Customer Reviews

Come Out Fighting: A Century of Essential Writing on Gay & Lesbian Liberation

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This anthology of writings on GLBT politics is certainly not the first nor will it be the last such title, but the scope of collected writings is impressive.

They started out with and had earned a reputation for male chauvinism, but the Black Panthers later attempted to understand how homophobia and sexism were connected to racism and classism according to Huey Newton's contribution in this volume.

And then there is an early AIDS awareness article written by Larry Kramer and an early GLBT political observation from Harvey Milk. We are still dealing with both issues today, but their attempts to connect oppressions (note Milk's now dated use of the term 'handicapped' and take it with a grain of salt) speaks to our own generation of radical political activists. We cannot prioritize oppressions and we cannot afford to sidestep what is going on in our communities lest it offend somebody else.

In her "A letter to ma" Merle Woo talks about how liberation does in fact involve the simultaneous recognition of various oppressions. She is trying to show her mother that her new consciousness as an activist does not negate family or culture and actually affirms the intersecting experiences, thus reinforcing pride in both her parents. Her raised consciousness has given her a new appreciation for the hardships which her parents endured in their own lives, and she wants them to know how much they are now loved. Ordering social justice movements is impossible because we cannot similarly order our demographic components. They are literally us.

I'm appreciating the dissent in Bowers v. Hardwick, and the majority ruling in Romer v. Evans, but I am wondering if those Supreme Court rulings really should be considered part of GLBT liberation as an explicitly separate movement from the more mainstream GLBT rights. I've read the cases, and these opinions do not endorse the liberation movement's goal to create a new society; the justices pointedly are cautious to emphasize they cite existing law.

On the other hand, the inclusion of these justices might convince otherwise wavering people that `gay liberation' is good and should also be part of their own belief system.

While there are other more comprehensive GLBT political anthologies on the market, this book still makes a nice introduction because of the care which went into selecting the essays for the compact size. I also appreciate the fact that it examines culture, history, and politics, from the 1800's to 2000---again not an easy feat within page limits.

Some essays have/do appear elsewhere in more substantial books, but Come out Fighting makes a good purchase for people who want a 'basic' introduction to GLBT politics.