Sexual Politics, Sexual Communities

by D'Emilio, John

• ISBN13: 9780226142678
• ISBN10: 0226142671
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1998-10-01
• Publisher: Univ of Chicago Pr

Summary

With thorough documentation of the oppression of homosexuals and biographical sketches of the lesbian and gay heroes who helped the contemporary gay culture to emerge,Sexual Politics, Sexual Communitiessupplies the definitive analysis of the homophile movement in the U.S. from 1940 to 1970. John D'Emilio's new preface and afterword examine the conditions that shaped the book and the growth of gay and lesbian historical literature. "How many students of American political culture know that during the McCarthy era more people lost their jobs for being alleged homosexuals than for being Communists? . . . These facts are part of the heretofore obscure history of homosexuality in Americaa history that John D'Emilio thoroughly documents in this important book."George DeStefano,Nation "John D'Emilio provides homosexual political struggles with something that every movement requiresa sympathetic history rendered in a dispassionate voice."New York Times Book Review "A milestone in the history of the American gay movement."Rudy Kikel,Boston Globe

Table of Contents

Preface, 1998	vii	(8)
Acknowledgments	xv
Introduction	1	(8)
Part 1. Identity, Community, and Oppression: A Sexual Minority in the Making	9	(48)
1. Homosexuality and American Society: An Overview	9	(14)
2. Forging a Group Identity: World War II and the Emergence of an Urban Gay Subculture	23	(17)
3. The Bonds of Oppression: Gay Life in the 1950s	40	(17)
Part 2. The 1950s: Radical Visions and Conformist Pressures	57	(72)
4. Radical Beginnings of the Mattachine Society	57	(18)
5. Retreat to Respectability	75	(17)
6. Dual Identity and Lesbian Autonomy: The Beginnings of Separate Organizing Among Women	92	(16)
7. The Quest for Legitimacy	108	(21)
Part 3. The 1960s: Civil Rights and the Pursuit of Equality	129	(94)
8. Gay Life in the Public Eye	129	(20)
9. Civil Rights and Direct Action: The New East Coast Militancy, 1961-1965	149	(27)
10. The Movement and the Subculture Converge: San Francisco During the Early 1960s	176	(20)
11. High Hopes and Modest Gains	196	(27)
Part 4. The Liberation Impulse	223	(28)
12. A New Beginning: The Birth of Gay Liberation	223	(17)
13. Conclusion	240	(11)
Afterword, 1998	251	(12)
Index	263