The Concept of the “Town Queer” - FMA GUEST WRITER
The Faulkner Morgan Archive is now welcoming Guest Writers to submit content for our blog! Our blog highlights the wonderful stories of LGBTQ history from both in and out of our collections, and we want to share this platform with students, activists, artists, and other writers from across Kentucky with a passion for LGBTQ history. You can find guidelines and recommendations for submitting at www.faulknermorgan.org/guest-writer-program.
The Concept of the “Town Queer”: Perceptions of Sexual and Gender Non-Conformity in mid-20th Century Lexington, Kentucky
By Tori Kennedy (she/her), tlaynekennedy@gmail.com
Abridged Version for Faulkner Morgan Archive’s Blog
Originally Published December 2022, Edited for FMA July 2025
Sweet Evening Breeze wearing a wedding dress and holding a bouquet of flowers while sitting next to a University of Kentucky football player c. 1950s. Image property of Faulkner Morgan Archive.
Since the re-election of President Donald Trump in 2025, the LGBTQ+ community has experienced an onslaught of legislation enacted for the sole purpose of undermining and essentially eradicating queer folk from the overall tapestry of American history. From removing the T & Q in LGBTQ+ from the official Stonewall Monument website, to flagging any government documentation mentioning the word “gay” with AI as part of the government’s effort to end DEI initiatives- the queer community is currently existing in a tumultuous time that seeks to undo the national progress made over the last decade in acknowledging and representing LGBTQ people. While it would be unrealistic to look at everything happening within the current political climate and try to dismiss it as a fleeting fad of bigotry- that the queer community has endured discrimination time and time again and yet always manages to maintain its existence in the end- it is important that we do not remain complacent to these attempts at erasing our history. Yes, the LGBTQ+ community has survived through centuries of oppression and strife, but that has only been possible through the resilience of our community elders and ancestors who bravely maintained a commitment to being their authentic selves in the face of adversity regardless of the severity of consequence that could come of it. It is my belief that we should educate ourselves about our queer history as Kentuckians, and amplify the stories of those who came before us to remind ourselves and our oppressors that the queer community has existed and endured long before now; that we have always been part of American history, and will continue to be part of it through our refusal to be omitted from the narrative once more.
Therefore, in the spirit of amplifying and upholding the stories of our queer elders in Kentucky, I invite you to take the time to learn more about one specific individual from Lexington’s own LGBTQ+ history: Sweet Evening Breeze.
James Herndon, known by the nickname of "Sweet Evening Breeze" or "Sweets," was a queer, black, gender nonconformist Kentuckian in the mid-20th century. Born in rural Scott County, Kentucky, sometime in the late 1800s, it is unknown when Herndon first made an appearance in the city of Lexington. Although the popular belief is that Herndon was abandoned at Good Samaritan Hospital in Lexington as a child and thus stayed within the city from then on, this story was most likely fabricated by Herndon themself- as census records from 1910 confirm that they still resided in Scott County as a teenager and thus would not have appeared in Lexington until they were at least a young adult. At some point Herndon did become employed as an orderly at Good Samaritan, where they stayed employed for about 40 years. Outside of the hospital and in the public sphere, Sweets lived a life that can best be described as a wonder, as many accounts state that they would be seen strolling around the Lexington community in elaborate women’s clothing whilst carrying a parasol over their shoulder. Realistically, this clothing was probably more androgynous than outright female presenting, as dressing directly as the opposite gender in Lexington in the mid-20th century would have violated anti-disguise laws designed to suppress non-heteronormative behavior and would have put Sweets at risk of arrest should they have chosen to go outside in full drag. Dressing in gender ambiguous clothes, while a vital part of Sweets’ everyday life, was also sometimes part of a performance, as they would put on and advertise shows where people could come see them dance with other cross dressers. Sweets had such a presence in oppressed queer Lexington that their home became a social hub for non-heteronormative individuals to party at and engage in sexual acts safely and privately.
Sweet Evening Breeze, though a powerful presence in Lexington during their lifetime, is just one example of many gender-nonconforming, queer icons from areas in the rural South of the U.S. Leigh Angelique, Crystal Blue, “Dee Dee,” Toni LaFlame, and Charles “Miss Joyce” Dandy are other genderbending, black Kentuckians whose stories are only now being brought to light. Like Sweets, these individuals were crucial in paving the way for future generations of queer Lexingtonians to express themselves freely and out in the open with minimal backlash. So why is it that these stories are only now being revealed and presented as an important part of Kentucky’s history?
The mid-20th century was a time of strife and instability for the queer community and especially for the members of it who lived in rural areas, as they battled daily for their right to exist within a society that deeply and stubbornly rooted itself to the confines of the heteronormative status quo. That being said, how then was an individual like James Herndon able to live and thrive within Lexington during this time, despite their status as a person of color with an ambiguous sexuality and gender identity? Herndon was an example of what some have referred to as the “town queer,” a common trope within rural southern areas where an individual exists in the community and is generally accepted by it despite, and mostly due to, the severity at which they do not fit in with the expected societal mold. Sweets filled a role within the community that allowed others to get a glimpse of a lifestyle regarded in the time and region as taboo and thus satisfied any internal curiosities people had concerning that manner of being. The culture of the rural South inherently goes against everything this type of person would stand for, and so any gawking there was at Sweets would have been done discreetly and without direct acknowledgment that Herndon was in fact breaking social norms. For southerners, it was best to turn a blind eye to anyone and anything that contrasted the social norm as to not give nonconformists power through recognition.
Avoiding direct acknowledgement of a “problem” denies the power that recognition would give an oppressed group. When southerners acted as though town queers were not doing anything out of the ordinary, they prevented those individuals from asserting themselves as different in the public sphere and potentially raising concerns over being treated negatively and different from other members of the community. Negative attention is still attention, and with the publicization of negative attention usually comes reform. If Sweets or any other southern town queer were to start an uproar about feeling oppressed by the heteronormative society they lived within, then the risk of sympathizers and activists swooping in to aid their cause would increase, resulting in potential pressures being put on the community to change its approach towards those who did not fit into the societal mold. To avoid this risk and placate the town queer it was easier for rural southerners to respond to the threat of homosexuality and gender nonconformity “with a pervasive, deflective pretense of ignorance.”
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views or positions of Faulkner Morgan Archive.