Global Gay - (Mit Press) by Frederic Martel (Paperback)
Number of Pages: 296Genre: Social ScienceSub-Genre: LGBT StudiesSeries Title: Mit PressFormat: PaperbackPublisher: MIT PressAge Range: AdultBook theme: GeneralAuthor: Frederic MartelLanguage: English About the Book A panoramic view of gay rights, gay life, and the gay experience around the world. Book Synopsis A panoramic view of gay rights, gay life, and the gay experience around the world.In Global Gay, Frédéric Martel visits more than fifty countries and documents a revolution underway around the world: the globalization of LGBT rights. From Saudi Arabia to South Africa, from Amsterdam to Tel Aviv, from Singapore to the United States, activists, culture warriors, and ordinary people are part of a movement. Martel interviews the proprietor of a "gay-friendly" café in Amman, Jordan; a Cuban-American television journalist in Fort Lauderdale, Florida; a South African jurist who worked with Nelson Mandela to enshrine gay rights in the country's constitution; an American lawyer who worked on the campaign for marriage equality; an Egyptian man who fled his country after escaping a raid on a gay club; and many others. He tells us that in China, homosexuality is neither prohibited nor permitted, and that much Chinese gay life takes place on social media; that in Iran, because of the strict separation of the sexes, it seems almost easier to be gay than heterosexual; and that Raul Castro's daughter, a gay rights icon in Cuba, expressed her lingering anti-American sentiments by calling for Pride celebrations in May rather than June. Ten countries maintain the death penalty for homosexuals. "Homophobia is what Arab governments give to Islamists to keep them calm," one activist tells Martel.Martel finds that although the "gay American way of life" has created a global template for gay activism and culture, each country offers distinctly local variations. And around the world, the status of gay rights has become a measure of a country's democracy and modernity.This English edition, which has been thoroughly revised and updated, has received the French Voices Award for excellence in publication and translation, supported by a grant from the French-American Book Fund. Review Quotes Illuminating and heart-rendering.--Andrew Holleran, Gay and Lesbian Review--Illuminating and heart-rendering.--Gay and Lesbian Review-- About the Author Frédéric Martel, a researcher at Sciences-Po Paris and ZHdK Zurich, is the author of nine books, the host and producer of the French radio show Soft Power, and foreign affairs columnist at Slate.fr. Patsy Baudoin works independently as a translator and developmental editor.
Stonewall - by David Carter (Paperback)
Number of Pages: 336Genre: Social ScienceSub-Genre: LGBT StudiesFormat: PaperbackPublisher: St. Martin's GriffinAge Range: AdultBook theme: Gay StudiesAuthor: David CarterLanguage: English Book Synopsis The basis of the PBS American Experience documentary Stonewall Uprising. In 1969, a series of riots over police action against The Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in New York City's Greenwich Village, changed the longtime landscape of the homosexual in society literally overnight. Since then the event itself has become the stuff of legend, with relatively little hard information available on the riots themselves. Now, based on hundreds of interviews, an exhaustive search of public and previously sealed files, and over a decade of intensive research into the history and the topic, Stonewall: The Riots That Sparked the Gay Revolution brings this singular event to vivid life in this, the definitive story of one of history's most singular events. A Randy Shilts / Publishing Triangle Award Finalist Riveting...Not only the definitive examination of the riots but an absorbing history of pre-Stonewall America, and how the oppression and pent-up rage of those years finally ignited on a hot New York night. - Boston Globe Review Quotes "A terrific piece of nonfiction, a satisfying and illuminating document that will be referred to time and again." --The Advocate "Considering all that went before, the ongoing repression and corruption, and the scent of social and political liberation in the air, Carter's eloquent account makes it clear that something was bound to catch fire...A complete, full-bodied portrait, with lots of flesh on the bones of a strong narrative structure." --Kirkus Reviews "No matter what you may believe about the event, you will gain new insights. Historically important and socially significant." --Dallas Morning News "A gripping, hour-by-hour reconstruction...this definitive account is long overdue but well worth the wait." --Richard Labonte, Bookmarks "Stonewall presents a thorough and often compelling reconstruction of the nearly weeklong protest...provides thoughtful and sometimes delightfully quirky details about the era's gay culture and politics, Greenwich Village itself, and the New Yorkers - from mobsters to flame queens to cops - who that morning stumbled into history." --Providence Journal-Bulletin "A beautifully written, suspenseful narrative that also meets the toughest tests of academic research." --Bay Area Reporter About the Author David Carter (1952-2020) had a varied career as a writer, editor, and filmmaker. He is the author of biographies of Salvador Dali and George Santayana, he edited and compiled Spontaneous Mind, a collection of interviews with Allen Ginsberg, and directed the film Meher Baba in Italy for Peter Townshend. Carter has a B.A. from Emory University and an M.A. from the University of Wisconsin. He lived in Greenwich Village in New York City.
Gay New York - by George Chauncey (Paperback)
Number of Pages: 512Genre: Social ScienceSub-Genre: LGBT StudiesFormat: PaperbackPublisher: Basic BooksAge Range: AdultBook theme: Gay StudiesAuthor: George ChaunceyLanguage: English About the Book Gay New York brilliantly shatters the myth that before the 1960s gay life existed only in the closet, where gay men were isolated, invisible, and self-hating. Drawing on a rich trove of diaries, legal records, and other unpublished documents, George Chauncey constructs a fascinating portrait of a vibrant, cohesive gay world that is not supposed to have existed. Called "monumental" (Washington Post), "unassailable" (Boston Globe), "brilliant" (Nation), and "a first-rate book of history" (New York Times), Gay New York forever changed how we think about the history of gay life in New York City, and beyond. Book Synopsis The award-winning, field-defining history of gay life in New York City in the early to mid-20th century Gay New York brilliantly shatters the myth that before the 1960s gay life existed only in the closet, where gay men were isolated, invisible, and self-hating. Drawing on a rich trove of diaries, legal records, and other unpublished documents, George Chauncey constructs a fascinating portrait of a vibrant, cohesive gay world that is not supposed to have existed. Called monumental (Washington Post), unassailable (Boston Globe), brilliant (The Nation), and a first-rate book of history (The New York Times), Gay New Yorkforever changed how we think about the history of gay life in New York City, and beyond. Review Quotes A brilliant ethnographic analysis.--The NationA brilliantly researched gift of history...unassailable.--Boston GlobeA first-rate book of history...about all urban life, telling us as much about the heterosexual world as about the homosexual one.--New York TimesA stunning contribution not only to gay history, but to the study of urban life, class, gender--and heterosexuality.--KirkusChauncey's genius is the way he combines real lives and theory...a sharp and readable analysis of the way boundaries between 'normal' and 'abnormal' men bent and blurred in the early parts of the century.--OutEven if you are not a devotee of theory or history, you will want to read Gay New York for its profusion of anecdotal detail--its coordinates of a Gay Atlantis, a buried city of Everard Baths, Harlem drag balls, and Vaseline alley. Chauncey has found evidence of a gay world whose complexity and cohesion no previous historian dared to imagine.--Wayne Koestenbaum, Los Angeles TimesGay New York isn't just the definitive history of gays in New York from 1890 through 1940; it's also a wonderful account of the metropolitan character of modern gayness itself.--L.A. Times It's the fun, more than anything--the pleasure, the parties, the high jinks, the sex, and, yes, the love that gay men bear one another--that shines through so brightly...[a book of] erudition, discernment, sympathy, and wit.--New York ObserverMonumental...a vital achievement in redefining and reassessing gay history.--Washington PostOne of the most fascinating works of American social history I've ever read.--Frank Rich, New York TimesThe impact made by this richly textured study is powerful.--Publisher's Weekly About the Author George Chauncey is professor of American history at the University of Chicago and the author of Gay New York: Gender, Urban Culture, and the Making of the Gay Male World, 1890-1940, which won the distinguished Turner and Curti Awards from the Organization of American Historians, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and the Lambda Literary Award. He testified as an expert witness on the history of antigay discrimination at the 1993 trial of Colorado's Amendment Two, which resulted in the Supreme Court's Romer v. Evans decision that antigay rights referenda were unconstitutional, and he was the principal author of the Historians' Amicus Brief, which weighed heavily in the Supreme Court's landmark decision overturning sodomy laws in Lawrence v. Texas (2003). The recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, he lives and works in Chicago.
Gender - (What Everyone Needs to Know) by Laura Erickson-Schroth & Benjamin Davis (Paperback)
Number of Pages: 208Genre: Social ScienceSub-Genre: Gender StudiesSeries Title: What Everyone Needs to KnowFormat: PaperbackPublisher: Oxford University Press, USAAge Range: AdultAuthor: Laura Erickson-Schroth & Benjamin DavisLanguage: English About the Book "Gender is all around us. Beliefs about gender impact our jobs, families, schools, religions, laws, politics, relationships, sports, clothes, and so much more. Gender permeates almost every aspect of our lives as humans. Although this book is part of a series called "What Everyone Needs to Know," it would be impossible to cover everything known about gender in one book, and, since gender is something we all have in common and at the same time all experience differently, a consensus on the "most important" parts of gender differs based on personal experience and interest. In this book we've tried to give you the highlights, so that you can dig deeper on your own if you hit a topic that's interesting to you"-- Book Synopsis The term gender was first distinguished from sex in the 1950s, when psychologists began to discuss the idea of gender roles--behaviors and responsibilities given to people by a society rather than flowing from their biology. Over the last two decades, transgender people have expanded our understanding of gender even further, introducing to the mainstream the concept of gender identity, an individual's understanding of their own gender. Along the way, there have been numerous debates and controversies (i.e., what is the influence of biology on gender, how does the media impact gender and gender roles, and do transgender people reinforce gender stereotypes or help to free us from them?). In an easy-to-read format that includes questions and short responses, Gender: What Everyone Needs to KnowR guides the reader through basic definitions; the history of gender as a concept; the role of biology, psychology, and culture on gender; and gender norms over time and across the globe. About the Author Laura Erickson-Schroth, MD, MA, is a psychiatrist working with LGBTQ people in New York City. She is the editor of Trans Bodies, Trans Selves, an award-winning resource guide written by and for transgender people. She is a former board member of the New York County Psychiatric Society, the Association of Gay and Lesbian Psychiatrists, and GLMA: Health Professionals Advancing LGBT Equality. She has appeared on NPR's Fresh Air and On Point, and was named to Out's OUT100 in 2014. Benjamin Davis, MA, ATR-BC, LCAT, is a psychotherapist and art therapist in New York City specializing in working with queer and trans individuals, couples, and families. In addition to private practice, Benjamin is a faculty member at New York University's Steinhardt School of Education, Culture, and Human Developement, and co-editor of Art Therapy Practices for Resilient Youth: A Strengths-Based Approach to At-Promise Children and Adolescents.
