Gay in the 80s
Gay in the 80s

Author: Colin Clews

Publisher: Troubador Publishing Ltd

Published: 2017-02-03

Total Pages: 272

ISBN-13: 1788036743

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The 1980s heralded many challenges for LGBT people around the world and Colin Clews examines these in his new book. These included the rise of the New Right in the USA, Section 28 which prohibited the promotion of homosexuality; the trial of Gay’s the Word bookshop in the UK and the continuing criminalisation of homosexuality in the majority of Australian states. Underpinning all of this was the unfolding of the AIDS crisis: a time when LGBT people realised that they were no longer simply fighting for their rights but, quite literally, fighting for their lives. But it wasn’t all doom and gloom; by the end of the eighties there had been some very real progress. Major political parties had LGBT rights in their manifestos, trades unions increasingly took up the cause and regional legislators introduced anti-discrimination laws and policies. LGBT people became more prolific in film, television, music and literature and the LGBT community grew significantly. The book also examines the dynamics behind these changes; some the result of prolonged campaigns, others stemming from the growing influence of the ‘pink pound/dollar’, others still a consequence of the growing anger at government intransigence to the AIDS crisis. Gay in the 80s examines a number of the events and issues in the UK, USA and Australia, giving a comprehensive perspective of LGBT reality during this decade The book covers the broad political context of the 1980s and takes a comparative approach to events in the three countries where Colin either lived or spent large amounts of time. Colin Clews’ debut book offers a unique perspective on a pivotal era in LGBT history. It will appeal to readers that want to learn more about the LGBT experience in the 1980s. Its publication also coincides with the 50th anniversary of the 1967 Sexual Offences Act, which partially decriminalised homosexuality, and the 30th anniversary of the ‘Don’t Die of Ignorance’ AIDS awareness campaign. A number of film and television events are planned to commemorate both anniversaries and Colin will be contributing to some of them.

Jenny Lives with Eric and Martin
Jenny Lives with Eric and Martin

Author: Susanne Bösche

Publisher: Lindhardt og Ringhof

Published: 2023-05-26

Total Pages: 51

ISBN-13: 8728093690

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It can never be wrong to live with someone you are fond of. 5-year-old Jenny lives happily with her dad Martin and his partner Eric. From celebrating birthdays and eating breakfast in bed to playing board games and reading bedtime stories, their weekends are spent the same way as everyone else's. Well-received in Denmark, ́Jenny Lives with Eric and Martin ́ sparked a major debate when it was published in Britain two years later, resulting in a ban that prohibited teaching school children about homosexuality. Therefore, it is the ideal book for early readers as it serves as great educational material for those interested in learning about family structures that differ from their own. A beautiful story celebrating diversity and difference, ́Jenny Lives with Eric and Martin ́ is a perfect starting point for conversations about various family structures. Susanne Bösche (b. 1953), a self-taught writer, has been writing ever since she discovered that letters make words and words make stories. Her writing often aims to celebrate differences and the idea that you shouldn't be afraid of the unknown. This is present in her first books, ́Nede i Anitas kælder ́ ( ́Anita's Basement ́) and ́Er vi venner eller hvad ́ ( ́Are We Friends or Not ́), which centre around the themes of youth, sexuality, and friendships. In 1981 she published the picture book ́Mette bor hos Morten og Erik ́ (Mette Lives with Eric and Martin ́) which caused great controversy in Britain after its release.

Dancer from the Dance
Dancer from the Dance

Author: Andrew Holleran

Publisher: Harper Collins

Published: 2001-12-18

Total Pages: 258

ISBN-13: 9780060937065

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One of the most important works of gay literature, this haunting, brilliant novel is a seriocomic remembrance of things past -- and still poignantly present. It depicts the adventures of Malone, a beautiful young man searching for love amid New York's emerging gay scene. From Manhattan's Everard Baths and after-hours discos to Fire Island's deserted parks and lavish orgies, Malone looks high and low for meaningful companionship. The person he finds is Sutherland, a campy quintessential queen -- and one of the most memorable literary creations of contemporary fiction. Hilarious, witty, and ultimately heartbreaking, Dancer from the Dance is truthful, provocative, outrageous fiction told in a voice as close to laughter as to tears.

