American Queer, Now And Then

by Shneer,David

• ISBN13: 9781594511714
• ISBN10: 1594511713
• Format: Nonspecific Binding
• Copyright: 2006-03-15
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

Contrasting queer life today and in years past, this landmark book brings together autobiographies, poetry, film studies, maps, documents, laws, and other texts to explore the meaning and practice of the word "queer". By this Shneer and Aviv mean: queer as both a form of social violence and a call to political activism; queer as played by Robin Williams and Sharon Stone and as lived by Matthew Shepard and Brandon Teena; queer in the courthouses of Washington D.C. and on the streets of hometown America. Contextualizing these contemporary stories with ones from the past, and understanding them through the analytic tools of feminist social criticism and history, the authors show what it means to be queer in America. queer[adj]: 1. differing from what is usual or ordinary; odd; singular; strange 2. slightly ill 3. mentally unbalanced 4. counterfeit; not genuine 5. homosexual: in general usage, still chiefly a slang term of contempt or derision, but lately used by some as a descriptive term without negative connotations --Webster's Dictionary queer[adj]: used to describe a 1. body of theory 2. field of critical inquiry 3. way of proudly identifying a group of people 4. way of seeing the world 5. sense of difference from the norm --David Shneer and Caryn Aviv, American Queer, Now and Then

Table of Contents

Introduction	ix
1. Bulkdykes, Faggots, and Fairies, Oh My! Calling and Being Called Queer in America, Now and Then	1	(28)
The Transformation of Silence into Language and Action (1978),
Audre Lorde	5	(3)
Classifications of Homosexuality (1916),
Urologic and Cutaneous Review	8	(2)
Sexual Behavior in the Human Male (1948),
Alfred C. Kinsey Wardell B. Pomeroy and Clyde E. Martin	10	(5)
Gay New York (1994),
George Chauncey	15	(14)
2. Are We Free to Be You and Me? Queer Sexuality in America, Now and Then	29	(24)
Sex Variants (1941),
George Henry	33	(5)
Sexual Deviations (1968, 1980),
American Psychiatric Association	38	(3)
Introduction to Body Alchemy: Transsexual Portraits (1996),
Loren Cameron	41	(4)
My Gender Workbook (1998),
Kate Bornstein	45	(8)
3. Out and About: Queer Spaces in America, Now and Then	53	(38)
Homosexual Complexion Perverts in St. Louis: Note on a Feature of Psychopathy (1907),
Alienist and Neurologist	57	(1)
"I Could Hardly Wait to Get Back to That Bar": Lesbian Bar Culture in the 1930's and 1940's (1993),
Elizabeth Lapovsky Kennedy and Madeline Davis	58	(8)
Renegotiating the Social/Sexual Identities of Places: Gay Communities as Safe Havens or Sites of Resistance? (1994)
Wayne Myslik	66	(10)
At the Michigan Womyn's Music Festival (2003),
Bonnie J. Morris	76	(5)
One of the Children: Gay Black Men in Harlem (1996),
William G. Hawkeswood and Alex W Costley	81	(10)
4. The Birds and the . . . Birds: Queer Love, Sex, and Romance in America, Now and Then	91	(32)
Smoke, Lilies, and Jade (1926),
Richard Bruce Nugent	95	(7)
Opening Pandora's Box (2004),
Christi Cassidy	102	(3)
Mike Goes to the Baths (1984),
Michael Callen	105	(5)
Paradigms Old and New (1998),
Dossie Easton and Catherine A. Liszt	110	(7)
It's a White Man's World (2005), Dwight A McBride	117	(6)
5. Where Are Our White Picket Fences? Queer Relationships and Families in America, Now and Then	123	(44)
Younger Brother Dynamics (2000),
Dan Savage	127	(4)
Take My Domestic Partner, Please: Gays and Marriage in the Era of the Visible (2001),
Suzanna Danuta Walters	131	(15)
Queer Families Quack Back (2002),
Judith Stacey and Elizabeth Davenport	146	(17)
Weddings/Celebrations (2002),
Daniel Gross and Steven Goldstein	163	(2)
Ruling in Goodridge v. Massachusetts Department of Health (2003),
Chief Justice Margaret Marshall	165	(2)
6. To See and Be Seen: Queers in American Media and Entertainment, Now and Then	167	(14)
Why Did I Write The Well of Loneliness? (1934),
Radclyffl Hall	171	(3)
Angels in America (1992),
Tony Kushner	174	(2)
Prologue to All the Rage: The Story of Gay Visibility in America (2003),
Suzanna Danuta Walters	176	(5)
7. Sticks and Stones: Bullying Battering and Beating American Queers, Now and Then	181	(36)
Stone Butch Blues (1993),
Leslie Feinberg	185	(8)
The Laramie Project (2001),
Moises Kaufman	193	(5)
Social Movement Growth, Domain Expansion, and Framing
Processes: The Gay/Lesbian Movement and Violence against Gays and Lesbians as a Social Problem (1995), Valerie Jenness	198	(12)
National School Climate Survey, Key Findings (2003),
Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Educators Network	210	(5)
Ruling in Lawrence v. Texas (2003),
Justice Anthony Kennedy	215	(2)
8. I Am That Name: American Queer Activism, Now and Then	217	(28)
The Society for Human Rights (1925),
Henry Gerber	223	(2)
Preface to The Stone Wall (1930),
Mary Casal	225	(1)
Statement of Missions and Purposes (1951),
Mattachine Society	226	(2)
The Ladder (1956),
Daughters of Bilitis	228	(4)
The Woman Identified Woman (1971),
Radicalesbians	232	(4)
Introduction to Home Girls: A Black Feminist Anthology (1983),
Barbara Smith	236	(5)
No More Business as Usual (1987),
AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP)	241	(1)
Mission Statement (1986),
Trikone	242	(1)
Mission Statement (1993),
Southerners on New Ground	243	(1)
Mission Statement (1995),
GenderPAC	243	(1)
Mission Statement (1990),
National Latinalo Lesbian, Gay Bisexual, and Transgender Organization (LLEGO)	244	(1)
Mission Statement (2004),
Mosaic: The National Jewish Center for Sexual and Gender Diversity	244	(1)
9. Conclusion: We're Here, We're Queer, Now What?	245	(24)
Must Identity Movements Self-Destruct? A Queer Dilemma (1995),
Josh Gamson	249
Heeding Isaiah's Call (2002),
David Shneer and Caryn Aviv	265	(4)
Index	269	(19)
Credits	288