Claiming the B in LGBT - by Kate Harrad & Symon Hill & Juliet Kemp & Fred Langridge & Kaye McLelland & Marcus Morgan & Milena Popova (Paperback)
Number of Pages: 344Genre: Social ScienceSub-Genre: LGBT StudiesFormat: PaperbackPublisher: Thorntree PressAge Range: AdultAuthor: Kate Harrad & Symon Hill & Juliet Kemp & Fred Langridge & Kaye McLelland & Marcus Morgan & Milena PopovaLanguage: English About the Book "A guidebook to the history and future of the bisexual movement. The book combines a chronology of bisexual organizing with essays, poems, and articles detailing the lived experiences of bisexuasl struggling against a dominant culture driven by norms of monosexual attraction, compulsory monogamy, and notions of gender expression and identity"-- Book Synopsis Even as the broader LGBT community enjoys political and societal advances in North America, the bisexual community still today contends with decades of misinformation stereotyping them as innately indecisive, self-loathing, and untrustworthy. Claiming the B in LGBT strives to give bisexuals a seat at the table. This guidebook to the history and future of the bisexual movement fuses a chronology of bisexual organizing with essays, poems, and articles detailing the lived experiences of bisexual activities struggling against a dominant culture driven by norms of monosexual attraction, compulsory monogamy, and inflexible notions of gender expression and identity. Kate Harrad's anthology of a thriving identity yearning to realize itself provides a vision of bisexuality that is beyond gay and straight, rather than left to merely occupy the space between. Review Quotes Announced as 2018 finalist in Foreword Reviews INDIE awards --https: //www.forewordreviews.com/awards/books/claiming-the-b-in-lgbt/"Claiming the B in LGBT: Illuminating the Bisexual Narrative shines as an inclusive, landmark text voicing the beauty, the struggle, the diversity of being bisexual. It should definitely be included on every LGBTQ+ bookshelf." --Bri Kerschner, Bi Women Quarterly"A unique and extraordinary anthology of a thriving identity yearning to realize itself provides a vision of bisexuality that is beyond gay and straight, rather than left to merely occupy the space between." --James A. Cox, Editor-in-Chief, Midwest Book Review About the Author Kate Harrad is a fiction and nonfiction writer, bi activist, event organizer, and parent. Her published works include the novel All Lies and Jest.
The Burning Library - (Vintage International) by Edmund White (Paperback)
Number of Pages: 416Genre: Social ScienceSub-Genre: LGBT StudiesSeries Title: Vintage InternationalFormat: PaperbackPublisher: VintageAge Range: AdultBook theme: Gay StudiesAuthor: Edmund WhiteLanguage: English About the Book Along with his groundbreaking essays that redefine politics, language, identity, and friendship in the light of gay experience and desire, this magisterial collection of 25 years of White's nonfiction writings includes dazzling subversive appreciations of cultural icons as diverse as Truman Capote and Cormac McCarthy, Robert Mapplethorpe and the singer formerly known as Prince. About the Author Edmund White was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1940. His fiction includes the autobiographical trilogy A Boy's Own Story, The Beautiful Room Is Empty, and The Farewell Symphony, as well as Caracole, Forgetting Elena, Nocturnes for the King of Naples, and Skinned Alive, a collection of short stories. He is also the author of a highly acclaimed biography of Jean Genet, a short study of Proust, a travel book about gay America--States of Desire--and Our Paris. He is an officer of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres and teaches at Princeton University. He lives in New York City.
The Hub of the Gay Universe - by Russ Lopez (Paperback)
Number of Pages: 354Genre: Social ScienceSub-Genre: LGBT StudiesFormat: PaperbackPublisher: Shawmut Peninsula PressAge Range: AdultBook theme: GeneralAuthor: Russ LopezLanguage: English About the Book The country's most historic city and most fabulous resort finally get the history book they deserve! Book Synopsis This LGBTQ history of Boston and Provincetown begins with the coming of Europeans to Massachusetts in 1620 and ends with the victory over the referendum to overturn transgender rights in 2018. It includes the many high points of these four hundred years: the torrid romances of nineteenth century actress Charlotte Cushman, the glamorous nightlife of 1950s Boston, the wild times of 1970s Provincetown, and the great outpouring of happiness that accompanied the country's first same-sex marriages. And it describes the tragedies: murders of trans women and gay men, the terrible waves of repression of the 1920s, and the devastation of the AIDS years. It documents how LGBTQ people have been present in the region at least since the coming of Europeans and how LGBTQ people had developed a political consciousness and were advocating for their rights well over a century before Stonewall. This is an important book for anyone who has lived in or visited this historic city and fabulous resort or anyone who cares about the history of LGBTQ people.
Stand by Me - by Jim Downs (Hardcover)
Number of Pages: 272Genre: Social ScienceSub-Genre: LGBT StudiesFormat: HardcoverPublisher: Basic BooksAge Range: AdultBook theme: GeneralAuthor: Jim DownsLanguage: English Book Synopsis From a prominent young historian, the untold story of the rich variety of gay life in America in the 1970s Despite the tremendous gains of the LGBT movement in recent years, the history of gay life in this country remains poorly understood. According to conventional wisdom, gay liberation started with the Stonewall Riots in Greenwich Village in 1969. The 1970s represented a moment of triumph -- both political and sexual -- before the AIDS crisis in the subsequent decade, which, in the view of many, exposed the problems inherent in the so-called gay lifestyle. In Stand by Me, the acclaimed historian Jim Downs rewrites the history of gay life in the 1970s, arguing that the decade was about much more than sex and marching in the streets. Drawing on a vast trove of untapped records at LGBT community centers in Los Angeles, New York, and Philadelphia, Downs tells moving, revelatory stories of gay people who stood together -- as friends, fellow believers, and colleagues -- to create a sense of community among people who felt alienated from mainstream American life. As Downs shows, gay people found one another in the Metropolitan Community Church, a nationwide gay religious group; in the pages of the Body Politic, a newspaper that encouraged its readers to think of their sexuality as a political identity; at the Oscar Wilde Memorial Bookstore, the hub of gay literary life in New York City; and at theaters putting on Gay American History, a play that brought to the surface the enduring problem of gay oppression. These and many other achievements would be largely forgotten after the arrival in the early 1980s of HIV/AIDS, which allowed critics to claim that sex was the defining feature of gay liberation. This reductive narrative set back the cause of gay rights and has shaped the identities of gay people for decades. An essential act of historical recovery, Stand by Me shines a bright light on a triumphant moment, and will transform how we think about gay life in America from the 1970s into the present day. Review Quotes Stand by Me brings the 1970s back to life, not as it is imagined to be, but as it actually was. In compelling prose, Jim Downs has recovered the stories of heroic individuals who risked much to come out, to build community, and to fight for social justice. Some of these episodes are tragic and some inspiring. All of them deserve to be remembered.--John D'Emilio, author of Intimate MattersStand by Me includes massacre and tragedy; its opening chapter is an emotional rehashing of the 1973 arson attack--the most lethal cartnearing of gay people in American history until the June 12 massacre at Orlando's Pulse club--took the lives of 32 men during a religious service.... The passages that grab you most...address the 'usable past, ' which Downs defines as the facets of history that provide gay people with 'legitimacy, meaning, and, most of all, a genealogy to their plight.' And his passion is infectious.--Public BooksStand By Me is a laudable, thoroughly researched corrective to the prevalent idea of gay people in the 1970s as uninvolved, unengaged sex-crazed hedonists.--A & U MagazineStand By Me is not duplicative of other accounts. It is to our movement an equivalent to Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States.--Lambda LiteraryA valuable addition to LGBT and social-change collections.--BooklistDowns capably blends authority and warmth in this thoughtful reexamination of an era.--Boston GlobeDowns has an instinct for historically relevant stories and he tells them well.... In the chapter 'Prison Sounds, ' Downs offers similarly invigorating detective work, digging up aspects of LGBT activism that have eluded most historians.--Boston ReviewDowns infuses great passion and intent in every paragraph, striving to the raise the level of discourse even as he's tossing outmoded ideas aside left and right. This is history as it should be told, as complex and as personal as possible.--Manhattan Book ReviewDowns makes a good case for us to remember that the zeal for liberation in the '70s was deeply and directly informed by feminist politics, and thus was only ever in part, primarily or even strongly, about sexual liberation.... [A] diverting book with considerable virtues.--Gay & Lesbian ReviewFrom the ashes of a horrific fire that engulfed a gay church in New Orleans in 1973, Jim Downs has rescued the history of gay men in the decade after the Stonewall uprising. As this beautiful, and at times haunting, book makes clear, gay men in this period forged intellectually vibrant, spiritually rich, and nourishing communities that not only sustained them through some harrowing and heartwarming times, but that also grew more powerful as the twentieth century became the twenty-first.--Heather Ann Thompson, University of MichiganIn sparking, often moving, prose, Jim Downs rewrites the history of the gay liberation movement in the 1970s. This is an important contribution not only to the history of that struggle but to our understanding of the afterlife of the upheavals of the 1960s.--Eric Foner, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Fiery TrialIntelligent and thought-provoking.--Kirkus ReviewsThe sheer act of Downs' acknowledging that not all gay men subscribed to the popular 'three Big Bs' of the time--'the Bars, Beaches, and Baths'--and found their identity validated and articulated through the communal practices of Christian worship and cultural hubs (like the Oscar Wilde Memorial Bookshop) is a refreshing and invigorating experience. Stand By Me proves a deeply moving read, one that passionately and urgently argues for us to acknowledge some of the forgotten history of gay liberation.--San Francisco ChronicleThis book is informative, sometimes horrifying, interesting and, unlike your old high school history books, it's never dry.--Washington Blade About the Author Jim Downs, is a Mellon New Directions Fellow at Harvard University and an associate professor of history at Connecticut College. The author of the critically acclaimed Sick from Freedom: African-American Illness and Suffering during the Civil War and Reconstruction, he has also written for Time, the Huffington Post, and the New York Times, among other publications. Downs lives in Cambridge, MA.
