Addressing the lack of understanding regarding the lives of same sex-couples, this book examines the sociodemographic characteristics of partnered gay men and lesbians. Ultimately, this book provides a foundation for future research, policy law, and understanding.

How did the queer subject come to occupy such a central, and in many respects, contradictory place in the modern world of the early twentieth century? What role has capitalism played in the development of modern gay and lesbian identities? Materializing Queer Desire focuses on the figure of the dandy to explore how and why gay and lesbian subjects became heroes of modern life. Elisa Glick argues that the gay subject emerged out of the specifically modern, capitalist contradiction between the public world of production and industry and the private world of consumption and pleasure. Boldly bringing modernism into dialogue with Marxist and queer theory, Glick offers an innovative, materialist account of modern queer consciousness that challenges tendencies to oppose "private" eroticism and the systems of value that govern "public" interests. In the process she illuminates the connections between aesthetic, sexual, and social formations in modern life--between modernity's disruptive, "queer" desires and their unfolding in an increasingly rationalized society.

An in-depth examination of the relationship between gay rights, public opinion, and legislation since the late 1800s. In this comprehensive overview of how the American legal system has approached issues pertaining to sexual orientation and how the law has advanced-or hindered-civil rights, author Lee Walzer reveals that while the United States has the world's most developed lesbian and gay community, it lags other countries on equality for sexual minorities. Gay Rights on Trial focuses on four significant cases that have shaped the development of gay rights, including detailed discussion of majority and dissenting decisions and analysis of their legacy and impact. Also included are a chronology; a section of key people, laws, and concepts; a table of cases; key legal documents such as the Defense of Marriage Act and the Vermont Civil Union Act; and an annotated bibliography. Introductory essay covers issues from the changing notions of morality and the law to the various sides in gay rights disputes Contains edited excerpts of key legal documents such as Bowers v. Hardwick (1986), in which the Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of state laws prohibiting homosexual conduct

Discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation or gender identity is forbidden in contemporary international human rights law, yet in many interpretations of Islamic law, this is seen to contradict the tenets of Islam. Vanja Hamzic here offers a path-breaking historical and anthropological analysis of the discourses on sexual and gender diversity in the Muslim world. The first of its kind, the book sheds new light on the understanding of diversity and resistance to hegemonic visions of the self in Muslim societies. Combining first-hand ethnographic accounts of Muslims in contemporary Pakistan including the hijra community whose pluralist sexual and gender experience defy the disciplinary gaze of both international and state law with new archival research, this book provides a unique mapping of Islamic jurisprudence, court practice and social developments in the Muslim world. Hamzic provides a comprehensive look at the ways in which sexually diverse and gender-variant Muslims are seen, and see themselves, within the context of the Islamic legal tradition.

This collection brings together leading scholars to explore the doing and making of identities. Drawing on the highly innovative ESRC Identities and Social Action Programme, the chapters take core social actions such as performing, excluding, mixing, bonding and demonstrate how social practices and identities unfold together.

In the second installment of the Glen & Tyler series, the guys find out what happens when you inherit a Scottish castle, tussle with international crime gangs and host formal balls. Yes, balls -- with dancing and everything In typical Hardy Boys--er, Glen & Tyler fashion, there are secret passages, irascible old men, caves, missing treasure, fine liquor and kilts. Ok, the kilts thing is new -- but believe me, you'll like 'em. Although there isn't much hockey this time around, there is shinty*. There's also some romantic anniversary thing, but really, stay for the shinty. * For those readers unfamiliar with the ancient sport of shinty, think hockey played on a field, without protective gear and with a solid rugby sensibility. Or a riot with sticks and a score keeper.

This book connects the invention of masochism by turn-of-the-century sexologist Richard von Krafft-Ebing and writer Leopold von Sacher-Masoch to its contemporary appropriation by gay and lesbian filmmakers. Krafft-Ebing conceived of masochism as a literary perversion and as a gendered affliction. Mennel compares central texts by Sacher-Masoch with Monika Treut's film "Seduction: The Cruel Woman" and Kutlug Ataman's film "Lola and Billy the Kid," negotiating contemporary feminist theory and queer studies organized around gender and sexuality, on the one hand, and the fetish and masquerade, on the other.

New Perspectives on Language and Sexual Identity is a contribution to the growing field of language and sexuality. The authors present new and exciting data from lesbian and gay conversations, narratives, representations of lesbians in film and erotic fiction, and representations of prominent gay men in newspaper reports to exemplify some of the ways in which lesbians and gay men construct identity from among the symbolic resources available within lesbian and gay communities.

