We Are Everywhere - by Matthew Riemer & Leighton Brown (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

"If you think the fight for justice and equality only began in the streets outside Stonewall, with brave patrons of a bar fighting back, you need to read We Are Everywhere right now."--Anderson Cooper

Through the lenses of protest, power, and pride, We Are Everywhere is an essential and empowering introduction to the history of the fight for queer liberation. Combining exhaustively researched narrative with meticulously curated photographs, the book traces queer activism from its roots in late-nineteenth-century Europe--long before the pivotal Stonewall Riots of 1969--to the gender warriors leading the charge today.

Featuring more than 300 images from more than seventy photographers and twenty archives, this inclusive and intersectional book enables us to truly see queer history unlike anything before, with glimpses of activism in the decades preceding and following Stonewall, family life, marches, protests, celebrations, mourning, and Pride. By challenging many of the assumptions that dominate mainstream LGBTQ+ history, We Are Everywhere shows readers how they can--and must--honor the queer past in order to shape our liberated future.

Review Quotes

"An impassioned photographic tour of an ever-changing, increasingly vocal and insistently resilient LGBTQ community and culture, from nineteenth century ideology to contemporary conversations around intersectionality."--The New York Times

"Meticulous research accompanies indelible images depicting ferocious outrage, glorious celebration, and profound mourning, making this an essential reference for generations to come."--Gay & Lesbian Review

"Carefully curated to present a fresh view of queer history."--USA Today

"This rich compendium of images, stories, and reflections carries readers into the future of queer liberation."--Publishers Weekly

"A beautiful, crucial, and engaging celebration of the queer community and our history."--Blair Imani, author of Modern HERstory

"More than a history book and more than a collection of photographs, We Are Everywhere is a chance to experience the queer past in all its complicated shades... Riemer and Brown show us the radicals, the bisexuals, the gender warriors, the women, the people of color, and the militants who have always led the fight for liberation... We Are Everywhere is both an amazing look at where we've been and an important reminder of where we need to go."--Travon Free, writer and comedian

"[This] important book chronicles the amazing history of queer resistance so that every queer person, young and old, can see their history and know we are everywhere."--Tyler Oakley, activist and author of Binge

"If Riemer and Brown's book proves anything throughout its deeply poignant pages, it's that we all truly need each other."--Daniel Nicoletta, author of LGBT San Francisco

"This book is an essential rewriting of queer history according to our own terms."--Garrard Conley, author of Boy Erased

"We Are Everywhere [is] a topical, timely, and timeless resource. In the book's intersectional showcasing of the under-recognized and the unforgettable, the roots of our activism, anger, and community are more important and profound than ever...queer history comes alive in the pages of this tremendous collection."--Rhys Ernst, filmmaker

"We Are Everywhere is an invaluable brick in the foundation of our collective LGBTQ+ history, and a vivid reminder that queer people have a joyful, complicated, and inspiring history. I am so grateful this book exists."--Dustin Lance Black, activist and filmmaker

"Open this book to any page and there will be something you've never seen, something you've never heard of, or something to fill you with ideas."--Avram Finkelstein, artist, writer, and activist

"These stunning photographs--many never before published--convey the fierce diversity, defiance, sorrow, and joy of queer life across the twentieth century. Along with the lively tour of the last century of LGBTQ politics in the accompanying text, they will change the way you see the queer past."--George Chauncey, author of Gay New York

"We Are Everywhere is a handbook for action, cherishing those who risked so much, and is a living bridge between our communities of the past and present...This is history that reaches into the now with a visual richness that makes memory a living body."--Joan Nestle, co-founder of the Lesbian Herstory Archives

About the Author