In the early 1990s, prior to Don't Ask, Don't Tell, the U.S. military discharged gay and lesbian servicemembers under a longstanding ban. During the first Gulf War, many of those soldiers were kept in under a "stop loss" order, only to be discharged upon their return home. Now that DADT has been struck down, this novel is perfectly timed to give a closer look at the lives of people impacted by any policies or laws that ask them to compromise who they are. In The Half Life of Sgt. Jen Hunter, long-time lesbian journalist Tracy Baim takes a fictional look at this era in our nation's history, when gays and lesbians served proudly, but quietly, risking their lives for a country that disrespected and attacked who they were. What would happen if an out lesbian journalist met a closeted military spokeswoman? Would sparks fly? Would the sergeant risk her career for love? Would the journalist compromise her ideals for a chance at happiness? What about the servicemembers on the ground in Iraq? They faced bullets and dangerous chemicals, and some came back wounded and faced the loss of their career. See what happens in this fast-paced tale of war, pride, sacrifice, and love. This story was adapted for the Chicago stage as Half Life, in 2004.

Biography of a prominent Chicago gay activist and entrepreneur who has owned bars, discos, photo studios, health clubs, bathhouses, gay magazines and newspapers, hotels, restaurants, and bookstores. Throughout it all he dealt with Mafia and police payoffs, anti-gay political policies, harassment from censors, and even controversy within the gay community. The book contains more than 300 images, including murals and drawings by Dom ?Etienne? Orejudos, posters for International Mr. Leather (IML), and photos from the Gold Coast, Pride Parades, IML contests, physique magazines and more.

Discover the bestselling Armstrong and Oscar Cozy Mystery Series. It's Murder in Paradise! 'The perfect combination of character, setting and plot, heralding an addictive new cozy mystery series!' Debbie Young This boxset contains the first 3 books in the gripping Armstrong and Oscar cozy mystery series. Murder in Tuscany Murder in Chianti Murder in Florence Murder in Tuscany Nestled high in the Tuscan hills lies Villa Volpone, home to renowned crime writer Jonah Moore and his creative writing course. It’s also the last place retired DCI Dan Armstrong expected to spend his retirement! Dan’s no writer, but maybe this break will help him to think about the next chapter in his own life story? But only days into the course, Jonah Moore is found stabbed to death with his award-winning silver dagger! And Dan finds himself pulled out of retirement with a killer to catch. Murder in Chianti When millionaire magnate, Rex Hunter is found with his head bashed in on the eighth hole of his prestigious golf and country club in beautiful Chianti, it’s a clear case of murder. Hunter was rich and successful and the envy of many, so retired DCI Dan Armstrong and his trusty labrador sidekick Oscar have an endless list of suspects and motives. Dan is determined to catch this clever killer, but it seems every new lead brings another dead end. Will this be one case Dan and his canine companion won’t solve? Murder in Florence Life as a private investigator in the suburbs of Florence isn’t always as glamorous as Dan Armstrong imagined it to be, until he is asked to investigate a recent spate of violent attacks on a Hollywood movie set in Florence. The star of the show, movie-star royalty Selena Gardner, fears her life is in imminent danger... As Dan investigates, he discovers secrets and scandals are rife within the cast and crew. But with no actual murder, Dan believes these attacks could simply be warnings to someone...until the first body is found.

Book Four of the bestselling Lux series Daemon will do anything to get Katy back. After the successful but disastrous raid on Mount Weather, he's facing the impossible. Katy is gone. Taken. Everything becomes about finding her. Taking out anyone who stands in his way? Done. Burning down the whole world to save her? Gladly. Exposing his alien race to the world? With pleasure. All Katy can do is survive. Surrounded by enemies, the only way she can come out of this is to adapt. After all, there are sides of Daedalus that don't seem entirely crazy, but the group's goals are frightening and the truths they speak even more disturbing. Who are the real bad guys? Daedalus? Mankind? Or the Luxen? Together, they can face anything. But the most dangerous foe has been there all along, and when the truths are exposed and the lies come crumbling down, which side will Daemon and Katy be standing on? And will they even be together? Read the entire bestselling series! #1: Obsidian (from Katy's point of view) #2: Onyx (from Katy's point of view) #3: Opal (from Katy's point of view) #4: Origin #5: Opposition Oblivion (Books 1-3 from Daemon's point of view) CAN BE READ FIRST OR AFTER KATY'S POV! Prequel: Shadows (Dawson's story)

NATIONAL BESTSELLER "Bob Lee Swagger is a true American literary icon." --Mark Greaney, author of Mission Critical In this blazing new thriller from Pulitzer Prize winner Stephen Hunter, master sniper Bob Lee Swagger takes on his biggest job to date...and confronts an assassin with skills that match his own. When Bob Lee Swagger is approached by a woman who lost a son to war and has spent the years since risking all that she has to find the sniper who pulled the trigger, he knows right away he'll do everything in his power to help her. But what begins as a favor becomes an obsession, and soon Swagger is back in the action, teaming up with the Mossad, the FBI, and local American law enforcement as he tracks a sniper who is his own equal...and attempts to decipher that assassin's ultimate target before it's too late. With all-too-real threats and twisty, masterly storytelling, Game of Snipers is another gripping addition to a bestselling Bob Lee Swagger series.

Italians were the largest group of immigrants to the United States at the turn of the twentieth century, and hundreds of thousands led and participated in some of the period's most volatile labor strikes. Jennifer Guglielmo brings to life the Italian working-class women of New York and New Jersey who helped shape the vibrant radical political culture that expanded into the emerging industrial union movement. Tracing two generations of women who worked in the needle and textile trades, she explores the ways immigrant women and their American-born daughters drew on Italian traditions of protest to form new urban female networks of everyday resistance and political activism. She also shows how their commitment to revolutionary and transnational social movements diminished as they became white working-class Americans.

Out and Proud in Chicago takes readers through the long and rich history of the city's LGBT community. Lavishly illustrated with color and black-and white-photographs, the book draws on a wealth of scholarly, historical, and journalistic sources. Individual sections cover the early days of the 1800s to World War II, the challenging community-building years from World War II to the 1960s, the era of gay liberation and AIDS from the 1970s to the 1990s, and on to the city's vital, post-liberation present.

"From prejudice to pride: straight media coverage of gays, longtime gay newspapers, gay marketing history, plus interviews and essays by prominent journalists of the early gay press era"--Cover.