Gallery Carre
Obit: Vern Bullough, 77; Scholar of Sex History
Jul 2nd, 2024 by Audacia Ray
When Vern Bullough was asked what launched him into the field of sexual history 50 years ago, he quipped, “I blame it all on my mother-in-law.”
His future wife’s mother had abandoned her family to live in a committed relationship with another woman — a scandalous event for Salt Lake City in the mid-1940s.
Bullough, then a teenager, was “more or less goggle-eyed” when he met them, but quickly quit gawking and began educating himself. He plied the two women with questions about homosexuality, soaked up what few books he could find on the subject and got to know their lesbian and gay friends.
Bullough, 77, who died of cancer June 21 at his Westlake Village home, eventually channeled his curiosity into a career as one of the most prolific scholars of sex, who wrote, co-wrote or edited nearly 50 books on topics ranging from prostitution to transgenderism.
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