Beyond Shame - by Patrick Moore (Paperback)
Number of Pages: 264Genre: Social ScienceSub-Genre: LGBT StudiesFormat: PaperbackPublisher: Beacon PressAge Range: AdultBook theme: Gay StudiesAuthor: Patrick MooreLanguage: English Book Synopsis The radical sexuality of gay American men in the 1970s is often seen as a shameful period of excess that led to the AIDS crisis. Beyond Shame claims that when the gay community divorced itself from this allegedly tainted legacy, the tragic result was an intergenerational disconnect because the original participants were unable to pass on a sense of pride and identity to younger generations. Indeed, one reason for the current rise in HIV, Moore argues, is precisely due to this destructive occurrence, which increased the willingness of younger gay men to engage in unsafe sex. Lifting the'veil of AIDS, ' Moore recasts the gay male sexual culture of the 1970s as both groundbreaking and creative-provocatively comparing extreme sex to art. He presents a powerful yet nuanced snapshot of a maligned, forgotten era. Moore rescues gay America's past, present, and future from a disturbing spiral of destruction and AIDS-related shame, illustrating why it's critical for the gay community to reclaim the decade. Review Quotes Moore offers a provocative defense of gay male sex culture in the 1970s as well as a jeremiad on the AIDS holocaust of the 1980s . . . As a detailed examination of the ways in which rage gives depth to art, Moore's book has no peer in recent memory.-Publishers Weekly Patrick Moore's point of departure is as refreshing as it is daring . . . [This] slim polemic retains its unorthodox urgency, calling gay men to return to the sexual vanguard.--Kai Wright, -Out Essential reading for anyone seeking an imaginative interpretation of recent gay history.-Library Journal A provocative, wistful book . . . Moore's yearning is touching and his politics refreshingly incautious-a romantic affection for the entirely unromantic. --Austin Bunn, The Advocate This quietly personal book reclaims the past for young gay men and makes it useable.--Edmund White, author of A Boy's Own Story About the Author Patrick Moore has worked extensively on gay issues as both an activist and a writer. The author of two novels, This Every Night and Iowa, he was the founding director of the Estate Project for Artists with AIDS in New York City. Moore currently lives in Los Angeles, California, and is developing projects for film and television.
Homintern - by Gregory Woods (Paperback)
Number of Pages: 440Genre: Social ScienceSub-Genre: LGBT StudiesFormat: PaperbackPublisher: Yale University PressAge Range: AdultBook theme: Gay StudiesAuthor: Gregory WoodsLanguage: English Book Synopsis Finalist for the Lambda Literary Awards in the LGBTQ Studies category: a landmark account of the seismic changes brought to twentieth-century culture by gay and lesbian networks "An avalanche of stories, ribald gossip, and lengthy asides . . . collectively confirm the book's central thesis: gay culture, or at least gays and lesbians, did indeed liberate the modern world."--Booklist In a hugely ambitious study which crosses continents, languages, and almost a century, Gregory Woods identifies the ways in which homosexuality has helped shape Western culture. Extending from the trials of Oscar Wilde to the gay liberation era, this book examines a period in which increased visibility made acceptance of homosexuality one of the measures of modernity. Woods shines a revealing light on the diverse, informal networks of gay people in the arts and other creative fields. Uneasily called "the Homintern" (an echo of Lenin's "Comintern") by those suspicious of an international homosexual conspiracy, such networks connected gay writers, actors, artists, musicians, dancers, filmmakers, politicians, and spies. While providing some defense against dominant heterosexual exclusion, the grouping brought solidarity, celebrated talent, and, in doing so, invigorated the majority culture. Woods introduces an enormous cast of gifted and extraordinary characters, most of them operating with surprising openness; but also explores such issues as artistic influence, the coping strategies of minorities, the hypocrisies of conservatism, and the effects of positive and negative discrimination. Traveling from Harlem in the 1910s to 1920s Paris, 1930s Berlin, 1950s New York and beyond, this sharply observed, warm-spirited book presents a surpassing portrait of twentieth-century gay culture and the men and women who both redefined themselves and changed history. Review Quotes "Homintern shines a fascinating spotlight on the diverse and informal networks of people who made up the gay communities worldwide which helped to shape art in its many forms over the decades, involving poets, dancers, actors, artists, designers, composers, politicians and spies. . . . This is a book which throws unreasonable prejudice in the trash can where it belongs, clears up misleading myths about gay people, and should be on the reading list of every fresher starting a university degree."--Richard Edmonds, Hiskind--Richard Edmonds "Hiskind" (6/2/2016 12:00:00 AM)"A well-researched, compelling study of how countless gay men have affected, influenced, and restructured the cultural climate for more than a hundred years. . . . An information-heavy book that provides a wonderful resource for those interested in learning about the rise of gay poetics at the onset of the twentieth century."--Kirkus Reviews, Starred Review-- "Kirkus Reviews""Woods is a knowledgeable and entertaining guide."--Caleb Crain, The Guardian--Caleb Crain "Guardian" (5/7/2016 12:00:00 AM)"Delicious, satisfying reading. Even readers knowledgeable about post-Oscar Wilde gay culture are unlikely to read more than a paragraph or two without learning something they did not know, and I cheerfully confess that my most frequent margin note was '!!!' . . . The range and depth of Woods' scholarship are remarkable, but the power of Homintern owes as much to the unabated vitality of his writing."--Tim Pfaff, Bay Area Reporter--Tim Pfaff "Bay Area Reporter""Gregory Woods' Homintern is not just a first-rate work of literary and historical scholarship but a deeply moving narrative in its own right. In its global reach, it has no precedent, yet Woods never sacrifices intimacy for grandeur. In the future I have no doubt that scholars and readers will look to this as an essential text, one of those rare books that make other books possible."--David Leavitt, author of The Man Who Knew Too Much: Alan Turing and the Invention of the Computer--David Leavitt"Without letting the purveyors of clichés about cliquish homosexuals off the hook, this lively history turns those stereotypes on their heads, taking seriously the queer networks that were central to modernism. Richly literary and attentive to networks of both men and women, Homintern also has a wide geographical range. Russian, Scandinavian and South American texts are thoughtfully integrated with accounts of New York, London, Berlin, Paris and their Mediterranean outposts. Gregory Woods writes with an insider's flair, but does not sugarcoat the histories he tells. Frank about self-destructive behavior, he is also sensitive to divisions among sexual minorities along lines of ideology, class and generation."--Christopher Reed, author of Art and Homosexuality: A History of Ideas--Christopher Reed"Woods is a born storyteller, and he tells the story of the interlocking, international gay and lesbian networks in an unflaggingly lively way. This is a book that needs to be published."--David Bergman, author of The Violet Hour and Gay American Autobiography: Writings from Whitman to Sedaris--David Bergman"Woods regales the reader with an avalanche of stories, ribald gossip, and lengthy asides that collectively confirm the book's central thesis: gay culture, or at least gays and lesbians, did indeed liberate the modern world."--Brian Kenney, Booklist--Brian Kenney "Booklist""Woods' history of the 'homintern' is in turn hilarious and horrifying... documents shocking levels of persecution. Homophobia was pervasive and vicious... But this is not a gloomy book. Woods lovingly presents a range of gloriously outrageous gay and lesbian individuals and couples."--Joanna Bourke, BBC History--Joanna Bourke "BBC History Magazine" (4/1/2016 12:00:00 AM)Finalist for the Lambda Literary Awards in the LGBTQ Studies category.--Lambda Literary Awards "Lambda Literary Foundation" (3/16/2017 12:00:00 AM) About the Author Gregory Woods was appointed to Britain's first chair in Gay and Lesbian Studies by Nottingham Trent University in 1998. He lives in Nottingham, UK.
Hello Sailor! - by Jo Stanley & Paul Baker (Paperback)
Number of Pages: 272Genre: Social ScienceSub-Genre: LGBT StudiesFormat: PaperbackPublisher: RoutledgeAge Range: AdultBook theme: Gay StudiesAuthor: Jo Stanley & Paul BakerLanguage: English Book Synopsis When gays had to be closeted, ships were the only places where homosexual men could not only be out but also camp. And on some liners to the sun and the New World, queens and butches had a ball. They sashayed and minced their way across the world's oceans. Never before has the story been told of the masses. These are the thousands of queer seafarers, mainly stewards, who sometimes even outnumbered the straight men in the catering departments of ships that were household names and the pride of the British fleet. Hello Sailor! uniquely shows what it was like to be queer at sea at a time when land meant straightness. From the Back Cover 'From Quentin Crisp cavorting with US marines in 'The Naked Civil Servant' to Jean Genet, Fassbinder and 'Querelle', a celebration of sailors has long been a part of gay culture. But very rarely has it been the subject of serious study. Here at last is the book that puts all that to rights. Thoroughly-researched and engagingly written, 'Hello Sailor' looks beyond the butch, bell-bottomed image and explores the real meaning of gay life for sea-faring men.' Paul Burston, TimeOut"Innovative, revealing and brave, this book peers through previously forbidden portholes and unravels a neglected strand of British history. It tells many fascinating stories of lives lived against the odds " Andy Medhurst, University of Sussex" meticulously researched, cogently argued work of high scholarship producing an endlessly fascinating and finely nuanced examination of the culture and mores of homosexuality afloat This book is greatly to be commended." Dr Campbell McMurray OBE, Director, Royal Naval Museum Review Quotes "What this fascinating book is really about is not 'gay life at sea' in general, but the gay ghettos on many liners and cruiseships during the fifties and sixties." George Melly, The Mail on Sunday "...this path breaking book tells the hidden story of passion and liberation at sea. This is a vital addition to the understanding of gay and sea history." Publishing News "...candid confessions cause the narrative to leap into life." Independent on Sunday. "...a fascinating account." Gay Times "...Hello Sailor! transcends its niche as a piece of gay history and, instead, becomes something that has resonances for all readers, whether gay, straight or something in between." The Observer '...an eminently readable, often amusing and original book...' Journal of Contemporary History, Vol 41, No 1 About the Author Felicia Gordon is at the Cambridgeshire College of Arts and technology. Paul Baker is at Lancaster Univeristy. He is the world's leading writer on Polari, a secret form of language used by gay men, particularly gay sea-farers, in the 1950s and a 1960s. Jo Stanley is known world wide as one of the leading writers on women/gender and the sea, She writes fiction and non-fiction and is most famous for her acclaimed " Bold in her Breeches: Women Pirates Across the Ages " (Rivers Oram Publishing 1999).
