BEYOND NORMAL: The Birth of Gay Pride [Paperback]

Gale Chester Whittington (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 15, 2010

This triumphant memoir chronicles the author's teenage suicide attempt and the real beginning of the Gay Liberation movement, pre-Stonewall, in 1969 San Francisco, where Mr. Whittington was fired for being gay. It's creative non-fiction, written like a novel, with a conservative alter-ego's thoughts inserted to keep it lively. His groundbreaking openly gay philosophy-coming out en masse as a way to enlighten and change the world-leads his comrades to crown him "Gale the Liberator."

Editorial Reviews

From the Author

Pre-Stonewall, Gale Chester Whittington's historical memoir traces the 1969 gay civil rights movement as it unfolds through the eyes of an idealistic and romantic young man fresh from Denver.
 
"In late March (1969), States Line fired a young man named Gale Whittington simply because he was gay. This act spawned the first gay liberation organization in San Francisco, the Committee for Homosexual Freedom"--Charles Thorpe Archival Collections at the GLBT Historical Society
 
"(B)esides holding indisputable claim to the foundation of the old American homophile movement, the West Coast can with some justification date gay lib from the creation of its CHF (Committee for Homosexual Freedom), spring 1969, not from the Stonewall riots in June."--The GAY MILITANTS by Donn Teal

"In the (picketing) process, the first . . . and . . . most productive . . . gay liberation group in the (San Francisco) Bay Area, the Committee for Homosexual Freedom (CHF) began to grasp what it might be like to live openly homosexual lives and to sense the tremendous potential for social change their new movement had begun to tap."--Gay by the Bay, A History of Queer Culture in the San Francisco Bay Area by Susan Stryker and Jim Van Buskirk

"By far the most valuable aspect of BEYOND NORMAL and the one that drew me in as a reader was the personal account . . . Mr. Whittington had the good luck of living through interesting times and his perspective as a participant observer makes for a fun and fascinating read . . . Lots of material!"--Terence Kissack, Executive Director of the GLBT Historical Society in San Francisco

"I think it is a good book and will add to the history of the gay movement."--Vern Bullough, author of Before Stonewall: Activists for Gay and Lesbian Rights in Historical Context

From the Inside Flap

A special thank you to Vern Bullough (1928-2006), author of Before Stonewall: Activists for Gay and Lesbian Rigthts in Historical Context and Haworth Book Program Editor of Sexual Minorities in Historical Context, for all his help editing this book.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 316 pages
• Publisher: Booklocker.com, Inc. (November 15, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1609105974
• ISBN-13: 978-1609105976
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,066,002 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

To spite his name, Gale Chester Whittington was born male on February 6, 1948, in Holyoke, Colorado. His father was a fundamentalist Nazarene preacher with a religious radio program, his mother, a gospel-recording artist. Mr. Whittington wrote for underground newspapers in the late sixties during his fight for gay rights. Before that, Gale was Feature Editor of his high school newspaper, The Ramrod, three years in a row. After owning a popular Denver pet store (Colorado Seed & Pet) for 28 years, Gale returned to writing full time in 2000. He has since received numerous awards for his novels, memoirs, poems, short stories, and essays, including six from the prestigious Oklahoma WriterÂ’s Federation, Inc. (OWFI) and one from Writers Digest. Check out his author website:.galechesterwhittington.com.