Editing Countee Cullen (section)

==  Sexuality ==
American writer [[Alain LeRoy Locke|Alain Locke]] helped Cullen come to terms with his sexuality. Locke wanted to introduce a new generation of African-American writers, such as Countee Cullen, to the reading public. Locke also sought to present the authentic natures of sex and sexuality through writing, creating a kind of relationship with those who felt the same. Locke introduced Cullen to gay-affirming material, such as the work of [[Edward Carpenter]], at a time when most [[homosexual|gay]]s were [[Closeted|in the closet]]. In March 1923, Cullen wrote to Locke about Carpenter's work: "It opened up for me soul windows which had been closed; it threw a noble and evident light on what I had begun to believe, because of what the world believes, ignoble and unnatural".<ref>{{Cite book|title=A Queer Capital: A History of Gay Life in Washington|last=Beemyn|first=Genny|publisher=Taylor & Francis|year=2015|isbn=978-1317819387|location=New York|pages=57–58}}</ref>

Critics and historians have not reached consensus as to Cullen's sexuality,<ref name=":02"/> partly because Cullen was unsure of this himself. Cullen's first marriage, to [[Yolande Du Bois]], experienced difficulties before ending in divorce.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://rictornorton.co.uk/cullen.htm|title=Soul Windows {{!}} The Gay Love Letters of Countee Cullen. Excerpts from ''Gay Love Letters through the Centuries''|website=Gay History and Literature|first=Rictor|last=Norton|date=1998|access-date=May 28, 2019}}</ref> He subsequently had relationships with many different men, although each ended poorly. Each relationship had a sense of shame or secrecy, such as his relationship with Edward Atkinson. Cullen later married Ida Robertson while potentially in a relationship with Atkinson. Letters between Cullen and Atkinson suggest a romantic interest, although there is no concrete evidence that they were in a sexual relationship.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kPMksMnKr_MC&q=countee+cullen+sexuality&pg=PR7|title=Gay Voices of the Harlem Renaissance|last=Schwarz|first=A. B. Christa|date=2003|publisher=Indiana University Press|isbn=9780253216076|language=en}}</ref>