Openly Bob - by Bob Smith (Paperback)
Number of Pages: 272Genre: Social ScienceSub-Genre: LGBT StudiesFormat: PaperbackPublisher: Harper PaperbacksAge Range: AdultBook theme: Gay StudiesAuthor: Bob SmithLanguage: English About the Book Acclaimed comedian Bob Smith candidly and humorously tackles issues facing grown-up gays as they make their place in an overwhelmingly straight society. Book Synopsis As an openly gay comic, Bob Smith broke barriers with an appearance on The Tonight Show. Now Smith offers up his own original, whine-free perspective on being grown up and gay.In OPENLY BOB, the acclaimed comedian candidly, and humorously, tackles issues facing grown-up gays as they make their place in an overwhelmingly straight society. From bringing your boyfriend home to your father's funeral, to being the only gay couple at a family wedding, to surviving couples counseling, Smith's decidedly wry spin on the events of our lives resonates with keen observation and hilarious truth.So Mom says to me on the phone, 'Just because you're coming home for your father's funeral doesn't mean we can't have fun!'Sex education, meteor showers, lesbian ventriloquist dummies, fleamarket shopping, body piercing, pot -smoking drag queens, environmental correctness, Judgment Day, Samuel Beckett, Newt Gingrich, Coco Chanel, Sigmund Freud--nothing and no one escapes Smith's incisive eye in this very human collection of comic essays. From the Back Cover In Openly Bob, Bob Smith offers his own original, whine-free perspective on being grown up and gay. From bringing your boyfriend home to your father's funeral, to being the only gay couple at a family wedding, to surviving couples counseling, Smith's unique point of view on the very ordinary events of our lives resonates with keen observation and hilarious truth. Sex education, meteor showers, lesbian ventriloquist dummies, flea-market shopping, body piercing, pot-smoking drag queens, environmental correctness, Judgment Day, Samuel Beckett, Newt Gingrich, Coco Chanel, Sigmund Freud - nothing and no one has been spared Bob Smith's incisive eye in this very human collection of comic essays - from a writer who knows how to serve up a truly fresh slice of American pie. Review Quotes "Bob Smith is a real writer...a trusty and tart guide, and as you'd suspect, a master of the one-line observation...But what readers, gay and straight, will really appreciate are the direct approach and the eye for detail that make this book a touchingly personal document. Smith brings a sensibility and a sensitivity that make this one of the most rewarding gay books of the year." --Lambda Book Report"Hilarious."--Entertainment Weekly."Emotionally powerful, obviously honest...a true heart and a very funny one as well." --San Francisco Chronicle"OPENLY BOB is a dazzlingly funny, semiautobiographical, hardcover one-man show."--Paper"Bob Smith is that rare phenomenon: a hilarious gentile. OPENLY BOB is his wickedly funny diary...Not only is this book entertaining and touching, but it also includes perhaps the finest Lucille Ball anecdote of our time." --Paul Rudnick
Homophobia - by Warren J Blumenfeld (Paperback)
Number of Pages: 318Genre: Social ScienceSub-Genre: LGBT StudiesFormat: PaperbackPublisher: Beacon PressAge Range: AdultBook theme: Gay StudiesAuthor: Warren J BlumenfeldLanguage: English Book Synopsis The hatred of lesbians, gay males, and bisexuals remains an "acceptable" prejudice in our society despite the widespread damage it causes in all our lives. Inviting sexual minorities and heterosexual men and women to become allies in the fight against homophobia, the contributors to this anthology explore how homophobia colludes with sexism by forcing people into rigid gender roles; how homophobia causes unnecessary pain and alienation in family relationships; how it works against health-care policy and arts administration that would benefit all members of society; and how homophobia leaves the promise of religious institutions unfulfilled. In both personal and analytical essays, the contributors show how the fight to end homophobia is everyone's fight if we are to bring about a less oppressive and more productive society. They offer concrete suggestions for transforming attitudes, behaviors, and institutions. Review Quotes 'This invaluable collection of essays makes forcefully clear that homophobia stunts the hater even as it oppresses the hated. In a country like ours, so intolerant of differentness, there can be no more important message.'--Martin Duberman About the Author Warren Blumenfield is a writer and gay activist who frequently conducts antihomophobia workshops in schools, businesses, and other institutions. He is also the coauthor of Looking at Gay and Lesbian Life.
Butch Heroes - (Mit Press) by Ria Brodell (Hardcover)
Number of Pages: 96Genre: Social ScienceSub-Genre: LGBT StudiesSeries Title: Mit PressFormat: HardcoverPublisher: MIT PressAge Range: AdultBook theme: GeneralAuthor: Ria BrodellLanguage: English About the Book Portraits and texts recover lost queer history: the lives of people who didn't conform to gender norms, from the fifteenth through the twentieth centuries. Book Synopsis Portraits and texts recover lost queer history: the lives of people who didn't conform to gender norms, from the fifteenth through the twentieth centuries."A serious--and seriously successful--queer history recovery project."--Publishers WeeklyKatherina Hetzeldorfer, tried "for a crime that didn't have a name" (same sex sexual relations) and sentenced to death by drowning in 1477; Charles aka Mary Hamilton, publicly whipped for impersonating a man in eighteenth-century England; Clara, aka "Big Ben," over whom two jealous women fought in 1926 New York: these are just three of the lives that the artist Ria Brodell has reclaimed for queer history in Butch Heroes. Brodell offers a series of twenty-eight portraits of forgotten but heroic figures, each accompanied by a brief biographical note. They are individuals who were assigned female at birth but whose gender presentation was more masculine than feminine, who did not want to enter into heterosexual marriage, and who often faced dire punishment for being themselves. Brodell's detailed and witty paintings are modeled on Catholic holy cards, slyly subverting a religious template. The portraits and the texts offer intriguing hints of lost lives: cats lounge in the background of domestic settings; one of the figures is said to have been employed variously as "a prophet, a soldier, or a textile worker"; another casually holds a lit cigarette. Brodell did extensive research for each portrait, piecing together a life from historical accounts, maps, journals, paintings, drawings, and photographs, finding the heroic in the forgotten. Review Quotes Visual artist Brodell delivers an ambitious and wonderfully celebratory ode to the lives of 28 people over many centuries 'assigned female at birth' who 'had documented relationships with women, and whose gender presentation was more masculine than feminine...This is a serious--and seriously successful--queer history recovery project.--Publishers Weekly--Butch Heroes is a fascinating, intersectional, feminist art-text project, and overall a rather wonderful reclamatory book of LGBT history that subvert and resonates in the human psyche. --The Advocate--The portraits give homage to contemporary ideas of queer ancestry, and in doing so give strength to trans and non-binary communities currently under attack. That makes Butch Heroes worth celebrating.--Into--Brodell has created a frank, compelling, sensitive, and celebratory compendium of gender-role pioneers, telling the stories and shining light into a corner of history that has long been in darkness.--Boston Globe--Brodell has created a frank, compelling, sensitive, and celebratory compendium of gender-role pioneers, telling the stories and shining light into a corner of history that has long been in darkness.--Boston Globe--Butch Heroes is beautifully designed.--PopMatters--These stories reveal the lives of gender non-conforming individuals from many eras in history who stayed true to themselves despite living under the narrowly defined rules and roles governing gender in their particular culture.--The Gay & Lesbian Review--A splendid and insightful collection.--Lavender--
Strangers - by Graham Robb (Paperback)
Number of Pages: 370Genre: Social ScienceSub-Genre: LGBT StudiesFormat: PaperbackPublisher: W. W. Norton & CompanyAge Range: AdultBook theme: Gay StudiesAuthor: Graham RobbLanguage: English About the Book A fresh examination of this forbidden history shows the profound effects of gay culture on modern life. Robb, brilliant biographer of Balzac, Hugo, and Rimbaud, examines how homosexuals were treated by society and finds a tale of surprising tolerance. Book Synopsis The nineteenth century was a golden age for those people known variously as sodomites, Uranians, monosexuals, and homosexuals. Long before Stonewall and Gay Pride, there was such a thing as gay culture, and it was recognized throughout Europe and America. Graham Robb, brilliant biographer of Balzac, Hugo, and Rimbaud, examines how homosexuals were treated by society and finds a tale of surprising tolerance. He describes the lives of gay men and women: how they discovered their sexuality and accepted or disguised it; how they came out; how they made contact with like-minded people. He also includes a fascinating investigation of the encrypted homosexuality of such famous nineteenth-century sleuths as Edgar Allan Poe's Auguste Dupin and Sherlock Holmes himself (with glances forward in time to Batman and J. Edgar Hoover). Finally, Strangers addresses crucial questions of gay culture, including the riddle of its relationship to religion: Why were homosexuals created with feelings that the Creator supposedly condemns? This is a landmark work, full of tolerant wisdom, fresh research, and surprises. Review Quotes "A work of enormous value.... Robb makes some startling and bold findings."