"HIV alters the lives of anyone that it touches, whether they are gay or straight. This book looks at all of the aspects of how HIV/AIDS has altered the lives of those it touches. . . . The titles of the 12 chapters give an excellent overview of what is covered in these extremely well-written reports. . . . This is a must-read book for everyone. It should be in all libraries, including school libraries. Young adolescents who are facing the problem of coming out would benefit from this book." --AIDS Book Review Journal Hit hard by the AIDS epidemic in the United States and in much of Europe, the gay and lesbian community has been forced to examine existing notions of what it means to belong to a community based on sexual orientation. The editors of this second volume in the annual series Psychological Perspectives on Lesbian and Gay Issues have collected a perceptive array of chapters that explore sexual behavior, personal identity, and community memberships of gay men and lesbian women. With the exception of a few, the chapters reflect study findings from AIDS-related research and include discussions of AIDS in large urban centers and in less populated settings outside of major AIDS epicenters. Focusing on underconsidered AIDS populations, the contributors explore specific topics concerning the AIDS epidemic among gay and bisexual men of color, lesbian women, and gay and lesbian youth. Accessible and sensitive, the book also examines relevant public policy, volunteerism, and long-term survival as important to AIDS awareness and education. AIDS, Identity, and Community is an appreciable resource for AIDS researchers and caregivers, mental health practitioners, social service professionals, behavioral and social science students, and any reader who seeks deeper insight into the complex and subtle areas of the lesbian and gay community in the AIDS era.

"HIV alters the lives of anyone that it touches, whether they are gay or straight. This book looks at all of the aspects of how HIV/AIDS has altered the lives of those it touches. . . . The titles of the 12 chapters give an excellent overview of what is covered in these extremely well-written reports. . . . This is a must-read book for everyone. It should be in all libraries, including school libraries. Young adolescents who are facing the problem of coming out would benefit from this book." --AIDS Book Review Journal Hit hard by the AIDS epidemic in the United States and in much of Europe, the gay and lesbian community has been forced to examine existing notions of what it means to belong to a community based on sexual orientation. The editors of this second volume in the annual series Psychological Perspectives on Lesbian and Gay Issues have collected a perceptive array of chapters that explore sexual behavior, personal identity, and community memberships of gay men and lesbian women. With the exception of a few, the chapters reflect study findings from AIDS-related research and include discussions of AIDS in large urban centers and in less populated settings outside of major AIDS epicenters. Focusing on underconsidered AIDS populations, the contributors explore specific topics concerning the AIDS epidemic among gay and bisexual men of color, lesbian women, and gay and lesbian youth. Accessible and sensitive, the book also examines relevant public policy, volunteerism, and long-term survival as important to AIDS awareness and education. AIDS, Identity, and Community is an appreciable resource for AIDS researchers and caregivers, mental health practitioners, social service professionals, behavioral and social science students, and any reader who seeks deeper insight into the complex and subtle areas of the lesbian and gay community in the AIDS era.

This book provides the first full-length study of Jean Genet's homoerotic writing but also makes an important intervention in wider queer criticism. Stephens explores Genet's reflections on the difficulties of writing homoerotically within an inherently heteronormative language to formulate a new theory of queer writing.

This book covers the scope of current knowledge of cancer in the LGBT community across the entire cancer continuum, from understanding risk and prevention strategies in LGBT groups, across issues of diagnosis and treatment of LGBT patients, to unique aspects of survivorship and death and dying in these communities. Each chapter includes an in depth analysis of the state of the science, discusses the many remaining challenges and unanswered questions and makes recommendations for research, policy and programmatic strategies required to address these. Focus is also placed on the diversity of the LGBT communities. Issues that are unique to cancer in LGBT populations are addressed including the social, economic and cultural factors that affect cancer risk behaviors, barriers to screening, utilization of health care services, and legislation that directly impacts the health care of LGBT patients, healthcare settings that are heterosexist and unique aspects of patient-provider relationships such as disclosure of sexual orientation and the need for inclusion of expanded definition of family to include families of choice. The implications of policy change, its impact on healthcare for LGBT patients are highlighted, as are the remaining challenges that need to be addressed. A roadmap for LGBT cancer prevention, detection, diagnosis, survivorship, including treatment and end of life care is offered for future researchers, policy makers, advocates and health care providers.

