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The Resource Stand by me : the forgotten history of gay liberation, Jim Downs

Stand by me : the forgotten history of gay liberation, Jim Downs

Creator
Author
Summary
"Despite the tremendous gains of the LGBT movement in recent years, the history of gay life in this country remains poorly understood. According to conventional wisdom, gay liberation started with the Stonewall Riots in Greenwich Village in 1969. The 1970s represented a moment of triumph--both political and sexual--before the AIDS crisis in the subsequent decade, which, in the view of many, exposed the problems inherent in the so-called "gay lifestyle". In Stand by Me, the acclaimed historian Jim Downs rewrites the history of gay life in the 1970s, arguing that the decade was about much more than sex and marching in the streets. Drawing on a vast trove of untapped records at LGBT community centers in Los Angeles, New York, and Philadelphia, Downs tells moving, revelatory stories of gay people who stood together--as friends, fellow believers, and colleagues--to create a sense of community among people who felt alienated from mainstream American life. As Downs shows, gay people found one another in the Metropolitan Community Church, a nationwide gay religious group; in the pages of the Body Politic, a newspaper that encouraged its readers to think of their sexuality as a political identity; at the Oscar Wilde Memorial Bookstore, the hub of gay literary life in New York City; and at theaters putting on "Gay American History," a play that brought to the surface the enduring problem of gay oppression. These and many other achievements would be largely forgotten after the arrival in the early 1980s of HIV/AIDS, which allowed critics to claim that sex was the defining feature of gay liberation. This reductive narrative set back the cause of gay rights and has shaped the identities of gay people for decades. An essential act of historical recovery, Stand by Me shines a bright light on a triumphant moment, and will transform how we think about gay life in America from the 1970s into the present day."--Book jacket
Language
eng
Work
Instance
Label
Stand by me : the forgotten history of gay liberation
Title
Stand by me
Title remainder
the forgotten history of gay liberation
Statement of responsibility
Jim Downs
Creator
Author
Subject
Genre
Language
eng
Summary
"Despite the tremendous gains of the LGBT movement in recent years, the history of gay life in this country remains poorly understood. According to conventional wisdom, gay liberation started with the Stonewall Riots in Greenwich Village in 1969. The 1970s represented a moment of triumph--both political and sexual--before the AIDS crisis in the subsequent decade, which, in the view of many, exposed the problems inherent in the so-called "gay lifestyle". In Stand by Me, the acclaimed historian Jim Downs rewrites the history of gay life in the 1970s, arguing that the decade was about much more than sex and marching in the streets. Drawing on a vast trove of untapped records at LGBT community centers in Los Angeles, New York, and Philadelphia, Downs tells moving, revelatory stories of gay people who stood together--as friends, fellow believers, and colleagues--to create a sense of community among people who felt alienated from mainstream American life. As Downs shows, gay people found one another in the Metropolitan Community Church, a nationwide gay religious group; in the pages of the Body Politic, a newspaper that encouraged its readers to think of their sexuality as a political identity; at the Oscar Wilde Memorial Bookstore, the hub of gay literary life in New York City; and at theaters putting on "Gay American History," a play that brought to the surface the enduring problem of gay oppression. These and many other achievements would be largely forgotten after the arrival in the early 1980s of HIV/AIDS, which allowed critics to claim that sex was the defining feature of gay liberation. This reductive narrative set back the cause of gay rights and has shaped the identities of gay people for decades. An essential act of historical recovery, Stand by Me shines a bright light on a triumphant moment, and will transform how we think about gay life in America from the 1970s into the present day."--Book jacket
Cataloging source
DLC
http://library.link/vocab/creatorDate
1973-
http://library.link/vocab/creatorName
Downs, Jim
Index
index present
Literary form
non fiction
Nature of contents
bibliography
http://library.link/vocab/subjectName
  • Gay liberation movement
  • Gays
  • Gays
  • Gay rights
  • Gay liberation movement
  • Gay rights
  • Gays
  • Gays
  • United States
Label
Stand by me : the forgotten history of gay liberation, Jim Downs
Instantiates
Publication
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references and index
Carrier category
volume
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Content category
text
Content type MARC source
rdacontent
Dimensions
25 cm
Extent
vii, 261 pages
Isbn
9780465032709
Isbn Type
(hardcover)
Lccn
2015040030
Media category
unmediated
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Note
YBP Library Services
System control number
(OCoLC)920018216
Label
Stand by me : the forgotten history of gay liberation, Jim Downs
Publication
Bibliography note
Includes bibliographical references and index
Carrier category
volume
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Content category
text
Content type MARC source
rdacontent
Dimensions
25 cm
Extent
vii, 261 pages
Isbn
9780465032709
Isbn Type
(hardcover)
Lccn
2015040030
Media category
unmediated
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Note
YBP Library Services
System control number
(OCoLC)920018216

Subject

Genre

Library Locations

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      3400 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 19104, US
      39.954941 -75.193362

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