Cures - 10th Edition by Martin Duberman (Paperback)
Number of Pages: 336Genre: Social ScienceSub-Genre: LGBT StudiesFormat: PaperbackPublisher: Basic BooksAge Range: AdultBook theme: Gay StudiesAuthor: Martin DubermanLanguage: English About the Book For this anniversary edition, Duberman has written a new Preface chapter and an Afterword, bringing his life (and, more broadly, the gay experience in America today) up to date, discussing such issues as gay rights, same-sex marriage, gay scholarship, and AIDS. Book Synopsis This is the tenth anniversary edition of Cures: A Gay Man's Odyssey, Martin Duberman's classic memoir of growing up gay in pre-Stonewall America. The tale of his desperate struggle to cure himself of his homosexuality through psychotherapy is utterly frank and deeply moving. But Cures is more than one man's story; it's the vivid, witty account of a generation, of changing times, shifting social attitudes, and the rising tide of protest against received wisdom. For this tenth anniversary edition, Duberman has written a substantial new afterword that updates both his personal history and the ongoing struggle for a more just society. About the Author Martin Duberman is Distinguished Professor of History at the City University of New York and Founding Director of the Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies.
Passions Between Women - by Emma Donoghue (Paperback)
Number of Pages: 362Genre: Social ScienceSub-Genre: LGBT StudiesFormat: PaperbackPublisher: Policy PressAge Range: AdultBook theme: Lesbian StudiesAuthor: Emma DonoghueLanguage: English Book Synopsis Passions Between Women looks at stories of lesbian desires, acts and identities from the Restoration to the beginning of the nineteenth century. Far from being invisible, the figure of the woman who felt passion for women in this period was a subject of confusion and contradiction: she could be put in a freak show as a 'hermaphrodite', denounced as a 'tribade' or 'lesbian', revered as a 'romantic friend', jailed as a 'female husband' or gossiped about as a 'woman-lover', 'tommy' or 'Sapphist'. Through an examination of a wealth of new medical, legal and erotic source material, together with re-readings of classics of English literature, Emma Donoghue uncovers the astonishing range of lesbian and bisexual identities described in British texts between 1668 and 1801. Female pirates and spiritual mentors, chambermaids and queens, poets and prostitutes, country idylls and whipping clubs all take their place in an intriguing panorama of lesbian lives and loves. 'Controversial, erotic and radical, Emma Donoghue's lesbian voyage of exploration outlines an astonishing spectrum of gender rebellion which creates a new map of eighteenth-century sexual territories and identities.' Patricia Duncker
Out for Good - by Dudley Clendinen & Adam Nagourney (Paperback)
Number of Pages: 720Genre: Social ScienceSub-Genre: LGBT StudiesFormat: PaperbackPublisher: Simon & SchusterAge Range: AdultBook theme: Gay StudiesAuthor: Dudley Clendinen & Adam NagourneyLanguage: English Book Synopsis The definitive account of the gay rights movement, Dudley Clendinen and Adam Nagourney's Out for Good is comprehensive, authoritative, and excellently written. This is the definitive account of the last great struggle for equal rights in the twentieth century. From the birth of the modern gay rights movement in 1969, at the Stonewall riots in New York, through 1988, when the gay rights movement was eclipsed by the more urgent demands of AIDS activists, this is the remarkable and--until now--untold story of how a largely invisible population of men and women banded together to create their place in America's culture and government. Told through the voices of gay activists and their opponents, filled with dozens of colorful characters, Out for Good traces the emergence of gay rights movements in cities across the country and their transformation into a national force that changed the face of America forever. Out for Good is the unforgettable chronicle of an important--and nearly lost--chapter in American history. Review Quotes Doris Kearns Goodwin Out for Good is the monumental story, told with exquisite writing, vivid detail, and a grand narrative sweep, of one of the most important movements of the twentieth century.Doug Ireland The Philadelphia Inquirer Clendinen and Nagourney have performed a valuable service for all of those who weren't around during most of the thirty years of painful but joyous struggle.Jonathan Rauch Los Angeles Times Book Review The story...is told with political acumen, reportorial vividness, and narrative flair. [Out for Good] is a remarkable accomplishment.Shane Harrison The Atlanta Journal-Constitution What Clendinen and Nagourney have created is an invaluable document, impressively researched, remarkably well written, and groundbreaking in scope. About the Author Dudley Clendinen (1944-2012) wrote for The New York Times, The New Yorker, and many other publications. He was the editor of a book of essays, The Prevailing South; author of A Place Called Canterbury; and author of the text of a book of photographs, Homeless in America. Adam Nagourney has been a reporter for The New York Times since 1996. He served as the newspaper's chief political correspondent from 2002 to 2010, and is currently the chief of its Los Angeles Bureau. He lives in Los Angeles.
I'm Afraid of Men - by Vivek Shraya (Hardcover)
Number of Pages: 96Genre: Social ScienceSub-Genre: Gender StudiesFormat: HardcoverPublisher: Penguin Books CanadaAge Range: AdultAuthor: Vivek ShrayaLanguage: English About the Book "A powerful meditation on the damaging effects of masculinity from a trans girl--a writer with celebrated indie roots and a knack for dismantling assumptions and challenging the status quo. Toxic masculinity takes many insidious forms, from misogyny and sexual harassment to homophobia, transphobia, and bullying. Vivek Shraya has firsthand experience with nearly all of them. As a boy, Vivek exhibited "feminine" qualities. The men in her life immediately and violently disapproved. They taught her to fear the word girl by turning it into a weapon used to hurt her. They taught her to hate her femininity, to destroy the best parts of herself. In order to survive, Vivek had to learn to convincingly perform masculinity. As a girl, she's still afraid. Having spent years undoing the damage and salvaging her lost girlhood, she is haunted by the violence of men, seldom dressing the way she wants in public. As a result she is often still perceived as male, stirring feelings of guilt and self-doubt: Am I not feminine enough? Is this my fault for striving to be the perfect man and excelling at it? I'm Afraid of Men is a culmination of the years Vivek spent observing men and creating her own version of manhood. Through deeply personal reflection, she offers a rare and multifaceted perspective on gender and a hopeful reimagining of masculinity at a time when it's needed more than ever"-- Book Synopsis Named a Best Book by: The Globe and Mail, Indigo, Out Magazine, Audible, CBC, Apple, Quill & Quire, Kirkus Reviews, Brooklyn Public Library, Writers' Trust of Canada, Autostraddle, Bitch, and BookRiot. Finalist for the 2019 Lambda Literary Award, Transgender NonfictionNominated for the 2019 Forest of Reading Evergreen AwardWinner of the 2018 Alcuin Society Awards for Excellence in Book Design - Prose Non-Fiction Cultural rocket fuel. --Vanity Fair Emotional and painful but also layered with humour, I'm Afraid of Men will widen your lens on gender and challenge you to do better. This challenge is a necessary one--one we must all take up. It is a gift to dive into Vivek's heart and mind. --Rupi Kaur, bestselling author of The Sun and Her Flowers and Milk and Honey A trans artist explores how masculinity was imposed on her as a boy and continues to haunt her as a girl--and how we might reimagine gender for the twenty-first century. Vivek Shraya has reason to be afraid. Throughout her life she's endured acts of cruelty and aggression for being too feminine as a boy and not feminine enough as a girl. In order to survive childhood, she had to learn to convincingly perform masculinity. As an adult, she makes daily compromises to steel herself against everything from verbal attacks to heartbreak. Now, with raw honesty, Shraya delivers an important record of the cumulative damage caused by misogyny, homophobia, and transphobia, releasing trauma from a body that has always refused to assimilate. I'm Afraid of Men is a journey from camouflage to a riot of colour and a blueprint for how we might cherish all that makes us different and conquer all that makes us afraid. Review Quotes Finalist for the 2019 Lambda Literary Award, Transgender NonfictionWinner of the 2018 Alcuin Society Awards for Excellence in Book Design - Prose Non-Fiction Named a Best Book by: The Globe and Mail, Indigo, Out Magazine, Audible, CBC, Apple, Quill & Quire, Kirkus Reviews, Brooklyn Public Library, Writers' Trust of Canada, Autostraddle, Bitch, and BookRiot. "Vivek Shraya transforms her long-festering fears of men into cultural rocket fuel ... Shraya's dispatches from the frontlines of life as a queer, trans woman of color are frequently illuminating, painfully honest, and, in spite of everything, hopeful."--Vanity Fair "Emotional and painful but also layered with humour, I'm Afraid of Men will widen your lens on gender and challenge you to do better. This challenge is a necessary one--one we must all take up. It is a gift to dive into Vivek's heart and mind."--Rupi Kaur, bestselling author of The Sun and Her Flowers and Milk and Honey "Brilliant, funny, and deeply vulnerable, Shraya's I'm Afraid of Men is both a moving memoir and a rallying cry for a better future. Her insights on the myriad ways the binary oppresses and denigrates are invaluable and resonant. I adore this book." --Jill Soloway"In I'm Afraid of Men, Vivek Shraya owns and exposes her own history with masculinity and offers a way out of this harmful and old-fashioned binary we call gender. My head nodded along quietly in agreement any time I wasn't wiping away rising tides of tears. Vivek Shraya is a superior voice, and this book is essential reading for everyone."--Tegan Quin of Tegan and Sara "Vivek Shraya's writing is always empathetic but challenging, kind but sharp, and I'm Afraid of Men forces you to confront what you think you know about masculinity, privilege, and fear. Reading Shraya's writing will make you a better person, through and through."--Scaachi Koul, author of One Day We'll All Be Dead and None of This Will Matter"Shraya crafts each of her memories in prose made poetic with touches of metaphor. She writes with honesty and vulnerability, all the while asking challenging and personal questions that inspire deeper reflection. This crucial addition to shelves offers the vital and often ignored perspective of a trans woman of color. A book to carry with you."--Kirkus Reviews (starred review) "Anyone who has ever looked behind them when walking at night, avoided eye contact with strangers or wiped off a lipstick for being too bold--so, all of us--should read this mini-manifesto."--Elle Canada "A gift and a hell of a book--beautiful, intimate, insightful, and essential."--Jesse Wente, NOW Magazine "Viscerally powerful ... creating tectonic fissures into antiquated beliefs around gender identity."--Toronto Star About the Author VIVEK SHRAYA is an artist whose body of work crosses the boundaries of music, literature, visual art, theatre, and film. Her bestselling book I'm Afraid of Men was heralded by Vanity Fair as cultural rocket fuel, and her album with Queer Songbook Orchestra, Part-Time Woman, was nominated for the Polaris Music Prize. The founder of the publishing imprint VS. Books, Shraya is a six-time Lambda Literary Award finalist, a director on the board of the Tegan and Sara Foundation, and an Assistant Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Calgary. She's currently adapting her debut play, How to Fail As a Popstar, into a television pilot script with the support of CBC.
