Jan Gay (born Helen Reitman) 1902-1960 was an early-20th-century American author, nudist, gay rights activist, screenwriter, sex researcher and nudist park manager in the 1920s and 30s. She was born on February 14, 1902 in Leipzig, Sachsen, Germany After a divorce, Gay emigrated with her mother to Adams County Illinois. In 1931 a trip to Germany and Switzerland Gay and her partner Eleanor Byrnes (Zhenya Gay) visited several nudist camps. 1 Helen Reitman
On going naked
The experience prompted Gay to write the book she is best known for On Going Naked, (1932) which was one of the first important works on naturism in English. It was one of the earliest written works to explore the rising nudism movement around the world. Jan Gay also wrote one of the earliest documentary films on the subject of nudism, This Nude World (1933)
The book was so successful that she started a nudist club in Hudson Valley New York. The Auchmoody Out-of-Door Club was profiled in the New Yorker magazine and was one the most exclusive and famous of the nudists clubs of the time. Gay continued as the camp director through 1933 and was reported to interview all the guests before they were allowed into the club. 2 Helen Reitman Now a stately New York mansion, the Hudson Valley New York property was featured in the previously mentioned On Going Naked and the film This Nude World (This Naked Age) also written by Gay. 3 Naturist Vintage
Sex researcher
Gay was ahead of her time as a sex researcher. Years before Alfred Kinsey published his reports, Jan Gay (pictured on the left below) conducted interviews with hundreds of gay men and women around the world as a study into the nature of homosexuality. 4 The Lesbian Sex Researcher that History Forgot She faced intense backlash by the medical community as a result of her work. 5 Helen Reitman
In the 1920s, then Helen Reitman met longtime companion, author/illustrator Eleanor Byrnes. They would later change their names to Jan Gay and Zhenya Gay. Gay was apparently a family name, but they picked it for obvious reasons. The couple wrote several children’s books together.
Unable to get her studies on homosexuality published, Jan Gay finally developed the Committee for the Study of Sex Variants, Inc in 1935 with Dr. George W. Henry, MD. George W Henry later published the findings as his own in his book “Sex Variants: A Study of Homosexual Patterns”
Remarkable life
She is remarkable not just for being an out lesbian when sodomy was a felony offense, but because she impacted the nudism movement, which tended safely heteronormative to avoid backlash itself. She lived her truth loudly, and left a legacy 6 Naturist VintageJan Gay died in 1960 at just 58.
In 2021 property that was once home to the nudist club formerly known as Auchmoody Out-of-Doors Club (or Fresh Air Club) and founded and operated by Jan Gay, was put on the market for $20 million. Now a stately New York mansion, the Hudson Valley New York property was featured in the previously mentioned On Going Naked and the film This Nude World (This Naked Age) also written by Gay. 7 Naturist Vintage
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