More Nonfiction On LGBTQ History And Culture

More Nonfiction On LGBTQ History And Culture LGBT History Month isnt until October but Pride, celebrated each June in commemoration of 1969s Stonewall Riots, is an equally good time to read up on the history of LGBTQ life in the United States. Scholars  have recently turned their attention to recovering the stories of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and queer people that were hidden in plain sight disguised by euphemism, buried in family stories, or simply waiting for someone to bother looking. The four books on this list will, I hope, provide an entry point to this rich body of literature. If youre looking for even more books  on LGBTQ history and culture, check out our past post on Book Riot or the Lambda Literarys list of non-fiction books nominated for the Lammys. Theres also an incredible  #OrlandoSyllabus growing  on Twitter (and in a public  Google doc). That document, managed by Jamie Berrout, Venus Selenite, Oliver Bendorf, and Lydia Willoughby, centers the history and experiences of QTPOC.  All the books here are on the #OrlandoSyllabus but that document includes many, many more suggestions (as this goes to press, its 79 pages and still growing). Performing Queer Latinidad: Dance, Sexuality, Politics  by  Ramon H. Rivera-Servera, a scholar of performance studies at Northwestern University, explores the ways that performance, especially dance, created  a public culture of gay, lesbian, and queer Latinx identity. Rivera-Servera explains that dance and performance is explicitly  political even while it is celebratory and joyous. He studies the ways that sexual and gender identity intersect with class and ethnic identities inside dance clubs. More than perhaps any other book,  Performing Queer Latinidad  speaks directly to the reasons that the attack on Pulses Latin Night has extra levels of meaning.  This is  also a fairly accessible book that folks new to performance studies, LGBTQ history, or Latinx studies will find approachable. Plus, it  won (or was nominated for) a ton of awards from folks working in dance studies, anthropology, and LGBTQ studies. Perhaps most notably, it won  the 2013 Lambda Award in LGBTQ studies. What Color Is Your Hoodie? Essays on Black Gay Identity  by Jarrett Neal This collection of thirteen essays covers topics like classism and racism within the gay community, how black gay men are presented in pornography, and the authors own search for his identity. More personal and lyrical than an academic history text,  What Color is Your Hoodie is a good introduction to important questions about sexuality, race, and personal identity in the early 21st century. The Straight State: Sexuality and Citizenship in Twentieth-Century America  by Princeton University professor  Margot Canaday, chronicles the ways that the United States government both created and responded to the development of a homosexual-heterosexual binary in the early 20th century. This book is a great place to learn about how homosexuality became a state of being rather than a set of sexual acts. It also explains the ways that Americas bureaucracy failed  LGBTQ people. Pick this book up if youre interested in the intersection of immigration and sexuality, the military, or family policy.  Canaday explicitly ties the past to the present, states clearly the injustice of contemporary policies, and advocates for action. Stand by Me: The Forgotten History of Gay Liberation  by Jim Downs, an historian at Connecticut College, provides an excellent overview of gay rights in the 1970s. Downs story begins just after the Stonewall Riot and ends before the worst of the AIDS epidemic hits.  He argues that the 1970s were about creating community and building movement infrastructure, not just dancing, sex, and street protests. Downs work pushes back against a history of GLBTQ life that centers HIV/AIDS. By focusing on the development of religious organizations , newspapers, theaters, and bookstores that both built and served a growing LGBTQ community, Downs adds nuance to the narrative of gay rights in the decades from Stonewall to marriage equality. Please share your favorite books  on LGBTQ history in the comments or to the #OrlandoSyllabus!