The act of "coming out" has the power to transform every aspect of a woman's life: family, friendships, career, sexuality, spirituality. An essential element of self-realization, it is the unabashed acceptance of one's "outlaw" standing in a predominantly heterosexual world.

These accounts -- sometimes heart-wrenching, often exhilarating -- encompass a wide breadth of backgrounds and experiences. From a teenager institutionalized for her passion for women to the mother who must come out to her young sons at the risk of losing them -- from the cautious academic to the raucous liberated femme -- each woman represented here tells of forging a unique path toward the difficult but emancipating recognition of herself. Extending from the 1940s to the present day, these intensely personal stories in turn reflect a unique history of the changing social mores that affected each woman's ability to determine the shape of her own life. Together they form an ornate tapestry of lesbian and bisexual experience in the United States over the past half-century..

Here is an important book for social scientists interested in the influence of gender on certain types of behavior. Several perspectives are presented on the general topic of biopolitics and gender, including the points of view of brain science, endocrinology, ethology, psychophysiology, and such conventional interests as political attitudes, socialization, participation, social structure, and political hierarchy. The varied and provocative ideas explored in this volume will broaden discussions of gender beyond an exclusive focus on sex links to oppression and discrimination.

This fascinating book demonstrates the diversity of Connecticut's women's feminist activities in pre- and post-suffrage eras and refutes the notion that feminist activism died out with the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment.

This book examines different forms and practices of queer media, that is, the films, websites, zines, and film festivals produced by, for, and about lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people in China in the first two decades of the twenty-first century. It traces how queer communities have emerged in urban China and identifies the pivotal role that community media have played in the process. It also explores how these media shape community cultures and perform the role of social and cultural activism in a country where queer identities have only recently emerged and explicit forms of social activism are under serious political constraints. Importantly, because queer media is 'niche' and 'narrowcasting' rather than 'broadcasting' and 'mass communication,' the subject compels a rethinking of some often-taken-for-granted assumptions about how media relates to the state, the market, and individuals. Overall, the book reveals a great deal about queer communities and identities, queer activism, and about media and social and political attitudes in China.

-first book of its kind in the UK developing an intersectional understanding of QTPOC subjectivities and identities -a radical and critical intervention into psychology - melds activism and academia from an #ownvoices perspective

This book takes stock of German gender equality in several policy fields after 16 years of governments led by Angela Merkel and her conservative Christian Democratic Party (CDU). While maintaining its status as an economic engine in Europe, Germany has historically been a laggard in adopting gender equality measures. The European Gender Equality Index, however, now ranks Germany relatively high and shows substantial progress since 2005. While this has gone mostly unnoticed, Germany has passed far-reaching legislation in major policy fields relevant for gender equality. Investigating the effects of Merkel's tenure on gender equality, the chapters in this volume assess policy output and outcomes with a focus on internal power dynamics in Germany, as well as international and European Union (EU)-level pressures in the policy domains of political representation, LGBTI rights, migration, the labor market, and care. It examines how policy measures introduced by conservative governments affect gender norms and gender culture, and if they ultimately lead to effective implementation and greater equality. The book argues that Merkel often led "from behind," indirectly facilitating claims-making instead of proactively pushing them. This nonetheless contributed to transformative change in Germany, by Merkel not blocking policy proposals and allowing civil society groups and rival parties to push many progressive gender policies. Leading from Behind: Gender Equality in Germany During the Merkel Era is a fascinating read for students, researchers, and academics interested in European politics, political leadership, gender equality and LGBTI politics. This book was originally published as a special issue of German Politics.

'On the bookshelves, there was plenty of stuff on being gay, and much needed, joyous accounts of what it is to be trans, but nothing really that encapsulates what is it to be both - to exist in the hazy terrain between.' After his relationship with his girlfriend of 5 years ended, Harry realised he was a single adult for the first time - not only that, but a single, transmasculine and newly out gay man. Despite knowing it was the right decision, the reality of his new situation was terrifying. How could he be a gay man, when he was still learning what it was to be a man? Would the gay community embrace him or reject him? What would gay sex be like? And most importantly, would finding love again be possible? In this raw, intimate and unflinchingly honest book, we follow Harry as he navigates the sometimes fraught and contradictory worlds of contemporary gay culture as a trans gay man, from Grindr, dating and gay bars, to saunas, sex and ultimately, falling in love. Harry's brave and uplifting journey will show you there is joy in finding who you are.

