Allen Ginsberg and Walt Whitman

As a very public American figure and gay man during the middle of the twentieth century, his sexuality was a big part Allen Ginsberg’s image.  He made sure to promote homosexuality through his writing and to let it be known that he was very opposed to discrimination.  In 1955, Ginsberg challenged traditional American principles by publishing “Howl,” which included graphic sodomy.  It must be true, then, that Ginsberg admired writers who he felt embodied the spirit of standing up for what is right, even if most of America does not agree.  Ginsberg was known to revere Walt Whitman.  It is interesting just to imagine what in Whitman’s work appealed to Ginsberg.  Never did Whitman support homosexuality, nor address it.  Perhaps it was simply Whitman’s willingness to be different, by writing about nature and very interpersonal phenomenons while most American scribes were writing about the Civil War.  We may never know for sure.