Best books about gay history
Making Gay History
About the Book
From its beginnings after World War II to the campaign for civil rights in the age of AIDS, the struggle of gays and lesbians to gain dignity, visibility, and equal treatment under the law has been one of America’s most dramatic political movements. In Making Gay History, Eric Marcus features the sincere stories of more than sixty people, documenting the compelling five-decade battle that has changed the fabric of American society.
Marcus recorded the oral histories of a diverse group of Americans, both gay and straight. Teachers, lawyers, scientists, religious leaders, a drag queen, and a football hero all appear in Making Gay History, along with common figures like Al Gore and Ellen DeGeneres. Together, these many stories bear witness to a time of astonishing change as gay and lesbian people acquire struggled against prejudice and fought for equal rights. Eric Marcus is a former associate producer for both CBS This Morning and Good Morning America and coauthor with Greg Louganis of Breaking the Surface, the #1 New York Times best-seller, and t10 essential non-fiction books to learn about LGBTQ history and culture
In the truths TV show RuPaul’s Queenly Race, the act of deftly insulting your competitors is called "reading". And reading, as the catchphrase goes, is fundamental.
But reading is vital to the LGBTQ experience – and not just on reality television. Queer people have always told their stories as a way to render themselves visible; in doing so, they give optimism to others that they may one day be safe to tell theirs.
These 10 non-fiction titles are a great way to begin to know LGBTQ people’s experiences. The library, as RuPaul also says, is open.
An inclusive account of the combat for queer freedom and equality, We Are Everywhere is a beautifully designed photographic journey from queer activism’s roots in late 19th Century Europe, through the Stonewall riots and up to present day politics.
From the curators of popular Instagram account @lgbt_history, which champions unheard voices in lgbtq+ narratives, We Are Everywhere offers an immersive history lesson manage from the diver
Stonewall and Pride History Booklist
Today is the fifty-third anniversary of the Stonewall riots.
The riots at the Stonewall Inn helped shift the contemporary LGBTQ rights movements from a primarily assimilationist strategy to a more diverse set of strategies, including identity politics and gay event , and anti-assimilationist ideas about queer liberation. The modern story of the LGBTQ rights movement began before Stonewall, and has ebbed and flowed in its radicalism, its assimilationism, its diversity of strategies and viewpoints ever since, but what Stonewall offered was a flashpoint--an unforgettable moment of rage and rebellion boiling over in such a way that finally could not be ignored. Stonewall was primarily a rebellion against police brutality, illegal targeting, and vicious oppression. As we find ourselves in the midst of another rebellion against police brutality and violent oppression, we have a duty to one another as queer and trans people of all races and all genders to be very distinct about that part of our collective history and to use our legacy as people w
LGBTQ History Month: 17 must-read books about queer history
In honor of LGBTQ History Month, celebrated every October, here are books that aim to shed clear on and clarify significant historical moments that informed and shaped the current lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual and queer rights movement.
1. "The Gay Revolution: The Story of the Struggle" by Lillian Faderman
A thorough introduction to the history of the gay and lesbian civil rights movements, this book chronicles the early struggles of LGBTQ individuals from the s to present day using a compilation of enlightening interviews with politicians, military officials and members of the community.
2. "And the Band Played On: Politics, People, and the AIDS Epidemic" by Randy Shilts
A blend of investigative reporting and vivid storytelling, this account follows the ascend of the AIDs epidemic using the narratives of doctors who were on the front lines of the outbreak, politicians and scientists who ignored it, and the real people who were affected by government's negligence.