Over the past 30 years, the gay rights movement has moved from the margins to the center of American politics, sparking debate from bedroom to boardroom to battlefield. Out of the Closets and into the Courts analyzes recent gay rights cases and explores the complex relationship between litigation and social change. “An excellent book, enlightening and well-written. Out of the Closets and into the Courts should be highly useful in the classroom and of interest to a broad audience.” --Evan Gerstmann, Loyola Marymount University “A detailed historical analysis of changes in the law surrounding gay and lesbian relationships, Out of the Closets and into the Courts also breaks fresh ground in thinking about how and when law can be used to affect social change. The concept of a legal opportunity structure, which complements the concept of political opportunity structure, proves to be very useful in analyzing judicial changes in the law. A very impressive analysis.” --Mayer Zald, Professor Emeritus, University of Michigan “Ellen Andersen's book integrates sophisticated sociolegal theory and thorough empirical research into a compelling, insightful analysis of legal mobilization campaigns led by the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund. This study makes a significant contribution to scholarship about struggles over gay rights in the U.S. and about legal reform politics in general.” --Michael McCann, University of Washington Ellen Ann Andersen is Assistant Professor of Political Science at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis.
"Out of the Closets: The Sociology of Homosexual Liberation is the long-awaited book that Colin Williams of Indiana University's Institute for Sex Research praises as a beautifully written, provocative book on the contemporary homosexual scene. In this compelling and illuminating history of one of America's most radical social movements, Laud Humphreys, winners of the C. Wright Mills award for his book Tearoom Trade, tells the complete story of the birth and growth of gay liberation. From the organization of the first homosexual leagues over forty years ago to the 1970s, when gay men and women by the thousands are leaving the closets and taking to the streets, Humphreys gives a gull account of the evolution of gay lib's aspirations and goals, its search for internal unity, and its growing militancy. The life story of the homophile movement, told here with an all-too-rare blend of sympathy and objectivity, offers the readers the insight he needs to understand one of the most urgent pleas ever made for personal freedom." -- back cover.
Part memoir and part social criticism, The Glass Closet addresses the issue of homophobia that still pervades corporations around the world and underscores the immense challenges faced by LGBT employees. In The Glass Closet, Lord John Browne, former CEO of BP, seeks to unsettle business leaders by exposing the culture of homophobia that remains rampant in corporations around the world, and which prevents employees from showing their authentic selves. Drawing on his own experiences, and those of prominent members of the LGBT community around the world, as well as insights from well-known business leaders and celebrities, Lord Browne illustrates why, despite the risks involved, self-disclosure is best for employees—and for the businesses that support them. Above all, The Glass Closet offers inspiration and support for those who too often worry that coming out will hinder their chances of professional success.
From journalist, fashionista, and clothing resale expert Elizabeth L. Cline, “the Michael Pollan of fashion,”* comes the definitive guide to building an ethical, sustainable wardrobe you'll love. Clothing is one of the most personal expressions of who we are. In her landmark investigation Overdressed: The Shockingly High Cost of Cheap Fashion, Elizabeth L. Cline first revealed fast fashion’s hidden toll on the environment, garment workers, and even our own satisfaction with our clothes. The Conscious Closet shows exactly what we can do about it. Whether your goal is to build an effortless capsule wardrobe, keep up with trends without harming the environment, buy better quality, seek out ethical brands, or all of the above, The Conscious Closet is packed with the vital tools you need. Elizabeth delves into fresh research on fashion’s impacts and shows how we can leverage our everyday fashion choices to change the world through style. Inspired by her own revelatory journey getting off the fast-fashion treadmill, Elizabeth shares exactly how to build a more ethical wardrobe, starting with a mindful closet clean-out and donating, swapping, or selling the clothes you don't love to make way for the closet of your dreams. The Conscious Closet is not just a style guide. It is a call to action to transform one of the most polluting industries on earth—fashion—into a force for good. Readers will learn where our clothes are made and how they’re made, before connecting to a global and impassioned community of stylish fashion revolutionaries. In The Conscious Closet, Elizabeth shows us how we can start to truly love and understand our clothes again—without sacrificing the environment, our morals, or our style in the process. *Michelle Goldberg, Newsweek/The Daily Beast
Even as substantial legal and social victories are being celebrated within the gay rights movement, much of working-class America still exists outside the current narratives of gay liberation. In Steel Closets, Anne Balay draws on oral history interviews with forty gay, lesbian, and transgender steelworkers, mostly living in northwestern Indiana, to give voice to this previously silent and invisible population. She presents powerful stories of the intersections of work, class, gender, and sexual identity in the dangerous industrial setting of the steel mill. The voices and stories captured by Balay--by turns alarming, heroic, funny, and devastating--challenge contemporary understandings of what it means to be queer and shed light on the incredible homophobia and violence faced by many: nearly all of Balay's narrators remain closeted at work, and many have experienced harassment, violence, or rape. Through the powerful voices of queer steelworkers themselves, Steel Closets provides rich insight into an understudied part of the LGBT population, contributing to a growing body of scholarship that aims to reveal and analyze a broader range of gay life in America.
"Rob is a young African-American man coming to terms with his sexuality amid the backdrop of the hyper-masculine, homophobic U.S. Army. After surviving the notoriously brutal infantry basic training and then finding himself as a young gay man while remaining closeted to all but a few of his colleagues at his first duty station, he finds himself in dangerous territory after the United States declares war on Iraq and his unit is one of the first called in after the initial invasion... Rob's experience offers a ground-level view if life on the front lines of race and sexuality in the United States military in an unforgettable gay coming-of-age story--with a military twist."--Back cover.
The discovery that one’s husband is gay or bisexual is a surprise for which most women are totally unprepared. With no guidelines and few professionals able to provide adequate help, both partners, but especially the wives, are apt to feel enormous isolation and confusion. When Husbands Come Out of the Closet, based on the results of a landmark study and years of clinical experience, is a poignant and compassionate look at the conflicting emotions experienced by women who learn of their husbands’homosexuality. Focusing on the wives’perspectives, author Jean Schaar Gochros offers support, encouragement, and practical advice for coping with the stigma, fear, and stress experienced by women trying to cope with their husbands’homosexuality. She addresses the often harmful myths surrounding these wives, husbands, and marriages, and questions the quality of help that women usually receive from friends and professionals alike.Combining comprehensive research and personal case histories, she has developed crucial guidelines for helping professionals who counsel such couples. This readable book is informative and fascinating reading for both the professional and lay person.