The Gay Revolution - by Lillian Faderman (Paperback)
Number of Pages: 832Genre: Social ScienceSub-Genre: LGBT StudiesFormat: PaperbackPublisher: Simon & SchusterAge Range: AdultBook theme: Gay StudiesAuthor: Lillian FadermanLanguage: English Book Synopsis "This is the history of the gay and lesbian movement that we've been waiting for." --The Washington Post The sweeping story of the struggle for gay and lesbian rights--based on amazing interviews with politicians, military figures, and members of the entire LGBT community who face these challenges every day. The fight for gay and lesbian civil rights--the years of outrageous injustice, the early battles, the heart-breaking defeats, and the victories beyond the dreams of the gay rights pioneers--is the most important civil rights issue of the present day. In "the most comprehensive history to date of America's gay-rights movement" (The Economist), Lillian Faderman tells this unfinished story through the dramatic accounts of passionate struggles with sweep, depth, and feeling. The Gay Revolution begins in the 1950s, when gays and lesbians were criminals, psychiatrists saw them as mentally ill, churches saw them as sinners, and society victimized them with hatred. Against this dark backdrop, a few brave people began to fight back, paving the way for the revolutionary changes of the 1960s and beyond. Faderman discusses the protests in the 1960s; the counter reaction of the 1970s and early eighties; the decimated but united community during the AIDS epidemic; and the current hurdles for the right to marriage equality. "A compelling read of a little-known part of our nation's history, and of individuals whose stories range from heart-wrenching to inspiring to enraging to motivational" (Chicago Tribune), The Gay Revolution paints a nuanced portrait of the LGBT civil rights movement. A defining account, this is the most complete and authoritative book of its kind.
Pride - by Matthew Todd (Hardcover)
Number of Pages: 192Genre: Social ScienceSub-Genre: LGBT StudiesFormat: HardcoverPublisher: Weldon OwenAge Range: AdultBook theme: GeneralAuthor: Matthew ToddLanguage: English Book Synopsis For 50 years, people have flocked to San Francisco for the annual Pride Parade, a beloved event that serves as a celebration and demonstration for legal rights such as same-sex marriage. Pride explores the history of the LGBTQ movement including events such as Stonewall and the global explosion in Pride Parades, and is a comprehensive account of the ongoing challenges facing the LGBTQ community. Pride documents the milestones in the fight for equality, from the victories of early activists, to the gradual acceptance of the LGBTQ+ community in politics, sports, and the media and the landmark court cases that helped to ban discrimination, permit marriage, and help in the fight for equality. Includes personal testimonies from: Travis Alabanza, Bisi Alimi, Georgina Beyer, Jonathan Blake, Deborah Brin, Maureen Duffy, David Furnish, Nan Goldin, Asifa Lahore, Paris Lees, Lewis Oakley, Reverend Troy Perry, Darryl Pinckney, Jake Shears, Judy Shepard, and Will Young. About the Author Matthew Todd was editor of Attitude magazine from 2008 to 2016. His first book, Straight Jacket, was shortlisted for the Polari Prize 2017 and was voted winner of the Boyz LGBT Book of the Year Award. His play, Blowing Whistles, has been performed in the UK, Australia, and the United States. He was named Editor of the Year 2011 and 2015 by the British Society of Magazine Editors and Stonewall Journalist.
Gay Gotham - by Donald Albrecht (Hardcover)
Number of Pages: 304Genre: Social ScienceSub-Genre: LGBT StudiesFormat: HardcoverPublisher: Skira RizzoliAge Range: AdultBook theme: GeneralAuthor: Donald AlbrechtLanguage: English About the Book Examines the countercultural artistic communities that sprang up in New York over the last hundred years. Starting with the bohemian era of the 1910s and 1920s, when the pansy craze drew voyeurs of all types to Greenwich Village and Harlem, the book winds through midcentury Broadway as well as Fire Island as it emerged as a hotbed, turns to the post-Stonewall, decade-long party that revolved around clubs like the Mineshaft and Studio 54, and continues all the way through the activist mobilization spurred by the AIDS crisis and the move toward acceptance at the century's close. Book Synopsis Uncovering the lost history of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender artists in New York City. Queer people have always flocked to New York seeking freedom, forging close-knit groups for support and inspiration. Gay Gotham brings to life the countercultural artistic communities that sprang up over the last hundred years, a creative class whose radical ideas would determine much of modern culture. More than 200 images--both works of art, such as paintings and photographs, as well as letters, snapshots, and ephemera--illuminate their personal bonds, scandal-provoking secrets at the time and many largely unknown to the public since. Starting with the bohemian era of the 1910s and 1920s, when the pansy craze drew voyeurs of all types to Greenwich Village and Harlem, the book winds through midcentury Broadway as well as Fire Island as it emerged as a hotbed, turns to the post-Stonewall, decade-long wild party that revolved around clubs like the Mineshaft and Studio 54, and continues all the way through the activist mobilization spurred by the AIDS crisis and the move toward acceptance at the century's close. Throughout, readers encounter famous figures, from James Baldwin and Mae West to Leonard Bernstein, and discover lesser-known ones, such as Harmony Hammond, Greer Lankton, and Richard Bruce Nugent. Surprising relationships emerge: Andy Warhol and Mercedes de Acosta, Robert Mapplethorpe and Cecil Beaton, George Platt Lynes and Gertrude Stein. By peeling back the overlapping layers of this cultural network that thrived despite its illicitness, this groundbreaking publication reveals a whole new side of the history of New York and celebrates the power of artistic collaboration to transcend oppression. Review Quotes . . . awash in photographs while encompassing a great deal of the cultural contributions of New York City's nonstraight denizens.--The New York Times As Gay Gotham admirably documents, in 20th-century New York pioneering gay and lesbian artists had to cultivate networks of patrons, mentors, peers, and lovers to find needed validation and support. The result was not just a thriving underground culture in the city, but an outpouring of art, literature, dance, theater, music, and design that changed the cultural landscape of New York and beyond.--Gay And Lesbian Review This intimate look inside a century of gay counterculture is riveting...--Metrosource NY A book that not only celebrates a vibrant and sometimes heartbreaking movement and city, but also encapsulates it for future generations--Indulge Magazine This volume is a visual extravaganza of rare photographs and art from the gay undergrounds; it rescues and explores GLBTQueer history that has been summarily erased or ignored but is nonetheless an indelible part of New York's arts and cultural heritage.--New York Journal of Books It includes more than 350 images, illustrations and background essays on the social and cultural themes of the LGBT artistic underground, as well as portraits of the show's iconic artistic figures.--Reviews by Amos Lassen About the Author Donald Albrecht is the curator of architecture and design at the Museum of the City of New York and the author of many books, including Cecil Beaton: The New York Years.
Out of the Shadows - by Walt Odets (Paperback)
Number of Pages: 368Genre: Social ScienceSub-Genre: LGBT StudiesFormat: PaperbackPublisher: Picador USAAge Range: AdultBook theme: Gay StudiesAuthor: Walt OdetsLanguage: English Book Synopsis A moving exploration of how gay men construct their identities, fight to be themselves, and live authentically It goes without saying that even today, it's not easy to be gay in America. While young gay men often come out more readily, even those from the most progressive of backgrounds still struggle with the legacy of early-life stigma and a deficit of self-acceptance, which can fuel doubt, regret, and, at worst, self-loathing. And this is to say nothing of the ongoing trauma wrought by AIDS, which is all too often relegated to history. Drawing on his work as a clinical psychologist during and in the aftermath of the epidemic, Walt Odets reflects on what it means to survive and figure out a way to live in a new, uncompromising future, both for the men who endured the upheaval of those years and for the younger men who have come of age since then, at a time when an HIV epidemic is still ravaging the gay community, especially among the most marginalized. Through moving stories--of friends and patients, and his own--Odets considers how experiences early in life launch men on trajectories aimed at futures that are not authentically theirs. He writes to help reconstruct how we think about gay life by considering everything from the misleading idea of "the homosexual," to the diversity and richness of gay relationships, to the historical role of stigma and shame and the significance of youth and of aging. Crawling out from under the trauma of destructive early-life experience and the two epidemics, and into a century of shifting social values, provides an opportunity to explore possibilities rather than live with limitations imposed by others. Though it is drawn from decades of private practice, activism, and life in the gay community, Odets's work achieves remarkable universality. At its core, Out of the Shadows is driven by his belief that it is time that we act based on who we are and not who others are or who they would want us to be. We--particularly the young--must construct our own paths through life. Out of the Shadows is a necessary, impassioned argument for how and why we must all take hold of our futures. Review Quotes [Odets's] writing is poignant and achingly beautiful--so much so, in fact, that I occasionally had to put the book down to avoid weeping on the subway. There's sadness in Odets's life story, but there's mostly resilience, tenderness and a willingness to fashion an unapologetic gay life, sometimes against all odds. (The exquisitely told story of Odets's longtime friend and lover, who fled a trailer he shared with a brutally homophobic family and built a life bursting with meaning and intimacy, is the most compelling story of gay self-actualization I've ever encountered.) --Benoit Denizet-Lewis, The New York Times Book Review "Odets' trifecta of social commentary, memoir and therapeutic analysis is an astute statement on how to overcome trauma, loss and isolation to live a proud, self-actualized and fulfilling existence as a gay man . . . The final two chapters in which he describes the long road to coming out and his deep love for his lifelong companion, Matthias, and Matthias' partner, Hank, are some of the most on-point and beautifully written thoughts on love, acceptance and family I've read in some time." --Alexis Burling, San Francisco Chronicle [A] fascinating exploration of gay male lives . . . Odets's warm and lyrical voice, his inspiring picture of how imaginative gay life can be, has sent me queuing for the couch. I have a feeling that many other readers will follow. --Marcus Field, London Evening Standard A book full of heart . . . Impressively sound and based on a wealth of research and experience. --Steven Cordova, Lambda Literary "[A] soaring combination of social critique, memoir, and manifesto . . . [Odets's] discussions of gay men's sexual expression and relationships are frank, compassionate, and open-minded . . . Odets's greatest strengths are his moving prose and ability to make the psychological material accessible and as fascinating and thought-provoking as the poignant stories. Gay men will find much to ponder here, but any reader can find meaning in this extraordinary, stirring invitation to re-examine assumptions about what it means to be gay and to have a good life." --Publishers Weekly (starred review) "An insightful and thought-provoking book . . . A luminous humanity shines through, never more so than in the final chapter, the author's highly empathetic, memorable story of the three men he has loved. --Michael Cart, Booklist "[Walt Odets's] writing is perceptive and honest . . . This is an encouraging and deeply compelling study of how gay men can build meaningful identities." --Kirkus Reviews About the Author Walt Odets is a clinical psychologist and writer. He is the author of In the Shadow of the Epidemic: Being HIV-Negative in the Age of AIDS, and has also contributed chapters to seven anthologies about the lives of gay men. He lives in Berkeley, where he has practiced psychology since 1987.