This short collection of essays engages with queer lives and activism in 1970s Poland, illustrating discourses about queerness and a trajectory of the struggle for rights which clearly sets itself apart, and differs from a Western-based narrative of liberation. Contributors to this volume paint an uneven landscape of queer life in state-socialist Poland in the 1970s and early 1980s. They turn to oral history interviews and archival sources which include police files, personal letters, literature and criticism, writings by sexuality experts, and documentation of artistic practice. Unlike most of Europe, Poland did not penalize same-sex acts, although queer people were commonly treated with suspicion and vilified. But while many homosexual men and most lesbian women felt invisible and alone, some had the sense of belonging to a fledgling community. As they looked to the West, hoping for a sexual revolution that never quite arrived, they also preserved informal queer institutions dating back to the prewar years and used them to their advantage. Medical experts conversed with peers across the Iron Curtain but developed their own "socialist" methods and successfully prompted the state to recognize transgender rights, even as that state remained determined to watch and intimidate homosexual men. Literary critics, translators, and art historians began debating-and they debate still-how to read gestures defying gender and sexual norms: as an aspect of some global "gay" formation or as stemming from locally grounded queer traditions. Emphasizing the differences of Poland's LGBT history from that of the "global" West while underscoring the existing lines of communication between queer subjects on either side of the Iron Curtain, this book will be of key interest to scholars and students in gender and sexuality studies, social history, and politics.

LGBTI Politics and Value Change in Ukraine and Turkey focuses on the impact of European Union promotion of LGBTI rights in Turkey and Ukraine, offering a re-evaluation of the mechanisms used by the EU and the domestic and external conditions that result in different outcomes. With the protection of LGBTI rights becoming one of the core principles of the EU, the last two decades have seen a consistently growing commitment of the Union to defending the human rights of LGBTI people, not only in its member states but also internationally. Drawing on rich empirical data, this work uses the cases of Turkey, a candidate state, and Ukraine, a state in the European Neighbourhood, to evaluate the ability of the EU to promote tolerance and diversity in countries where the population has not experienced a radical shift of attitudes toward LGBTI people. Examining the export of 'European values', politics of LGBTI rights in the enlarged European Union, the development of LGBTI rights in Turkey and the transformation of its political system, competing normative powers and LGBTI rights in Ukraine, Maryna Shevtsova traces the 'Europeanization' of rights beyond Europe. This book will be of interest to researchers in LGBTI Studies, Eastern European Politics, the European Union and Gender Studies.

How old is the oldest chat-up line between men? Who was the first 'lesbian'? Were ancient Greek men who had sex together necessarily 'gay'? And what did Shakespeare think about cross-dressing? A Little Gay History takes objects ranging from Ancient Egyptian papyri and the erotic scenes on the Roman Warren Cup to images by modern artists including David Hockney and Bhupen Khakhar to consider questions such as these. Explored are the issues behind forty artefacts from ancient times to the present, and from cultures across the world, to ask a question that concerns us all: how easily can we recognize love in history?

Intolerance of ideas different from one's own seems to be a common attitude among human beings and, at the same time, something that seems to be more pronounced in recent years. In this volume, political theorists and philosophers consider some of the historical preconditions of modern intolerance and debate the sources of its recent manifestations. From theories of religious intolerance during the Reformation to the contemporary suppression of religious symbols; from homophobia to attempts to ban it; from populism on the right to "cancel culture" on the left-this book covers a variety of forms of intolerance, analysing not only its consequences but its causes and implications. Some of the chapters suggest means by which democracies may, through popular and judicial measures, defend themselves against intolerance, while others probe the philosophical grounding of intolerance in epistemological and metaphysical doctrines such as self-evident truth, divine revelation, inner illumination, naive realism, and the moral relativism attributed to analytic philosophy and postmodernism. The chapters in this book were originally published as a special issue of Critical Review.

This book provides a number of effective tools to aid in the recovery of LGBTQIA historic material by providing extensive glossary and non-glossary written descriptions, and how to use those terms and phrases in searching effectively online and offline. Researching hidden and forbidden people from the past can be extremely difficult. Terminology used to write about LGBT+ people shifts over time, legal terminology enforces certain set terms which some writers use but others reject to avoid informing or disgusting a reading public. Often written descriptions contain no set terminology at all. How then can LGBT+ people be found in historic records? This book provides practical tools for a researcher wanting to uncover material from online or hard copy sources, including: keyword/s covering various sexual orientations and gender diversity, along with how and when to use them; tips for effective searching in online newspaper archives; how to use genealogy, auction and social media sites to uncover information; searching in online and physical libraries; advice on researching in physical archives and the types of collections which can yield results; and researching in museums collecting and displaying LGBT+ content. Making use of a straightforward and jargon free style, this is a short and accessible guide to doing historical research on Gay, Lesbian, Trans, Queer and non-normative research subjects. This is a useful resource for students and scholars alike in Archive Studies History, Gender and Sexuality Studies.

