. A minute sifting of all evidence and claims, augmented by new findings, yields strong indication that Malcolm Little did take part in sex acts with male counterparts. If set in the context of the 1930s and 1940s, these acts position him not as a “homosexual lover,” as has been asserted, but in the pattern of “straight trade” – heterosexual men open to sex with homosexuals – an understanding that in turn affords insights into the black revolutionary's mature masculinity.

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Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press and British Association for American Studies 2016 

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