Pride - by The New York Times (Hardcover)
Number of Pages: 224Genre: Social ScienceSub-Genre: LGBT StudiesFormat: HardcoverPublisher: Abrams ImageAge Range: AdultBook theme: GeneralAuthor: The New York TimesLanguage: English Book Synopsis It began in New York City on June 28, 1969. When police raided the Stonewall Inn--a bar in the Greenwich Village neighborhood, known as a safe haven for gay men--violent demonstrations and protests broke out in response. The Stonewall Riots, as they would come to be known, were the first spark in the wildfire that would become the LGBTQ rights revolution. Fifty years later, the LGBTQ community and its supporters continue to gather every June to commemorate this historic event. Here, collected for the first time by The New York Times, is a powerful visual history of five decades of parades and protests of the LGBTQ rights movement. These photos, paired with descriptions of major events from each decade as well as selected reporting from The Times, showcase the victories, setbacks, and ongoing struggles for the LGBTQ community. Review Quotes "This book is a powerful visual history of five decades of parades and protests for equality. Educational and visually enriching, complete with photos from The New York Times, this book is the perfect companion for any coffee table."-- "BookTrib""To take in the breadth of [PRIDE's] contents - to see the scope of LGBTQ+ rights, from the first Christopher Street Day march in 1970 to protests for transgender rights just last year - is to witness the power of visibility firsthand."-- "them."
Familiar Faces Hidden Lives - by Howard Brown (Paperback)
Number of Pages: 264Genre: Social ScienceSub-Genre: LGBT StudiesFormat: PaperbackPublisher: Mariner BooksAge Range: AdultBook theme: Gay StudiesAuthor: Howard BrownLanguage: English Book Synopsis A former senior health-services official speaks honestly and plainly about what it is like to be gay in America. A classic of gay history. Introduction by Randy Shilts.
Global Gay - (Mit Press) by Frederic Martel (Hardcover)
Number of Pages: 296Genre: Social ScienceSub-Genre: LGBT StudiesSeries Title: Mit PressFormat: HardcoverPublisher: MIT PressAge Range: AdultBook theme: GeneralAuthor: Frederic MartelLanguage: English About the Book A panoramic view of gay rights, gay life, and the gay experience around the world. Book Synopsis A panoramic view of gay rights, gay life, and the gay experience around the world.In Global Gay, Frédéric Martel visits more than fifty countries and documents a revolution underway around the world: the globalization of LGBT rights. From Saudi Arabia to South Africa, from Amsterdam to Tel Aviv, from Singapore to the United States, activists, culture warriors, and ordinary people are part of a movement. Martel interviews the proprietor of a "gay-friendly" café in Amman, Jordan; a Cuban-American television journalist in Fort Lauderdale, Florida; a South African jurist who worked with Nelson Mandela to enshrine gay rights in the country's constitution; an American lawyer who worked on the campaign for marriage equality; an Egyptian man who fled his country after escaping a raid on a gay club; and many others. He tells us that in China, homosexuality is neither prohibited nor permitted, and that much Chinese gay life takes place on social media; that in Iran, because of the strict separation of the sexes, it seems almost easier to be gay than heterosexual; and that Raul Castro's daughter, a gay rights icon in Cuba, expressed her lingering anti-American sentiments by calling for Pride celebrations in May rather than June. Ten countries maintain the death penalty for homosexuals. "Homophobia is what Arab governments give to Islamists to keep them calm," one activist tells Martel.Martel finds that although the "gay American way of life" has created a global template for gay activism and culture, each country offers distinctly local variations. And around the world, the status of gay rights has become a measure of a country's democracy and modernity.This English edition, which has been thoroughly revised and updated, has received the French Voices Award for excellence in publication and translation, supported by a grant from the French-American Book Fund. Review Quotes Illuminating and heart-rendering.--Andrew Holleran, Gay and Lesbian Review--Illuminating and heart-rendering.--Gay and Lesbian Review-- About the Author Frédéric Martel, a researcher at Sciences-Po Paris and ZHdK Zurich, is the author of nine books, the host and producer of the French radio show Soft Power, and foreign affairs columnist at Slate.fr. Patsy Baudoin works independently as a translator and developmental editor.
Taking a Chance on God - 2nd Edition by John J McNeill (Paperback)
Number of Pages: 238Genre: Social ScienceSub-Genre: LGBT StudiesFormat: PaperbackPublisher: Beacon PressAge Range: AdultBook theme: Gay StudiesAuthor: John J McNeillLanguage: English Book Synopsis Taking a Chance on God explores how lesbians and gay men can claim both a positive gay identity and a fulfilling life of Christian faith. From the Back Cover The second book in John McNeill's pathbreaking trilogy for lesbian and gay Christians, Taking a Chance on God brings a gay perspective to fundamental Christian questions: How can we understand suffering and death? How can we overcome fear, anger, and guilt? What does it mean to love God? What gifts do we bring to the body of Christ? Review Quotes McNeill draws on the insights of the gay and lesbian liberation movement, his counseling experience with lesbian and gay people, and a variety of faith traditions--Catholic, mainstream Protestant, Evangelical and other world religions--to produce a unique, comprehensive, life-giving ethic.--Equal Time Taking a Chance on God offers insights into human relationships and human health from which all persons, whether homosexual or heterosexual, can learn.--America About the Author John J. McNeill (1925-2015) was an ordained priest and practicing psychotherapist. In 1987, he was expelled from the Society of Jesus for refusing to cease his ministry to gay men and lesbians. He received a doctorate in philosophy from Louvain University in Belgium and taught philosophy and theology at Fordham University, Union Theological Seminary, and other institutions. McNeill was the author of several works on theology and sexuality, including Taking a Chance on God and Freedom, Glorious Freedom.
We Are Everywhere - by Matthew Riemer & Leighton Brown (Hardcover)
Number of Pages: 368Genre: Social ScienceSub-Genre: LGBT StudiesFormat: HardcoverPublisher: Ten Speed PressAge Range: AdultBook theme: GeneralAuthor: Matthew Riemer & Leighton BrownLanguage: English Book Synopsis Have pride in history. A rich and sweeping photographic history of the Queer Liberation Movement, from the creators and curators of the massively popular Instagram account LGBT History. "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 "Probably the best coffee-table book ever created."--Los Angeles Review of Books "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 Matthew Riemer and Leighton Brown, creators of Instagram's LGBT History, live in Washington, D.C., where Leighton is an attorney and Matthew, a former attorney, is a writer and lecturer. They enjoy fighting fascists, spending time with their dog, and disrupting fundamentalists' worldviews. We Are Everywhere is the couple's first book.
Close to the Knives - by David Wojnarowicz (Paperback)
Number of Pages: 288Genre: Social ScienceSub-Genre: LGBT StudiesFormat: PaperbackPublisher: VintageAge Range: AdultBook theme: Gay StudiesAuthor: David WojnarowiczLanguage: English Book Synopsis In Close to the Knives, David Wojnarowicz gives us an important and timely document: a collection of creative essays -- a scathing, sexy, sublimely humorous and honest personal testimony to the Fear of Diversity in America. From the author's violent childhood in suburbia to eventual homelessness on the streets and piers of New York City, to recognition as one of the most provocative artists of his generation -- Close to the Knives is his powerful and iconoclastic memoir. Street life, drugs, art and nature, family, AIDS, politics, friendship and acceptance: Wojnarowicz challenges us to examine our lives -- politically, socially, emotionally, and aesthetically. From the Back Cover 'Everyone should read Close To The Knives to understand the overall political agenda behind suffering, whether that suffering occurs because of a dysfunctional family, religion, or government. Wojnarowicz explores all of his painful life experiences as a plea for all of us to become more compassionate and caring human beings. This isn't just David's story, it's our story, our nation's story.' Review Quotes "David Wojnarowicz is brilliantly attuned to American talk and responsive to the moods and innovations of society's truants. He also has the best conscience of any writer I know. This fierce, erotic, haunting, truthful book should be given to every teenager immediately." -- Dennis Cooper "Wojnarowicz's writing fairly smokes with acrid ironies. It's passionate and personal." -- New York "Everyone should read Close to the Knives to understand the overall political agenda behind suffering, whether that suffering occurs because of a dysfunctional family, religion, or government. Wojnarowicz explores all of his painful life experiences as a plea for all of us to become more compassionate and caring human beings. This isn't just David's story, it's our story, our nation's story." -- Karen Finley About the Author David Wojnarowicz was an American painter, photographer, writer, filmmaker, performance artist, and AIDS activist prominent in the New York City art world. He was born on September 14, 1954. He died of AIDS on July 22, 1992.
