Gay and Lesbian Rights in the United States : A Documentary History

Rating:
Summary: Best overview of the background of the gay rights movement
Review: This book goes behind the headlines of current issues like same-sex marriage, gay rights controversies, and religious attitudes, to give a comprehensive understanding of the history of the gay and lesbian rights movement. It includes a comprehensive selection of documents, from the early colonial period to the present, tied together with historical explanations that put these sources into clear perspective. Clearly written and astute, this book helped me learn more about the Native American respect for same-sex relationships, the roots of Christian opposition to same-sex love, and the conflict between those values and the American ideology of individual freedom and liberty.

The authors show that the modern gay rights movement began in the years after World War II in Los Angeles, rather than in the commonly believed 1969 Stonewall uprising. They argue that this movement built upon and is a continuation of the larger movements for freedom and equality as applied to people of color and to women. For a comprehensive understanding of the most important human rights struggle of contemporary America, this book is required reading. I recommend it highly.