‘These are our stories. All of us live in them.’ —Anton Enus, SBS News This is the story of a peaceful revolution. Drawing on in-depth interviews, it tells the intimate life stories of thirteen gay and lesbian Australians, ranging in age from twenties to eighties. From the underground beats of 1950s Brisbane and illicit relationships in the armed services, to Grindr, foster parenting and weddings in the twenty-first century, Gay & Lesbian, Then & Now reveals the remarkable social shifts from one generation to the next. Where once gay and lesbian Australians were treated as criminals, sinners or sick, today they are increasingly accepted as equal. The majority of Australians support same-sex marriage. This rapid transformation in attitudes has opened the way for lesbians and gays to ‘become ordinary’ – to experience freedoms that were once barely imaginable. Gay & Lesbian, Then & Now reveals the legacies of homophobia, the personal struggles and triumphs involved in coming out, and the many different ways of being gay or lesbian in Australia – then and now. It is a moving account of a quiet revolution. Robert Reynolds is Associate Professor in the department of Modern History, Politics and International Relations at Macquarie University. His previous books include What Happened to Gay Life? and History on the Couch (as co-editor). Shirleene Robinson is Vice Chancellor’s Innovation Fellow in the department of Modern History, Politics and International Relations at Macquarie University. Her previous books include Homophobia: An Australian History (as editor).

A chronicle of the modern struggle for gay, lesbian and transgender rights draws on interviews with politicians, military figures, legal activists and members of the LGBT community to document the cause's struggles since the 1950s.

queer [adj]: 1 differing from what is usual or ordinary; odd; singular; strange 2 slightly ill; 3 mentally unbalanced 4 counterfeit; not genuine 5 homosexual: in general usage, still chiefly a slang term of contempt or derision, but lately used by some as a descriptive term without negative connotations --Webster's Dictionary queer [adj]: used to describe a 1 body of theory 2 field of critical inquiry 3 way of proudly identifying a group of people 4 way of seeing the world 5 sense of difference from the norm -- David Shneer and Caryn Aviv, Queer in America, Now and Then Contrasting queer life today and in years past, this landmark book brings together autobiographies, poetry, film studies, maps, documents, laws, and other texts to explore the meaning and practice of the word queer. By this Shneer and Aviv mean: queer as both a form of social violence and a call to political activism; queer as played by Robin Williams and Sharon Stone and as lived by Matthew Shepard and Brandon Teena; queer in the courthouses of Washington D.C. and on the streets of hometown America. Contextualizing these contemporary stories with ones from the past, and understanding them through the analytic tools of feminist social criticism and history, the authors show what it means to be queer in America.

The powerful, dramatic story of how a successful Hollywood set designer whose identity was deeply rooted in his homosexuality came to be suddenly and utterly transformed by the power of the gospel. When Becket Cook moved from Dallas to Los Angeles after college, he discovered a socially progressive, liberal town that embraced not only his creative side but also his homosexuality. He devoted his time to growing his career as a successful set designer and to finding "the one" man who would fill his heart. As a gay man in the entertainment industry, Cook centered his life around celebrity-filled Hollywood parties and traveled to society hot-spots around the world--until a chance encounter with a pastor at an LA coffee shop one morning changed everything. In A Change of Affection, Becket Cook shares his testimony as someone who was transformed by the power of the gospel. Cook's dramatic conversion to Christianity and subsequent seminary training inform his views on homosexuality--personally, biblically, theologically, and culturally--and in his new book he educates Christians on how to better understand this complex and controversial issue while revealing how to lovingly engage with those who disagree. A Change of Affection is a timely and indispensable resource for anyone who desires to understand more fully one of the most common and difficult stumbling blocks to faithfully following Christ today.

"One of the most important books about gay people yet published, Now that you Know is a challenging and enlightening guide for the 20 to 40 million parents in the United States who may be faced with the knowledge that a son or daughter is homosexual. It was written by two mothers of gay children and draws on dozens of candid interviews with gay men and women and their parents. The authors discuss the nature of homosexuality, its effect on the lives and careers of children, the prospects for gay relationships, and the troubling question of religion. They tell parents how to respond supportively to gay children and how to keep families together in a bond of understanding and affection. Finally, they describe the nationwide Parents of Gays groups, which encourage parents to share their experiences and learn to help one another."--Publisher's description.