From Boys to Men - by Ted Gideonse & Robert Williams (Paperback)
Number of Pages: 336Genre: Social ScienceSub-Genre: LGBT StudiesFormat: PaperbackPublisher: Da Capo PressAge Range: AdultBook theme: Gay StudiesAuthor: Ted Gideonse & Robert WilliamsLanguage: English About the Book More than an anthology of coming out stories, "From Boys to Men" is a stunning collection of essays about what it is like to be gay and young, to be different and be aware of that difference from the earliest of ages. In these memoirs, coming out is less important than coming of age and coming to the realization that young gay people experience the world in ways quite unlike straight boys. Whether it is a fascination with soap opera, an intense sensitivity to their own difference, or an obsession with a certain part of the male anatomy, gay kids -- or kids who would eventually identify as gay -- have an indefinable but unmistakable gay sensibility. Sometimes the result is funny, sometimes it is harrowing, and often it is deeply moving. Essays by lauded young writers like Alex Chee (Edinburgh), Aaron Hamburger (Faith for Beginners), Karl Soehnlein (The World of Normal Boys), Trebor Healy (Through It Came Bright Colors), Tom Dolby (The Trouble Boy), David Bahr, and Austin Bunn, are collected along with those by brilliant, newcomers such as Michael McAllister, Jason Tougaw, Viet Dinh, and the wildly popular blogger, Joe.My.God. Book Synopsis More than an anthology of coming out stories, From Boys to Men is a stunning collection of essays about what it is like to be gay and young, to be different and be aware of that difference from the earliest of ages. In these memoirs, coming out is less important than coming of age and coming to the realization that young gay people experience the world in ways quite unlike straight boys. Whether it is a fascination with soap opera, an intense sensitivity to their own difference, or an obsession with a certain part of the male anatomy, gay kids -- or kids who would eventually identify as gay -- have an indefinable but unmistakable gay sensibility. Sometimes the result is funny, sometimes it is harrowing, and often it is deeply moving. Essays by lauded young writers like Alex Chee (Edinburgh), Aaron Hamburger (Faith for Beginners), Karl Soehnlein (The World of Normal Boys), Trebor Healy (Through It Came Bright Colors), Tom Dolby (The Trouble Boy), David Bahr, and Austin Bunn, are collected along with those by brilliant, newcomers such as Michael McAllister, Jason Tougaw, Viet Dinh, and the wildly popular blogger, Joe.My.God. About the Author Ted Gideonse, is a film critic for Maisonneuve and has written for Newsweek, Rolling Stone, Salon.com, the Advocate, and Out. Rob Williams teaches English in San Diego, and his writing has appeared in M2M: New Literary Fiction, Fresh Men, I Do/I Don't, the Gay and Lesbian Times, and Maisonneuve.
Soulfully Gay - by Joe Perez (Paperback)
Number of Pages: 328Genre: Social ScienceSub-Genre: LGBT StudiesFormat: PaperbackPublisher: Integral PublishingAge Range: AdultBook theme: Gay StudiesAuthor: Joe PerezLanguage: English About the Book The memoir of a gay man's quest for self-acceptance and spiritual meaning as he wrestles with conflicts involving homosexuality and religion. Book Synopsis Soulfully Gay is a personal memoir of an intellectually rigorous gay man wrestling with fundamental issues of meaning and self-acceptance. Joe Perez finds himself on a quest to understand what it means to be gay at the intersection of conflicts between homosexuality and Christianity, faith and skepticism, mysticism and madness. His journey unfolds amid challenges to his health as a recovering addict, a survivor of a psychotic episode, and a man living with AIDS. Joe is able to integrate seemingly contradictory elements--his Roman Catholic upbringing versus his openly gay lifestyle, his authentic mystical experiences versus the delusions for which he was hospitalized. With a solid understanding of theology and an ability to see through the veils of political correctness, Joe brings a new level of intellect and understanding to the challenges of being a gay man. Review Quotes Perez's account leaps from memoir to book review to exposition to interview. . . . His most successful entries are his psychedelic descriptions of madness. This is an arresting record of a soul in progress.--Publishers Weekly Perez is certainly not the first writer to try to find a unique mixture of alternate sexuality and religiosity, but his memoir has the heat and immediacy of the blog from which it developed. As Perez comes to terms with illness, loneliness, and the spirit, he also shows us a part of the future of reading and publishing--the voyeuristic thrills of blog diaries and a continual dialog between print and electronic media.--Library Journal "An author of unstoppable courage, Joe Perez is unafraid to question any and all assumptions about spirituality, sexuality, homosexuality, and himself, writing with probing analysis and common sense. Soulfully Gay is a brave act of self-examination and self-revelation as well as a valuable addition to the growing body of literature that explores the spiritual meaning of same-sex love. To read Perez's journal is to accompany him on his spiritual journey."--David Carter, author of Stonewall: The Riots That Sparked the Gay Revolution "Joe Perez's book is perhaps the most astonishing, brilliant, and courageous look at the interface between individual belief and cultural values that has been written in our times by a homosexual, or a heterosexual, or any other sexual I am aware of."--Ken Wilber, author of A Theory of Everything About the Author Joe Perez is a Seattle-based writer, the author of Rising Up: Reflections on Gay Culture, Politics, and Spirit, and the founder of the Gay Spirituality and Culture weblog. His columns and articles on spirituality have appeared in numerous gay newspapers nationwide.
The Church and the Homosexual - 4th Edition by John J McNeill (Paperback)
Number of Pages: 288Genre: Social ScienceSub-Genre: LGBT StudiesFormat: PaperbackPublisher: Beacon PressAge Range: AdultBook theme: Gay StudiesAuthor: John J McNeillLanguage: English About the Book Father McNeill's outstanding work, which convincingly establishes that the Bible does not condemn homosexuality, has brought comfort to thousands of gay and lesbian Christians since its original publication in 1976. In this fourth edition, the author calls on the Vatican to make a public act of repentance for its homophobia. "Blessed be that John McNeill's courageous classic is available again".--Carter Heyward, Episcopal Divinity School. Book Synopsis In this brave and good book which shatters bad myths (Commonweal), McNeill shows that the Bible does not condemn homosexuality, and argues that the Church must not continue its homophobic practices. Review Quotes The Church and the Homosexual is a major weapon for those who are fighting to change the Church.--The Reverend Paul Moore, Jr. About the Author John J. McNeill, an ordained priest and practicing psychotherapist, was expelled from the Society of Jesus in 1987 for refusing to cease his ministry to gay men and lesbians. He received a doctorate in philosophy from Louvain University in Beligum and has taught philosophy and theology at Fordham University, Union Theological Seminary, and other institutions. McNeill is the author of Taking a Chance on God and Freedom, Glorious Freedom, also published by Beacon Press.
How the Homosexuals Saved Civilization - by Cathy Crimmins (Paperback)
Number of Pages: 216Genre: Social ScienceSub-Genre: LGBT StudiesFormat: PaperbackPublisher: TarcherperigeeAge Range: AdultBook theme: Gay StudiesAuthor: Cathy CrimminsLanguage: English About the Book This title presents a broad, yet incisive look, at how an unusual group, homosexual men, has influenced mainstream American society and the concepts of community, family, sex, and fashion, and has, in many ways, become mainstream itself. Book Synopsis A cultural history of the customs, fashions, and figures of gay life in the twentieth and the early twenty-first centuries-and how they have changed us for the better.How the Homosexuals Saved Civilization presents a broad yet incisive look at how an unusual immigrant group, homosexual men, has influenced mainstream American society and has, in many ways, become mainstream itself. From the way camp, irony, and the gay aesthetic have become part of our national sensibility to the undeniable effect the gay cognoscenti have had on media and the arts, Cathy Crimmins examines how gay men have changed the concepts of community, family, sex, and fashion. About the Author Cathy Crimmins is the author of Where Is the Mango Princess?
Boys Like Us - by Patrick Merla & Hetrick Martin Inst (Paperback)
Number of Pages: 384Genre: Social ScienceSub-Genre: LGBT StudiesFormat: PaperbackPublisher: William Morrow & CompanyAge Range: AdultBook theme: Gay StudiesAuthor: Patrick Merla & Hetrick Martin InstLanguage: English About the Book In stunning essays written especially for this collection, 29 noted gay writers recount their true "coming out" stories, intensely personal histories of the primal process by which men come to terms with their homosexuality. These essays form a documentary of changing social and sexual mores, timed to coincide with National Coming Out Day (October 11) and AIDS Awareness Month. Book Synopsis In stunning essays written especially for this collection, twenty-nine noted gay writers recount their true coming out stories, intensely personal histories of that primal process by which men come to terms with their desire for other men. Here are accounts of revealing one's sexual identity to parents, siblings, friends, co-workers and, in one notable instance, to a stockbroker. Men tell of their first sexual encounters from their preteens to their thirties, with childhood friends who rejected or tenderly embraced them, with professors, with neighbors, with a Broadway star. These are poignant, sometimes unexpectedly funny tales of romance and heartbreak, repression and liberation, rape and first love defining moments that shaped their authors' lives. Arranged chronologically from Manhattan in the Forties to San Francisco in the Nineties, these essays ultimately form a documentary of changing social and sexual mores in the United States--a literary, biographical, sociological and historical tour de force. Review Quotes "Marelously inventive, surprising, joyous, harrowing, and frequently lovely variations performed by master singers on a truly great theme."-- Tony Kurshner