John D'Emilio - Böcker

With thorough documentation of the oppression of homosexuals and biographical sketches of the lesbian and gay heroes who helped the contemporary gay culture to emerge, Sexual Politics, Sexual Communities supplies the definitive analysis of the homophile movement in the U.S. from 1940 to 1970. John D'Emilio's new preface and afterword examine the conditions that shaped the book and the growth of gay and lesbian historical literature. "How many students of American political culture know that during the McCarthy era more people lost their jobs for being alleged homosexuals than for being Communists? ...These facts are part of the heretofore obscure history of homosexuality in America--a history that John D'Emilio thoroughly documents in this important book."--George DeStefano, Nation "John D'Emilio provides homosexual political struggles with something that every movement requires--a sympathetic history rendered in a dispassionate voice."--New York Times Book Review "A milestone in the history of the American gay movement."--Rudy Kikel, Boston Globe

The variety of gay life in Chicago is too abundant and too diverse, to be contained in a single place. But since 1981, the Gerbert/Hart Library & Archives on the city's North Side has strived to do just that, amassing and cataloging a wealth of records related to gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and queer-identified people and organizations in the city. In Queer Legacies, John D'Emilio--a pioneering scholar of gay and lesbian studies--digs deep into the collection at the Gerbert/Hart Library to unearth a kaleidoscopic look at the community built by generations of gay men and women in Chicago. Excavated from one of the country's most important, yet overlooked, LGBTQ archives, the stories included in his book are populated by athletes, lawyers, publishers, artists, performers, and organizers, each offering their own fascinating contribution to Chicago's historically vibrant scene . The breezy and enthusiastic essays that make up Queer Legacies range in focus from politics, culture, social life, and the history of institutions like Dignity--the foremost organization for LGBTQ Catholics--and the Gay Academic Union. Though the book is anchored in Chicago, many of the essays reach farther revealing the connections to events and issues of national import. Queer Legacies illuminates how archives can be more than musty spaces far from the urgent concerns of the present day, and shows that institutions like the Gerbert/Hart are a life-giving resource for the historically marginalized communities they serve. This book gives readers an inclusive and personal look at fifty years of a national fight for visibility, recognition, and equality led by LGBTQ Americans who, quite literally, made history. In these troubled times, it will surely inspire a new generation of scholars and activists.

The variety of gay life in Chicago is too abundant and too diverse, to be contained in a single place. But since 1981, the Gerbert/Hart Library & Archives on the city's North Side has strived to do just that, amassing and cataloging a wealth of records related to gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and queer-identified people and organizations in the city. In Queer Legacies, John D'Emilio--a pioneering scholar of gay and lesbian studies--digs deep into the collection at the Gerbert/Hart Library to unearth a kaleidoscopic look at the community built by generations of gay men and women in Chicago. Excavated from one of the country's most important, yet overlooked, LGBTQ archives, the stories included in his book are populated by athletes, lawyers, publishers, artists, performers, and organizers, each offering their own fascinating contribution to Chicago's historically vibrant scene . The breezy and enthusiastic essays that make up Queer Legacies range in focus from politics, culture, social life, and the history of institutions like Dignity--the foremost organization for LGBTQ Catholics--and the Gay Academic Union. Though the book is anchored in Chicago, many of the essays reach farther revealing the connections to events and issues of national import. Queer Legacies illuminates how archives can be more than musty spaces far from the urgent concerns of the present day, and shows that institutions like the Gerbert/Hart are a life-giving resource for the historically marginalized communities they serve. This book gives readers an inclusive and personal look at fifty years of a national fight for visibility, recognition, and equality led by LGBTQ Americans who, quite literally, made history. In these troubled times, it will surely inspire a new generation of scholars and activists.

As the first full-length study of the history of sexuality in America, "Intimate Matters" offered trenchant insights into the sexual behavior of Americans from colonial times to the present. Now, twenty-five years after its first publication, this ground-breaking classic is back in a crucial and updated third edition. With new and extended chapters, John D'Emilio and Estelle B. Freedman give us an even deeper understanding of how sexuality has dramatically influenced politics and culture throughout our history and into the present. Hailed by critics for its comprehensive approach and noted by the US Supreme Court in the landmark Lawrence v. Texas ruling, "Intimate Matters" details the changes in sexuality and the ongoing growth of individual freedoms in the United States through meticulous research and lucid prose.

For gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people in the United States, the twenty-first century has brought dramatic changes: the end of sodomy laws, the elimination of ÒDon't Ask, Don't Tell,Ó a move toward recognition of same-sex marriage, Gay-Straight Alliances in thousands of high schools, and an explosion of visibility in the media and popular culture. All of this would have been unimaginable to those living just a few decades ago. Yet, at the same time, the American political system has grown ever more conservative, and increasing economic inequality has been a defining feature of the new century.A pioneering scholar of gay history, John D'Emilio reflects in this wide-ranging collection of essays upon the social, cultural, and political changes provoked by LGBT activism. He offers provocative questions and historical analyses: What can we learn from a life-long activist like Bayard Rustin, who questioned the wisdom of Òidentity politicsÓ? Was Richard Nixon a Ògay liberationistÓ? How can knowing local stories-like those of Chicago in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s-help build stronger communities and enrich traditions of activism? Might the focus on achieving actually be evidence of growing conservatism in LGBT communities?In a New Century provides a dynamic, thoughtful, and important resource for identifying changes that have occurred in the United States since 1960, taking stock of the work that still needs to be done, and issuing an urgent call to action for getting there.

Combining historical and political analysis with autobiography and memoir, Making Trouble brings together the essays of John D`Emilio, a pioneering gay historian and long-time movement activist.

Something happened in the 1990s, something dramatic and irreversible. A group of people long considered a moral menace and an issue previously deemed unmentionable in public discourse were transformed into a matter of human rights, discussed in every institution of American society. Marriage, the military, parenting, media and the arts, hate violence, electoral politics, public school curricula, human genetics, religion: Name the issue, and the the role of gays and lesbians was a subject of debate. During the 1990s, the world seemed finally to turn and take notice of the gay people in its midst. In The World Turned, distinguished historian and leading gay-rights activist John D’Emilio shows how gay issues moved from the margins to the center of national consciousness during the critical decade of the 1990s.In this collection of essays, D’Emilio brings his historian’s eye to bear on these profound changes in American society, culture, and politics. He explores the career of Bayard Rustin, a civil rights leader and pacifist who was openly gay a generation before almost everyone else; the legacy of radical gay and lesbian liberation; the influence of AIDS activist and writer Larry Kramer; the scapegoating of gays and lesbians by the Christian Right; the gay-gene controversy and the debate over whether people are "born gay"; and the explosion of attention focused on queer families. He illuminates the historical roots of contemporary debates over identity politics and explains why the gay community has become, over the last decade, such a visible part of American life.

Combining historical and political analysis with autobiography and memoir, Making Trouble brings together the essays of John D`Emilio, a pioneering gay historian and long-time movement activist.

John D’Emilio is one of the leading historians of his generation and a pioneering figure in the field of LGBTQ history. At times his life has been seemingly at odds with his upbringing. How does a boy from an Italian immigrant family in which everyone unfailingly went to confession and Sunday Mass become a lapsed Catholic? How does a family who worshipped Senator Joseph McCarthy and supported Richard Nixon produce an antiwar activist and pacifist? How does a family in which the word divorce was never spoken raise a son who comes to explore the hidden gay sexual underworld of New York City?Memories of a Gay Catholic Boyhood is D’Emilio’s coming-of-age story in which he takes readers from his working-class Bronx neighborhood to an elite Jesuit high school in Manhattan to Columbia University and the political and social upheavals of the late 1960s. He shares his personal experiences of growing up in a conservative, tight-knit, multigenerational family, how he went from considering entering the priesthood to losing his faith and coming to terms with his same-sex desires. Throughout, D’Emilio outlines his complicated relationship with his family while showing how his passion for activism influenced his decision to use research, writing, and teaching to build a strong LGBTQ movement.This is not just John D’Emilio’s personal story; it opens a window into how the conformist baby boom decade of the 1950s transformed into the tumultuous years of radical social movements and widespread protest during the 1960s. It is the story of what happens when different cultures and values collide and the tensions and possibilities for personal discovery and growth that emerge. Intimate and honest, D’Emilio’s story will resonate with anyone who has had to chart their own path in a world they did not expect to find.

Making Gay History continues John D’Emilio’s story, following his memoir of his early years, Memories of a Gay Catholic Boyhood. Here, D’Emilio recounts his career as a public historian, activist, and academic, relating his own queer history alongside the development of the LGBTQ movement in the United States. D’Emilio was part of the first burgeoning period of LGBTQ studies while still a graduate student in New York City. From there, he takes readers through his experiences as an out professor at UNC Greensboro, his activism in Washington, DC, and finally, his employment at the University of Illinois as an LGBTQ historian, a position that was unimaginable at the start of his career. At the same time, he narrates his own coming out, his successes and struggles with LGBTQ advocacy, and the loves and losses faced throughout his adult life, telling an intertwined personal and national history of queer hearts and minds.