The Gay and Lesbian Liberation Movement by Margaret Cruikshank

'Concise, balanced, and highly readable, The Gay and Lesbian Liberation Movement examines gay and lesbian liberation from three different perspectives: as a sexual freedom movement, as a political movement, and as a movement of ideas. Separate chapters treat gay culture, lesbian feminism, and conflicts and debates within the movement. Cruikshank describes the historical roots of contemporary gay and lesbian liberation, its link to other progressive movements, and the impact of AIDS. She analyzes institutional homophobia and reviews legal issues in some of the major gay and lesbian rights cases, including the 1986 Supreme Court decision upholding sodomy laws. The Gay and Lesbian Liberation Movement argues that both the traditional and the contemporary prohibitions against homosexuality rest on arguments from authority rather than reason or scientific evidence. Unlike other commentators on gay liberation, Cruikshank draws many examples from lesbian feminism and assigns women a central role in the movement. The shortcomings of the movement are candidly discussed, as are its dramatic successes. Although written in a non-polemical style, the book passionately attacks injustice and offers examples of courageous responses to it'--From back cover.