This exciting and original volume offers the first comprehensive critical study of the recent profusion of European films and television addressing sexual migration and seeking to capture the lives and experiences of LGBTIQ+ migrants and refugees. Queering the Migrant in Contemporary European Cinema argues that embodied cinematic representations of the queer migrant, even if at times highly ambivalent and contentious, constitute an urgent new repertoire of queer subjectivities and socialities that serve to undermine the patrolled borders of gender and sexuality, nationhood and citizenship, and refigure or queer fixed notions and universals of identity like 'Europe' and national belonging based on the model of the family. At stake ethically and politically is the elaboration of a 'transborder' consciousness and aesthetics that counters the homonationalist, xenophobic and homo/trans-phobic representation of the 'migrant to Europe' figure rooted in the toxic binaries of othering (the good vs bad migrant, host vs guest, indigenous vs foreigner). Bringing together 16 contributors working in different national film traditions and embracing multiple theoretical perspectives, this powerful and timely collection will be of major interest to both specialists and students in Film and Media Studies, Gender and Queer Studies, Migration/Mobility Studies, Cultural Studies, and Aesthetics.

Slips of the tongue, unwitting favoritism, and stereotyped assumptions are just some examples of microaggression. Nearly all of us commit microaggressions at some point, even if we don't intend to. Yet over time a pattern of microaggression can cause considerable harm by reminding members of marginalized groups of their precarious position. The Ethics of Microaggression is a much needed and clearly written exploration of this pervasive yet complex problem. What is microaggression and how do we know when it is occurring? Can we be held responsible for microaggressions and if so, how? How has social media affected the problem? What role can philosophy play in understanding microaggression? Regina Rini explores these highly topical and controversial questions in an engaging and fair-minded way, arguing that an event is a microaggression precisely because it causes a marginalized person to experience an ambiguous encounter with oppression. She illustrates her argument with compelling examples from media, politics, and psychology and explains the significance of essential concepts, such as media representation, reparative renaming, and safe spaces. The Ethics of Microaggression explains what microaggression is and offers strategies for combating it. Assuming no prior knowledge of the topic or philosophy, it demystifies a controversial and extremely important topic in clear language. It is ideal for anyone coming to the topic for the first time and for students in philosophy, gender studies, race theory, disability theory, and social and political philosophy.

From its beginnings in the 1970s and 1980s, interest in the topic of gender and migration has grown. Gender and Migration seeks to introduce the most relevant sociological theories of gender relations and migration that consider ongoing transnationalization processes, at the beginning of the third millennium. These include intersectionality, queer studies, social inequality theory and the theory of transnational migration and citizenship; all of which are brought together and illustrated by means of various empirical examples. With its explicit focus on the gendered structures of migration-sending and migration-receiving countries, Gender and Migration builds on the most current conceptual tool of gender studies-intersectionality-which calls for collective research on gender with analysis of class, ethnicity/race, sexuality, age and other axes of inequality in the context of transnational migration and mobility. The book also includes descriptions of a number of recommended films that illustrate transnational migrant masculinities and femininities within and outside of Europe. A refreshing attempt to bring in considerations of queer theory and sexual identity in the area of gender migration studies, this insightful volume will appeal to students and researchers interested in fields such as sociology, social anthropology, political science, intersectional studies and transnational migration.

In Lesbian Potentiality and Feminist Media in the 1970s, Rox Samer explores how 1970s feminists took up the figure of the lesbian in broad attempts to reimagine gender and sexuality. Samer turns to feminist film, video, and science fiction literature, offering a historiographical concept called "lesbian potentiality"-a way of thinking beyond what the lesbian was, in favor of how the lesbian signified what could have come to be. Samer shows how the labor of feminist media workers and fans put lesbian potentiality into movement. They see lesbian potentiality in feminist prison documentaries that theorize the prison industrial complex's racialized and gendered violence and give image to Black feminist love politics and freedom dreaming. Lesbian potentiality also circulates through the alternative spaces created by feminist science fiction and fantasy fanzines like The Witch and the Chameleon and Janus. It was here that author James Tiptree, Jr./Alice B. Sheldon felt free to do gender differently and inspired many others to do so in turn. Throughout, Samer embraces the perpetual reimagination of "lesbian" and the lesbian's former futures for the sake of continued, radical world-building.

