Customer Reviews

Sexual Politics, Sexual Communities

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

John D'emilio's book clearly make the point about the minority status of the homosexual in America. The start of the first organizations to promote a homosexual presents, with their naive belief that they would be excepted, to the more militant efforts in the early sixties. D'emilio has documented carefully the many events of importants that led up the the stonewall riot. Making it clear that the fight didn't begin at stonewall, but many years before. He talks in detail about the different organizations that started, and how they developed and changed as the struggle continued. D'emilio did his homework on this one without question. If you were ever curious about the events that started the gay revolution this is a must read.

Before this book, gay history simply did not exist. There were a few tomes about great historical figures who happened to be gay, and Jonathan Katz's landmark "Gay American History," but virtually nothing about the gay men and women after World War II who fought amazing hostility, made countless strategic errors, suffered profound personal losses, and still managed to organize a movement that changed the way we all view individual rights in a civil society. Even publishing the first edition in 1983 was an act of courage.

Today gay history is a thriving discipline, and the story has been told countless times, often more engagingly. For general readers, I recommend John Loughery's "The Other Side of Silence" and Lilian Faderman's "Odd Girls and Twilight Lovers." But for students and scholars, this is a model of historical research and an inspiration.

This book shows how in times of great threat (e.g the cold war and nuclear war) weaker men turn on easy domestic targets rather than creating real defence. Homosexuals have always been a very small minority and were an easy target. Edmond Burke (during the social stress of the French Revolution and subsequent war) talks about how men not bonded to a clear national indentity or who lack patriotism to a national identity form factions or religious/social groups out of fear and greed. Weaker men often use these groups at times of social stress to gain financially or allieviate their fears by attacking a weaker minority group. The book shows how homosexuals where misused in pseudo class wars post WWII. These circumstances have reappeared in different forms at the time of the same sex marriage debates. Firstly the psychological elimination of homosexuals by wording it "same sex" not "homo sexual" marriage. This takes the homosexual out of the debate and allows the debate to be dominated by political opportunists, heterosexuals or rather bi-sexuals. This type of arguement was part of the 1950's attack on homosexuals. That bisexuality was more normal and that bisexuality was then used to create heterosexual "norms". The book clearly shows how some public servants entrusted with the civil duty of care to all citizens misused power. How they interacted with groups outside the public service to enhance the effect of their own hatred. To keep things in persective better citizens were creating the USA's great defence system, space program and rebuilding a world shattered by WWII while creating defence against a new military threat which threatened even more lives. I also read " And they were wonderful teachers" Florida's purge of gay and lesbian teachers. This shows how corrupted men used the gay scare to attack women with intrusive questions about their sexual lives. Will these types of attack increase during the same sex marraiage debates. These questions show no care for women, lesbians or homosexuals. This type of attack on economically and political free woman has been common in history. President George Washington in "Rules of civilty and decent conduct" advises us to ignore those who bring inappropriate public attention to private matters. He cautions not to publically engage verbally or any other way in such matters