Len & Cub: A Queer History

Len & Cub: A Queer History

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Authors: Meredith Batt and Dusty Green

Leonard “Len” Keith and Joseph “Cub” Coates grew up in the rural New Brunswick village of Havelock in the early 20th century. Len was an amateur photographer and automobile enthusiast who went on to own a local garage and pool hall after serving in the First World War. Cub was the son of a farmer, also a veteran of the First World War, a butcher, contractor, and lover of horses. Their time together is catalogued by Len’s photos, which show that the two shared a mutual love of the outdoors, animals, and adventure. Photographs of Len and Cub on hunting and canoe trips with arms around each other’s shoulders or in bed together make clear the affection they held for each other. Their story is one of the oldest photographic records of a same-sex couple in the Maritimes. Although Len was outed and forced to leave Havelock in the 1930s, the story of Len and Cub is one of love and friendship that challenges contemporary ideas about sex and gender expression in the early 20th century.

ISBN 9781773102641; 192 pages; 394 g; 22 x 17 x 1 cm
Published by Gooselane Editions, April 2022. Read more about the book and authors on Gooselane’s website.

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By Meredith J. Batt & Dusty Green

Len & Cub features Len’s photos of their life and tells the story of their relationship against the background of same-sex identity and relationships in rural North America of the early 20th century. Although Len was outed and forced to leave Havelock in the 1930s, the story of Len and Cub is one of love and friendship that challenges contemporary ideas about sex and gender expression in the early 20th century.

192 pages
Published:   April 5, 2022
Paperback:   9781773102641

Leonard “Len” Keith and Joseph “Cub” Coates grew up in the rural New Brunswick village of Havelock in the early 20th century. The two were neighbours, and they clearly developed an inseparable relationship. Len was an amateur photographer and automobile enthusiast who went on to own a local garage and poolhall after serving in the First World War. Cub was the son of a farmer, also a veteran of the First World War, a butcher, contractor, and lover of horses. Their time together is catalogued by Len’s photos, which show that the two shared a mutual love of the outdoors, animals, and adventure. Photographs of Len and Cub on hunting and canoe trips with arms around each other’s shoulders or in bed together make clear the affection they held for each other. Their story is one of the oldest photographic records of a same-sex couple in the Maritimes.

 

See the Len and Cub exhibition at The ArQuives from November 2 to December 2, 2023.

Additional information

Weight .55 kg
Dimensions 17 × 23 × 1.5 cm

Title