Beautiful Aliens
Beautiful Aliens

Author: Steve Abbott

Publisher:

Published: 2019-11-28

Total Pages: 296

ISBN-13: 9781643620152

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The first retrospective collection of writing, illustrations, and comics by a hero of the Gay Liberation movement and Bay Area underground writing.

Stand by Me
Stand by Me

Author: Jim Downs

Publisher: Basic Books

Published: 2016-03-01

Total Pages: 273

ISBN-13: 046509855X

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From a prominent young historian, the untold story of the rich variety of gay life in America in the 1970s Despite the tremendous gains of the LGBT movement in recent years, the history of gay life in this country remains poorly understood. According to conventional wisdom, gay liberation started with the Stonewall Riots in Greenwich Village in 1969. The 1970s represented a moment of triumph -- both political and sexual -- before the AIDS crisis in the subsequent decade, which, in the view of many, exposed the problems inherent in the so-called "gay lifestyle". In Stand by Me, the acclaimed historian Jim Downs rewrites the history of gay life in the 1970s, arguing that the decade was about much more than sex and marching in the streets. Drawing on a vast trove of untapped records at LGBT community centers in Los Angeles, New York, and Philadelphia, Downs tells moving, revelatory stories of gay people who stood together -- as friends, fellow believers, and colleagues -- to create a sense of community among people who felt alienated from mainstream American life. As Downs shows, gay people found one another in the Metropolitan Community Church, a nationwide gay religious group; in the pages of the Body Politic, a newspaper that encouraged its readers to think of their sexuality as a political identity; at the Oscar Wilde Memorial Bookstore, the hub of gay literary life in New York City; and at theaters putting on "Gay American History," a play that brought to the surface the enduring problem of gay oppression. These and many other achievements would be largely forgotten after the arrival in the early 1980s of HIV/AIDS, which allowed critics to claim that sex was the defining feature of gay liberation. This reductive narrative set back the cause of gay rights and has shaped the identities of gay people for decades. An essential act of historical recovery, Stand by Me shines a bright light on a triumphant moment, and will transform how we think about gay life in America from the 1970s into the present day.

Hidden Mercy
Hidden Mercy

Author: Michael J. O'Loughlin

Publisher: Broadleaf Books

Published: 2021-11-30

Total Pages: 296

ISBN-13: 1506467717

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The 1980s and 1990s, the height of the AIDS crisis in the United States, was decades ago now, and many of the stories from this time remain hidden: A Catholic nun from a small Midwestern town packs up her life to move to New York City, where she throws herself into a community under assault from HIV and AIDS. A young priest sees himself in the many gay men dying from AIDS and grapples with how best to respond, eventually coming out as gay and putting his own career on the line. A gay Catholic with HIV loses his partner to AIDS and then flees the church, focusing his energy on his own health rather than fight an institution seemingly rejecting him. Set against the backdrop of the HIV and AIDS epidemic of the late twentieth century and the Catholic Church's crackdown on gay and lesbian activists, journalist Michael O'Loughlin searches out the untold stories of those who didn't look away, who at great personal cost chose compassion--even as he seeks insight for LGBTQ people of faith struggling to find a home in religious communities today. This is one journalist's--gay and Catholic himself--compelling picture of those quiet heroes who responded to human suffering when so much of society--and so much of the church--told them to look away. These pure acts of compassion and mercy offer us hope and inspiration as we continue to confront existential questions about what it means to be Americans, Christians, and human beings responding to those most in need.

