American Gay by Stephen O. Murray

Stephen O. Murray investigates how people have been gay or lesbian in America: the emergence of gay and lesbian social life, the creation of lesbigay communities, and the resistance that fostered a group identity. He questions whether there is a single 'modern' homosexuality, challenges received wisdom about the importance of World War II and Stonewall, reviews the repathologizing of homosexuality early in the AIDS epidemic, argues that demands for marriage and military service are forms of resistance rather than assimilation, and examines racial and ethnic differences in identity.