Radically Gay: Gay Liberation in the Words of Its Founder [Hardcover]

Harry Hay (Author), Will Roscoe (Editor)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0807070807 | ISBN-13: 978-0807070802 | Publication Date: June 1996 | Edition: 1St Edition

Activist, author teacher, and visionary Harry Hay is an American original. He has left his mark on some of the most significant social and cultural movements of the 20th century, from trade unionism to New Age spirituality. In 1948, Hay founded the Mattachine Society, devoted to the welfare of gay people. This first collection of Hay's own words--speeches, papers, and interviews--offers invaluable insight into the vision of one man who made it possible for millions to live in freedom and with self-respect.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Harry Hay is the acknowledged father (or mother, as he might prefer) of the modern gay liberation movement. As a Communist Party organizer and historian who founded the Mattachine Society in 1949, Hay began turning out essays, position papers, critical studies, and manifestos concerning what it means to be gay in the world. Radically Gay is a collection of those writings, edited by historian Will Rosco, and its breadth and depth is amazing. Radically Gay is an important contribution to gay history and letters; it tells us not only where we have been, but, more importantly, where we might be going.

From Publishers Weekly

In 1950, Hay and fellow activists in Los Angeles founded the Mattachine Society, a pioneering homosexual rights group that helped lay the groundwork for contemporary lesbian/gay activism. This collection of Hay's essays, talks, pamphlets and manifestos reflects his insistence that gays are a cultural minority with shared values, psychological orientation, historical heritage and modes of communication. This perspective flowed from Hay's research into French Renaissance "fool" societies, which staged public plays spiked with political satire and gender reversal, and into the Native American berdache, a practice whereby men live as women (or vice versa) and combine the work and social roles of both sexes while being recognized as a distinct third gender. In 1979, Hay and others launched the "radical faerie" network, providing support groups and emphasizing gay spirituality to counter urban depersonalization. His pointed critique of homophobia and his exhortations to gays seeking self-acceptance make this collection especially timely. Roscoe, who has taught anthropology and Native American studies at the University of California, provides a useful introduction as well as commentaries on each selection. Translation rights: Jed Mattes.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 366 pages
• Publisher: Beacon Press; 1St Edition edition (June 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0807070807
• ISBN-13: 978-0807070802
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,004,542 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great and original contribution to both gay rights and gender identity literature, May 16, 2006

By 

J.S.M. "socializer" (Seattle USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Radically Gay : Gay Liberation in the Words of Its Founder (Paperback)

One of Hay's strengths, to me, is the fact that he comes out of a different tradition than the post-structuralist philosophical one which is prevalent these days. Hay was able to talk about the experience of being queer and of what the possible social implications of that might be by taking the philosophical material he got as an instructor in Marxism for the Communist Party, particularly that deriving from Engel's work "On Private Property and the Family", and extending and extending it, modifying it here, dropping some of the dogmatic features of that type of Marxist thought along the way and instead integrating the lived experience of being queer and spirituality into a heady mix which gives insight both for queer people, focussing on queer men, themselves about themselves and of the role that gays and lesbians play and have played in society throughout history, how capitalism shapes the queer experience, looking at homophobia as being a reinforcer of patriarchy and ultimately patriarchal capitalism, and what non-western parallels for homosexuality are.

Quite a powerful and interesting mix. Highly recommended.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 2nd only to Oscar Wilde, October 18, 2002

By 

Jeffery Mingo (Homewood, IL USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Radically Gay: Gay Liberation in the Words of Its Founder (Hardcover)

Harry Hay is one of the fathers of American gay rights. But this is not essentialist idol-praising. Hay was a big part of the big pre-Stonewall organization, Mattachine Society. He was a strong Communist, back when it was risky to be one. In addition, Hay knows a lot about gender theory and gay history and such. He's a sage. Will Roscoe has written a number of important gay books, especially concerning gay Native Americans. Basically, this is an important historical subject written by a strong gay author. You should peep this book if you can.