Editing Harry Hay (section)

===Marriage and Marxist class: 1938 to 1948===

Hay began [[Analytical psychology|Jungian]] analysis in 1937. He later claimed that the psychiatrist "misled" him into believing that through marriage to a woman, he could become heterosexual; the psychiatrist suggested that Hay find himself a "boyish girl".{{sfn|Timmons|1990|pp=97–98}}<ref name = progressive /> After confiding with fellow Party members that he was homosexual, they too urged Hay to marry a woman, adhering to the [[party line (politics)|party line]] that same-sex attraction was a symptom of bourgeoise decadence.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|p=96}} Acting on this advice, in 1938 he married Anna Platky (1914-1983), a Marxist Party member from a working-class Jewish family. Hay maintained that he loved her, and was happy to have a companion with whom he could share his political pursuits; he also got along well with her family.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|pp=98–101}}<ref>Hogan, et al., p. 273</ref> Their marriage took place in September 1938, in a non-religious wedding ceremony overseen by a [[Unitarianism|Unitarian]] minister.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|p=104}} Their honeymoon however was cut short as a result of the sudden death of Hay, Sr.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|p=104}} Settling into married life, Hay gained employment with the [[Works Progress Administration]] supervising the cataloguing of [[Orange County, California|Orange County]]'s civil records,{{sfn|Timmons|1990|pp=104–105}} while the couple continued their activism by taking photographs of Los Angeles' slums for a leftist exhibition.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|p=105}} However, the marriage did not quell Hay's same-sex attractions, and by 1939 he had begun to seek sexual encounters with other men in local parks on a weekly basis.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|p=105}} He would later describe the marriage as "living in an exile world".{{sfn|Timmons|1990|p=96}}

The couple moved to [[Manhattan]], New York City, where Hay went through a series of unsteady and low-paid jobs, including as a scriptwriter, a service manager in [[Macy's]] toy department, and a marketing strategy planner. Briefly returning to acting, he appeared in [[George Sklor]]'s off-Broadway play ''Zero Hour''.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|pp=106–107}} The couple involved themselves with the city's Communist Party branch, with Hay becoming a party functionary in the [[Theater Arts Committee for Peace and Democracy]], and in 1941 he was appointed interim head of the New Theatre League, responsible for organising trade union theatre groups and teaching acting classes, for which he adopted the [[Konstantin Stanislavski]] [[Stanislavski's system|'system']].{{sfn|Timmons|1990|pp=107, 113}} By 1940 he was having a series of affairs with men in the city, developing a seven-month relationship with architect [[William Alexander Levy|William Alexander]], almost leaving his wife for him.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|pp=111–112}} During this period he took part in the research of sexologist [[Alfred Kinsey]].{{sfn|Timmons|1990|p=111}}

In 1942, the couple returned to Los Angeles, renting a house near to Silver Lake and Echo Park; the area was colloquially known as "the Red Hills" due to its large left-wing community.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|p=115}} There, Hay went through various jobs, including with [[Russian War Relief]], as a [[puddler]], and as a production engineer at a manufacturing plant. He was not [[Conscription in the United States|conscripted into the armed forces]] following the outbreak of World War II due to his work with [[Avion Aircraft]], which was deemed essential for the country's war effort.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|pp=116, 118}} He would subsequently work in a record store, a television repair shop, and at a boiler manufacturing plant.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|p=131}} Better-paid work was barred from him by his political viewpoints, with the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]] monitoring his activities.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|p=131}} He spent much time teaching lessons in Marxism across the Los Angeles Bay Area, for which he read widely in anthropology and sociology, but faced problems due to the increased anti-communist repression being exerted by the government through the [[Smith Act]] and the subsequent creation of the [[House Un-American Activities Committee]].{{sfn|Timmons|1990|pp=119–121}} From 1945, he was involved in the [[People's Songs]] organisation, becoming the group's theoretician, through which he came to know [[Woody Guthrie]] and [[Pete Seeger]]. From 1947, he taught a musicology class on the "Historical Development of Folk Music", through which he articulated a Marxist understanding of the genre; he continued to teach these classes through the mid-1950s.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|pp=127–129}}

In September 1943, Hay and his wife adopted a daughter, Hannah Margaret, soon moving to a larger home nearby to accommodate her.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|p=118}}<ref>Hay/Roscoe, p. 357</ref> They adopted a second daughter, Kate Neall, several days after her birth in December 1945.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|p=123}}<ref>Hay/Roscoe, p. 358</ref> Hay was a caring parent, and encouraged his children's interests in music and dance.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|pp=123–124}} In 1945, Hay was diagnosed with [[hypoglycemia]],{{Sfn|Timmons|1990|p=122}} and the following year began to suffer intense mental anxiety and repeated nightmares as he realised that he was still homosexual and that his marriage had been a serious mistake.{{sfn|Timmons|1990|p=127}} The couple divorced in 1951.<ref>Hay/Roscoe, p. 359</ref>