Drawing on autotheoretical methods, this insightful volume explores how LGBTQ+ scholars, practitioners, and scholar-practitioners exist within and negotiate an insider/outsider paradox within higher education, highlighting issues of affect, legibility, and embodiment. The first of a two-volume series, this book foregrounds the experiences of LGBTQ+ higher education scholars and practitioners in the United States as they navigate cisheteronormative culture, structures, practices, and policies on campus. Through theorization of contributors' lived experiences in relation to identity and the concept of queerness as being, the volume posits queer identity as embodied resistance and demonstrates how this plays out within an insider/outsider paradox. An innovative theoretical framing, this text artfully exemplifies how queer and trans people exist simultaneously as both insider and outsider in university communities and deepens understanding of how critical narratives might inform institutional transformation and drives toward equity. The book then looks to the future, discussing implications for research and practice, using the lessons learned from the chapter authors. Embellished with a plethora of diverse firsthand contributions and innovative scholarship, this book will be of interest to students and scholars of queer and trans studies, student affairs, gender and sexuality studies, and higher education, as well as those seeking to understand the experiences of LGBTQ+ higher education scholars and practitioners as they navigate central tensions in their practice.

Now in its second edition, Rethinking the Gay and Lesbian Movement provides an accessible overview of an important and transformational struggle for social change, highlighting key individuals and events, influential groups and organizations, major successes and failures, and the movement's lasting effects and unfinished work. Focusing on four decades of social, cultural, and political change in the second half of the twentieth century, Marc Stein examines the changing agendas, beliefs, strategies, and vocabularies of a movement that encompassed diverse actions, campaigns, ideologies, and organizations. From the homophile activism of the 1950s and 1960s through the rise of gay liberation and lesbian feminism in the 1970s to the multicultural and AIDS activist movements of the 1980s, this book provides a strong foundation for understanding gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and queer politics today. This new edition reflects the substantial changes in the field since the book's original publication eleven years ago. Rethinking the Gay and Lesbian Movement will be valued by everyone interested in LGBTQ struggles, the politics of movement activism, and the history of social justice in the United States.

From Spain comes this striking collection of paintings reflecting a sensibility lying at the core of Spanish gay culture. The artist excells at a photorealist style - homoerotic, thoughtful and moodful, these paintings with their blend of subtle coloration are totally about today.

Guided by the scholarly personal narratives of LGBTQ+ higher education scholars, practitioners, and scholar-practitioners, this informative volume explores how individuals exist within and experience the insider/outsider paradox within higher education as they engage in disruption, queer methods, and action. The second of a two-volume series, this book relates to the firsthand accounts and personal stories of the contributors in order to illustrate the challenges and opportunities that exist for queer and trans people. Framed through the concept of queerness as doing, this book takes up the important question of what it means to occupy both positions of oppression and degrees of privilege within society and in the context of work. It discusses how stories depict the nuances of the insider/outsider paradox relative to practicing queerness as a politic while identifying as part of the LGBTQ+ community in higher education settings. The book then looks to the future, discussing implications for research and practice, using the lessons learned from the chapter authors. Comprised of firsthand contributions and innovative scholarship, this book will be of interest to students and scholars of queer and trans studies, student affairs, gender and sexuality studies, and higher education, as well as those seeking to understand the experiences of LGBTQ+ scholars and practitioners as they navigate central tensions in their scholarship and practice.

Siya Khumalo het grootgeword in ’n Durbanse township waar net een opruiende preek ’n skare kon laat toesak op enigeen wat as “anders” beskou is. In Siya se geval was “anders” om gay te wees. Hy het daarom begin om indringend na seks, politiek en godsdiens te kyk. Hy ontbloot tegnieke wat vandag deur magsfigure gebruik word en wys hoe veral gay mense die prooi word van politici en pastore wat wil ryk word deur die armes en populêre vooroordele uit te buit.

An Introduction to Queer Literary Studies: Reading Queerly is the first introduction to queer theory written especially for students of literature. Tracking the emergence of queer theory out of gay and lesbian studies, this book pays unique attention to how queer scholars have read some of the most well-known works in the English language. Organized thematically, this book explores queer theoretical treatments of sexual identity, gender and sexual norms and normativity, negativity and utopianism, economics and neoliberalism, and AIDS activism and disability. Each chapter expounds upon foundational works in queer theory by scholars including Michel Foucault, Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, and Lee Edelman. Each chapter also offers readings of primary texts -ranging from the highly canonical, like John Milton's Paradise Lost, to more contemporary works of popular fiction, like Stephen King's 'Salem's Lot. Along the way, An Introduction to Queer Literary Studies: Reading Queerly demonstrates how queer reading methods work alongside other methods like feminism, historicism, deconstruction, and psychoanalysis. By modelling queer readings, this book invites literature students to develop queer readings of their own. It also suggests that reading queerly is not simply a matter of reading work written by queer people. Queer reading attunes us to the queerness of even the most straightforward text.