The Gay Revolution: The Story of the Struggle - Softcover

Faderman, Lillian

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1451694121 ISBN 13: 9781451694123

Publisher: Simon & Schuster, 2016

Synopsis

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. Lillian Faderman tells this unfinished story through the dramatic accounts of passionate struggles with sweep, depth and feeling.
    Against the dark backdrop of the 1950s, 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.
    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.
 

About this title

Review

“This is the history of the gay and lesbian movement that we’ve been waiting for: compulsively readable, carefully anchored in the historical record, overflowing with riveting stories, human peculiarities and thoughtful analysis of the messy political contradictions that dogged this untidy movement. Other books have purported to explain how the unruly LGBT movement triumphed. The Gay Revolution succeeds.” (The Washington Post)

“The greatest literary achievement chronicling our struggle for equal rights, human rights, liberation, and finally, civil rights. . . . The Gay Revolution should be taught in every civil rights class in every high school and on every campus. And everyone, all of you, should buy it and read it. I won’t ask you to do it for us, the old ones who gave so much for so many decades (although I want to ask, but I don’t need to guilt you). I will ask you to do it because this is the most honest, compelling history of our movement, and if you participated, you will love remembering, and if you did not, it will inspire you to passionately rise up and get involved.” (Robin Tyler for The Advocate)

“The most comprehensive history to date of America’s gay-rights movement. . . . Ms Faderman has ably drawn the map that future historians of the struggle will use to chart their courses.” (The Economist)

“Stirring . . . the depth of [Faderman’s] research is breathtaking, as is her engaging style that illuminates the individual stories of many who faced countless injustices because of their sexual identity. Her cogent investigative style encompasses the breadth of a hidden, disparate and despised community that transformed itself into a powerful civil-rights movement. . . . The Gay Revolution is a cogent, definitive history of the movement and a towering achievement by Lillian Faderman. It belongs in every GLBTQ home, definitely available in every public school library and sent to every homophobic politician in Washington.” (The Huffington Post)

“One of queer history's founding scholars, Faderman, has written a sweeping and moving narrative that chronicles the fight for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) citizenship rights from World War II to the turn of the millennium. . . . this volume will deservedly become a standard in the field. . . . highly recommended for readers interested in the 20th-century politics of sexual identity and the history of social justice activism.” (Library Journal (starred review))

“[A] superbly researched book . . .Throughout this engaging and extremely well-documented book, Faderman clearly shows that for the LGBT community, equality is not a completed goal. Yet the ideal of fully integrated citizenship is closer to becoming reality than ever before. Inspiring and necessary reading for all Americans interested in social justice.” (Kirkus Reviews (starred review))

"Faderman’s immense cultural history will give today’s LGBTQ activists both a profound appreciation of their forebears and the motivation to carry the struggle forward." (Publishers Weekly)

“The Gay Revolution fills a yawning gap in history literature. The arrival of this new work is timely. This passionate narrative will be recognized as a story that ennobles the human spirit and upholds the democratic ideals at the heart of this country’s founding documents.” (David Carter, author of "Stonewall: The Riots That Sparked the Gay Revolution")

“Lillian Faderman once again shows why she is the definitive voice for gay and lesbian history. This book is a ‘must read’ for anyone who wants to know the stories behind the brave faces that created a new civil rights movement.” (Brigadier General Tammy Smith)

“As gay people approach equality under the law, Faderman charts the course that brought such remarkable change so swiftly. It’s a dynamic book that matches the power of the movement it describes.” (Cleve Jones, founder of the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt)

About the Author

Lillian Faderman is an internationally respected scholar of lesbian history and literature. She is the author of several award-winning books on LBGT history. Her book Surpassing the Love of Men (1981) is considered the first serious, full-length historical study of lesbians.Odd Girls and Twilight Lovers (1991) is often called a "classic" of LGBT history. Both titles were named New York Times "Notable Books of the Year".

About this edition

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 1451694121
• ISBN 13: 9781451694123
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 832