Ten of This Year’s Standout LGBTQ Books
It was truly a year of queer literary excellence
‘The Gay Revolution: The Story of the Struggle’ by Lillian Faderman
In The Gay Revolution, Faderman takes on our collective LGBT history from the pre-Stonewall days through to now. It’s a massive undertaking and Faderman approaches it with diligence, tenacity and just the right touch of awe.
Lillian Faderman on Five Key Moments in the LGBT Civil Rights Movement
Lillian Faderman pinpoints five key moments in the LGBT civil rights movement
‘Theatre of the Unimpressed: In Search of Vital Drama’ by Jordan Tannahill
This slim volume is overflowing with ideas and practical criticism of current theatre practice.
Read an Excerpt from ‘The Right Side of History: 100 Years or LGBTQI Activism’: Miss Major Griffin-Gracy’s Reflections on the Stonewall Riots
“The night of Stonewall, two friends and I sat in Sheridan Square talking with the boys, trying to have a good time.”
‘The Battle of Versailles: The Night American Fashion Stumbled Into the Spotlight and Made History’ by Robin Givhan
The changes wrought by the designers and American fashion industry since Versailles make the reader realize, contrary to frequent accusations of frivolity, how serious the world of fashion can be.
‘Gay is Good: The Life and Letters of Gay Rights Pioneer Franklin Kameny’ Edited by Michael G. Long
Never one for hiding his true feelings, Kameny’s tireless fight against the American establishment spearheaded a new period for homosexual rights in the early 1960s
‘Visions and Revisions: Coming of Age in the Age of AIDS’ by Dale Peck
Peck compiles and re-edits material principally presented as stand-alone essays in their original publication, weaving a sort of non-linear portrait of the period during which HIV/AIDS was typically a terminal illness
‘Gay Berlin: Birthplace of a Modern Identity’ by Robert Beachy
This is an important book, and an impressive feat of scholarship drawing on nearly five hundred sources, with twenty-two pages of notes and sixteen pages of photographs.
‘Transnational LGBT Activism: Working for Sexual Rights Worldwide’ by Ryan R. Thoreson
Thoreson tells us that he wants to critically look at how a non-governmental organization (NGO) based in the West functions and how, ultimately, its articulation of LGBT human rights gains legitimacy and global significance.
