Gary David Comstock – författare

Violence Against Lesbians and Gay Men is the first book to reveal the shocking problem of anti-gay/lesbian violence. Beginning with an overview of the emergence of lesbian and gay neighborhoods in major U.S. cities after World War II, Comstock describes how the increased visibility of lesbians and gay men was followed by physical attacks that were illegal but socially sanctioned. He presents results of his survey on present-day violence and then studies the perpetrators, using information supplied by survey participants as well as reports from the media, court records, and personal interviews. Finally, Comstock proposes a sociological explanation for the fact that adolescent males are the group most prone to violence against lesbians and gay men.

This book features interviews with twenty black scholars and religious leaders who speak out--from various theological perspectives--against institutional prejudice toward gay and lesbian people. The interviews are conducted in a conversational format in language that will be accessible and interesting to lay readers.

This text includes, but moves beyond, tradition-based experiential writing by turning to the academic study of religion. It includes work that compares or focuses on different religious traditions, such as various forms of Christianity, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, and Native American spiritualities. It also incorporates writing on various geographical areas and historical time periods. By assuming a wide definition of religion, it raises questions about the terms religion and religious themselves.

Publishers' catalogues are full of books on the Church's view of homosexuality; Gary David Comstock here offers gay views of the church. Given the often hostile environment, he asks why gay people stay in religious institutions. Using social scientific methods, he summarizes 36 surveys of gay attitudes toward religious communities, including Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim and Native American traditions. He adds data from his survey of gay people in two mainline Protestant denominations.