The Velvet Rage
The Velvet Rage

Author: Alan Downs

Publisher: Da Capo Lifelong Books

Published: 2012-06-05

Total Pages: 274

ISBN-13: 0738215856

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In this moving guide, a gay man shares his personal journey of letting go of shame and moving forward with self-compassion and healing. Even though an entire generation of men have openly and freely come out of the closet, gay men still struggle with self-acceptance. Sexually transmitted diseases, depression, and suicide occur more frequently for gay men than straight men. It doesn’t have to be this way. Through brave individual stories and compassionate analysis, The Velvet Rage explores how shame is insidious, and can be traced back to childhood feelings of “otherness”. Drawing on contemporary psychological research, Alan Downs offers a path to emotional well-being and an end to self-defeating behavior. Velvet Rage is an empowering book you'll wish you read long ago. It’s not too late to begin the healing process.

Conduct Unbecoming
Conduct Unbecoming

Author: Randy Shilts

Publisher: Macmillan

Published: 2005-07

Total Pages: 836

ISBN-13: 9780312342647

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The definitive book on lesbians and gay men in the US military. Randy Shilts, author of the classic documentary history of the AIDS epidemic And The Band Played On, was acclaimed for his ability to take epic histories and molding them into gripping, intimate narratives. Conduct Unbecoming, his groundbreaking exploration of lesbians and gays in the military, came out of hundreds of interviews conducted with servicepeople at all levels of the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps and intense research uncovering thousands of documents resulting in a unique history of gays in the military as well as the persecution of gays in the military. Conduct Unbecoming will leave readers moved and imbued with a better understanding of the pressing situation in our nation's military. "A sober, thoroughly researched and engrossingly readable history on the subject. [Shilts's] chronicle is excellent military history, closely woven with an enthralling analysis of the changing definitions of sexuality and personal relationships in American society....[A] landmark book....Remarkable." --New York Times Book Review "A masterpiece of investigative reporting...Shilts has shown us the honor homosexuals have brought, and continue to bring, to the uniforms they wear and the country they serve." - Boston Globe "Gays, we are told, would damage morale in the military. Shilts documents the fact that morale has already been eaten away by hypocrisy, contradictions, and favoritism...This book will be to gay and lesbian liberation what Betty Friedan's was to early feminism or Rachel Carson's to ecological consciousness. No fair-minded person can read Conduct Unbecoming and consider the present system defensible. - USA Today "Gripping reading....the history of homosexual people and the movement for gay/lesbian equality in the United States can nowhere be more clearly told." - Los Angeles Times

The Soho Press Book of '80s Short Fiction
The Soho Press Book of '80s Short Fiction

Author: Dale Peck

Publisher: Soho Press

Published: 2016-06-07

Total Pages: 593

ISBN-13: 1616955465

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In The Soho Press Book of '80s Short Fiction, editor Dale Peck offers readers a fresh take on a seminal period in American history, when Ronald Reagan was president, the Cold War was rushing to its conclusion, and literature was searching for ways to move beyond the postmodern unease of the 1970s. Morally charged by newly politicized notions of identity but fraught with anxiety about a body whose fragility had been freshly emphasized by the AIDS epidemic, the 34 works gathered here are individually vivid, but taken as a body of work, they challenge the prevailing notion of the ’80s as a time of aesthetic as well as financial maximalism. Formally inventive yet tightly controlled, they offer a more expansive, inclusive view of the era’s literary accomplishments. The anthology blends early stories from writers like Denis Johnson, Jamaica Kincaid, Mary Gaitskill, and Raymond Carver, which have gone on to become part of the American canon, with remarkable and often transgressive work from some of the most celebrated writers of the underground, including Dennis Cooper, Eileen Myles, Lynne Tillman, and Gary Indiana. Peck has also included powerful work by writers such as Gil Cuadros, Essex Hemphill, and Sam D’Allesandro, whose untimely deaths from AIDS ended their careers almost before they had begun. Almost a third of the stories are out of print and unavailable elsewhere. The Soho Press Book of ’80s Short Fiction is a daring reappraisal of a decade that is increasingly central to our culture.