In this intermittently interesting study, Murray (Latin American
Male Homosexualities, not reviewed) analyzes the roots of gay
identity in America, focusing on various racial and ethnic
differences within the gay community. In its mission to foster
heterosexuality, contends Murray, society has misrepresented gay
life in the media, identifying it almost exclusively with
loneliness and death. Enduring same-sex couples are almost
invisible, while "representations of gay men with AIDS in the news
media perpetuate the image of gay men necessarily cut off from
humanity, dying alone and miserable." Relationships between gays
are continually devalued and undermined. The care - both financial
and emotional - that gay men have shown one another, particularly
during the past decade, has largely been overlooked, Therefore, the
author concludes, gays must demand acceptance and forge their own
institutions. Citing sociological data, Murray draws a well-defined
distinction between the terms "homosexual" and "gay." Engaging in
homosexual acts does not make one "gay." To be part of the gay
community involves a consciously chosen acceptance of a certain
lifestyle and identity. Whereas all gays find themselves cut off
from the mainstream, members of certain ethnic groups are doubly
disenfranchised. Among African-Americans, for example, even the
most progressive leaders, such as Jesse Jackson, have sought to
keep the existence of gays "invisible," while black studies
departments have ignored "African and African American
homosexualities." Murray draws on sociological research to provide
hypotheses about various racial and ethnic groups within the gay
community. Asian gays, for example, are more likely to "keep their
gay world separate from their family/community world."
Unfortunately, Murray's contribution to the field is marred by too
many lapses into sociological jargon. (e.g. "Homosexuality is more
polyvalent than either realists or nominalists [particularly
special creationists] suppose.") But despite its ploddingly painful
prose, this volume deepens our understanding of gay Americans and
their particular challenges. (Kirkus Reviews)
This text provides an investigation into how people have been gay
or lesbian in America. The author examines the emergence of gay and
lesbian social life, the creation of "lesbigay" communities, and
the forces of resistance that have mobilized and fostered a group
identity. Murray also considers the extent to which there is a
single "modern" homosexuality and discusses the range of homosexual
behaviours, typifications, self-identifications and meanings.
Murray challenges prevailing assumptions about gay history and
society. He questions conventional wisdom about the importance of
World War II and the Stonewall riots for conceiving and challenging
shared oppression. He reviews gay complicity in the repathologizing
of homosexuality during the early years of the AIDS epidemic.
Discussing recent demands for inclusion in the "straight"
institutions of marriage and the US military, he concludes that
these are new forms of resistance, not attempts to assimilate.
Finally, Murray examines racial and ethnic differences in
self-representation and identification. Drawing on two decades of
studying gay life in North America, this "tour de force" of
empirical documentation and social theory critically reviews what
is known about the emergence, growth and internal diversity of
communities of openly gay men and lesbians. The book thus deepens
our understanding of the ways individuals construct sexualities
through working and living together. Stephen O. Murray is the
author of six books, including "Latin American Male
Homosexualities" and "Oceanic Homosexualities".
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