Who is the ultimate judge of the world? When God and organized religion stand at bitter odds, which one are we supposed to listen to? The four tales collected in The Great Debate, through the mixed elements of horror, whimsy, and captivating allegory, follow this common theme, exploring both the pain of LGBT people and others who feel rejected by the church and the joy that comes with realizing that God's love is by no means subject to the laws of human society.

"Sexuality and Its Queer Discontents in Middle English Literature" exposes the ways in which ostensibly normative sexualities depend upon queerness to shore up their claims of privilege. Through readings of such classic texts as "The Canterbury Tales, Pearl, Amis and Amiloun," and "Eger and Grime," Tison Pugh explains how sexual normativity can often be claimed only after queerness has been rejected, no matter how appealing such queerness might remain at the story's end. Masculinity itself is thus revealed to be a queer performance, one which heroic protagonists of medieval narratives embody while nonetheless highlighting its constricting limitations.

Leading sexuality scholars explore queer lives and cultures in the first full post-war decade through an array of sources and a range of perspectives. Drawing out the particularities of queer cultures from the Finland and New Zealand to the UK and the USA, this collection rethinks preconceptions of the 1950s and pinpoints some of its legacies.

Between the trials of Oscar Wilde in the 1890s and the beginnings of legal reforms in the 1960s, the West End stage was dominated by the work of gay playwrights. Many of their plays, such as Private Lives, Blithe Spirit and The Deep Blue Sea are established classics and continue to inform our culture. In this fascinating book, covering both familiar and lesser-known works, Sean O'Connor examines the legacy of Wilde as a playwright and as a gay man, and explores in the works of Somerset Maugham, Noel Coward and Terence Rattigan the resonance of Wilde's agenda for tolerance and his creed of individuality. O'Connor contextualises these plays against the enormous social and historical changes of the twentieth century. He also examines the legal restrictions which regulated the personal lives of these writers and required them to evolve sophisticated strategies in order to express on stage, albeit obliquely, their dilemmas as gay men. From the delicate homoerotic frissons of Rattigan's early comedies to Coward's defiantly pro-sex stance, Straight Acting is a provocative and witty insight into the subtly subversive tactics of gay writers working in that apparently most conservative of forms, the 'well-made play'.

"Queer Popular Culture "is an exciting new collection that brings together work from several disciplines that address queer representation in multiple contexts. The articles cover many aspects of contemporary U.S. and international queer culture, including the rise of the queer cowboy, the emergence of lesbian chic, and the expansion of representations of blackness, and work on queer, Taiwanese, online communities. Other essays address queer representations from soap operas to gangster films. The book also includes a pedagogical section that addresses the use of queer concepts in the classroom

Before the 1969 Stonewall Riots ushered in the contemporary gay liberation movement, overt representations of same-sex desire in American literature and the arts were few and far between. Even in the 1970s, when gay and lesbian cultures began to register on our national consciousness, such work was still quite rare.

In the 1980s and 90s, however, all that changed. The Queer Renaissance puts a name to the unprecedented outpouring of creative work by openly lesbian and gay novelists, poets, and playwrights in the past two decades. This volume is one of the first to analyze critically this cultural awakening and is one of the only books to consider the work of gay male and lesbian writers together. Most importantly, The Queer Renaissance is the first book to consider how this wave of creative activity has worked in tandem with a flourishing of radical queer politics.

The Queer Renaissance explores the work of such important figures as Audre Lorde, Edmund White, Randall Kenan, Gloria Anzalda, Tony Kushner, and Sarah Schulman to question the dichotomy between art and activism. In addition, The Queer Renaissance interrogates the ways queer theory deploys, intersects with, and contests contemporary theoretical movements such as cultural studies, feminist theory, African American theory, and Chicano/a theory.

Same-sex attracted, and non-gender conforming African-Americans are substantial in number, yet underrepresented in the social and behavioral science literature. This volume addresses the issues of African-American LGBT psychology as a case of indigenous psychology. The authors present the research of scholars who are developing theory, practice, and services that are couched within the specific cultural complexities of this population. Some key topics addressed in AFrican-American Issues in LGBT Psychology are gender, spirituality, family, racism, "coming out," generational differences, health and safety issues, urban vs. rural realities, and implications for researchers.

This collection explores the representation and performance of queer youth in media cultures, primarily examining TV, film and online new media. Specific themes of investigation include the context of queer youth suicide and educational strategies to avert this within online new media, and the significance of coming out videos produced online.

This book examines the surge of queer performance produced across Ireland since the first stirrings of the Celtic Tiger in the mid-1990s, up to the passing of the Marriage Equality referendum in the Republic in 2015.