At a time when lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals-often referred to under the umbrella acronym LGBT-are becoming more visible in society and more socially acknowledged, clinicians and researchers are faced with incomplete information about their health status. While LGBT populations often are combined as a single entity for research and advocacy purposes, each is a distinct population group with its own specific health needs. Furthermore, the experiences of LGBT individuals are not uniform and are shaped by factors of race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, geographical location, and age, any of which can have an effect on health-related concerns and needs. The Health of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender People assesses the state of science on the health status of LGBT populations, identifies research gaps and opportunities, and outlines a research agenda for the National Institute of Health. The report examines the health status of these populations in three life stages: childhood and adolescence, early/middle adulthood, and later adulthood. At each life stage, the committee studied mental health, physical health, risks and protective factors, health services, and contextual influences. To advance understanding of the health needs of all LGBT individuals, the report finds that researchers need more data about the demographics of these populations, improved methods for collecting and analyzing data, and an increased participation of sexual and gender minorities in research. The Health of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender People is a valuable resource for policymakers, federal agencies including the National Institute of Health (NIH), LGBT advocacy groups, clinicians, and service providers.

The AIDS crisis of the 1980s looms large in recent histories of sexuality, medicine, and politics, and justly so—an unknown virus without a cure ravages an already persecuted minority, medical professionals are unprepared and sometimes unwilling to care for the sick, and a national health bureaucracy is slow to invest resources in finding a cure. Yet this widely accepted narrative, while accurate, creates the impression that the gay community lacked any capacity to address AIDS. In fact, as Katie Batza demonstrates in this path-breaking book, there was already a well-developed network of gay-health clinics in American cities when the epidemic struck, and these clinics served as the first responders to the disease. Before AIDS explores this heretofore unrecognized story, chronicling the development of a national gay health network by highlighting the origins of longstanding gay health institutions in Boston, Chicago, and Los Angeles, placing them in a larger political context, and following them into the first five years of the AIDS crisis. Like many other minority communities in the 1970s, gay men faced public health challenges that resulted as much from their political marginalization and social stigmatization as from any disease. Gay men mistrusted mainstream health institutions, fearing outing, ostracism, misdiagnosis, and the possibility that their sexuality itself would be treated as a medical condition. In response to these problems, a colorful cast of doctors and activists built a largely self-sufficient gay medical system that challenged, collaborated with, and educated mainstream health practitioners. Taking inspiration from rhetoric employed by the Black Panther, feminist, and anti-urban renewal movements, and putting government funding to new and often unintended uses, gay health activists of the 1970s changed the medical and political understandings of sexuality and health to reflect the new realities of their own sexual revolution.

A big book of manners for the more than 15 million lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people in the United States and Canada and the people who love them, work with them, and live with them. Written by Steven Petrow, the go-to authority on the subject—he’s the same-sex wedding expert at The New York Times and a columnist for The Huffington Post, Yahoo’s Shine, GayWeddings.com, and the “Q” Syndicate (with distribution to more than 100 LGBT newspapers and websites)—this is the definitive book of LGBT etiquette. Encyclopedic in its approach, filled with practical wisdom, lively wit, and much insight, Steven Petrow’s Complete Gay & Lesbian Manners covers everything: from coming out to being out in the workplace; from dealing with the joy and complexity of same-sex weddings and commitment ceremonies (including how to propose and write meaningful vows) to handling the legal paperwork every couple needs. There’s a chapter on sex etiquette, and another on the challenges and opportunities of raising a family, plus sections on travel, bullying, entertaining, meeting new friends, introducing your partner to your family, a primer on gay pride, and so much more. Throughout there are hundreds of questions—some posed by LGBT folk, and others by straight people: What do the mothers of two brides wear to a lesbian wedding? What do you say to an anti-gay joke? How do you answer “Who’s the father?” when there are two mothers? Manners, yes, but with a twist. **In recognition of Quality, Excellence, and Design, this ebook has been granted a QED seal of approval from Digital Book World.**

Reinterpretations of key Bible texts related to sexual orientation, written by a Harvard student, present an accessible case for a modern Christian conservative acceptance of sexual diversity.