The Sharon Kowalski Case
Lesbian and Gay Rights on Trial
Casey Charles
A gripping story of love and law, The Sharon Kowalski Case chronicles one of the true landmarks in the fight for the rights of same-sex partners, fully framed for the first time within its social, political, and historical contexts. Drawing on trial transcripts, medical records, newspaper archives, and personal interviews, Casey Charles goes well beyond Thompson’s own highly personal account in Why Can’t Sharon Kowalski Come Home? In the process, he brings to life emotions and personalities that dominated the courtroom dramas and illuminates the highly contested judgments emerging from supposedly objective authorities in journalism, medicine, and the law.
Charles weaves together various versions of the story to show how one isolated dispute in Minnesota became part of a larger national struggle for gay and lesbian rights in an era when the movement was coming of age both legally and politically. His account recalls the rough road lesbians and gay men have had to travel to gain legal recognition, examines how the law is politicized by the social stigma attached to homosexuality, and demonstrates how conflicted the decision to come out can be for lesbians and gays who view the closet as both prison and refuge.
For Charles himself–as a gay man with HIV–this story greatly transcends mere academic interest and necessarily addresses the broader implications for lesbians and gay men for legal recognition. His book should be both instructional and inspirational to all readers concerned with the evolution of civil liberties–especially for lesbians, gays, and the disabled–in America today.
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Details
ISBN | 9780700612338 |
Genre | Law & Government |
Copyright Date | 2003 |
Publication Date | 2003 |
Publisher | University Press of Kansas |
Format | Hardcover |
No. of Pages | 305 |
Language | English |
Rating | NotRated |
Subject | Guardian And Ward – Minnesota; Kowalski, Sharon – Trials, Litigation, Etc; Unmarried Couples – Legal Status, Laws, Etc. – Minnesota |
BookID | 11649 |