Understand the international challenges facing gay male societies! This eye-opening account examines the idealistic, structural, and emotional meanings of community within the gay population. Gay Community Survival in the New Millennium explores the concept of “gay community” as well as the problems and progress that these communities are facing in the United States, Canada, and Israel. As a community leader, gay rights advocate, or policymaker, you will gain insight into issues that must be addressed now in order to strengthen your own community. Gay Community Survival in the New Millennium explores many of the fractures in gay society that must be addressed to ensure progress in the gay liberation movements, including: racial and ethnic divisions in the gay community, especially based on HIV-positive and HIV-negative status, and programs that work to bridge this gap the rift between HIV-positive and HIV-negative gay men based on the allocation of money for social programs meant to support entire gay communities AIDSphobia, the irrational fear of contracting the virus and how it has affected gay communities the Israeli gay rights movement, which is visibly pursuing full and equal citizenship in Israel, including acceptance into the Israeli military projections for gay rights movements in the future if homophobia continues to exist the enormous power that would be created if all gay and AIDS social organizations in a given geographic region banded together to influence change in social policies and eliminate stereotypes Gay Community Survival in the New Millennium explores what it means to be a gay man in today's communities, from the fear of AIDS and the need for financing of gay men's social programs to forming a collective organization that will work for the gay men's liberation movements. This essential guide will provide you with suggestions to help you shape and successfully change your gay community.

A moving exploration of how gay men construct their identities, fight to be themselves, and live authentically It goes without saying that even today, it’s not easy to be gay in America. While young gay men often come out more readily, even those from the most progressive of backgrounds still struggle with the legacy of early-life stigma and a deficit of self-acceptance, which can fuel doubt, regret, and, at worst, self-loathing. And this is to say nothing of the ongoing trauma wrought by AIDS, which is all too often relegated to history. Drawing on his work as a clinical psychologist during and in the aftermath of the epidemic, Walt Odets reflects on what it means to survive and figure out a way to live in a new, uncompromising future, both for the men who endured the upheaval of those years and for the younger men who have come of age since then, at a time when an HIV epidemic is still ravaging the gay community, especially among the most marginalized. Through moving stories—of friends and patients, and his own—Odets considers how experiences early in life launch men on trajectories aimed at futures that are not authentically theirs. He writes to help reconstruct how we think about gay life by considering everything from the misleading idea of “the homosexual,” to the diversity and richness of gay relationships, to the historical role of stigma and shame and the significance of youth and of aging. Crawling out from under the trauma of destructive early-life experience and the two epidemics, and into a century of shifting social values, provides an opportunity to explore possibilities rather than live with limitations imposed by others. Though it is drawn from decades of private practice, activism, and life in the gay community, Odets’s work achieves remarkable universality. At its core, Out of the Shadows is driven by his belief that it is time that we act based on who we are and not who others are or who they would want us to be. We—particularly the young—must construct our own paths through life. Out of the Shadows is a necessary, impassioned argument for how and why we must all take hold of our futures.

A unique, multifaceted look at the meaning (and the specifics) of gay male pornography Open any “gay lifestyle” magazine (even the serious ones) or go to any gay bar, and you’re likely to encounter something related to pornography, be it an image of a porn “superstar” or advertisements for pornographic magazines, DVDs, calendars, etc. Eclectic Views on Gay Male Pornography Pornucopia examines this phenomenon with a series of provocative essays, in which experts in history, law, media studies, and psychology, as well as laypeople and gay porn insiders explore the complex world of male pornography and the various ways in which it has permeated gay culture—from the 1970s until today. This first-of-its-kind book examines the phenomenon of self-writing and performance for gay men in the last century, specifically looking at the lives of modern-day performance artist Tim Miller, who has received national recognition for his one-man shows portraying his struggles as a gay man; Wakefield Poole (born 1936), the first producer of gay pornography (Bijou, Boys in the Sand) in the era accompanying the emergence of the gay rights movement; gay adult film icon Scott “Spunk” O’Hara (born 1961); and Aaron Lawrence (born 1971), who worked as a gay escort, actor, and producer/director of his own sexually explicit “amateur” videos. In this groundbreaking analysis of gay men’s relationship with pornography, you’ll also learn about: gay pornography and the messages it carries about intimacy, body image, and hegemonic masculinity representations of ethnicity in gay pornography gay pornography and safer sex gay pornography and censorship viewers’ perceptions of gay pornography gay pornography and internalized homophobia, misogyny, and body fascism changes in the way gay pornography is produced and performed—from the 1970s through the 1990s the meaning of the recurring settings in American gay pornographic videos: prison, the military, and other all-male environments; and recurring themes: leather, S/M, dissatisfaction with heterosexual life, initiation into gay life, etc. In addition, Eclectic Views on Gay Male Pornography presents two fascinating chapters about the case of Little Sisters Book and Art Emporium in Vancouver. In this landmark case, the Canadian Supreme Court was asked to determine whether gay male pornography violated the sex equality protections guaranteed by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The court also examined the way that Canada Customs treats international shipments to gay and lesbian bookstores. In addition, the book provides a revealing insider’s perspective on the gay adult video industry that contrasts the workaday reality of making porn with the glamorous mythology of the skin trade.

Learn what resources are needed for lesser-recognized LGBT health issues Most literature that explores LGBT health issues concentrates on HIV/AIDS while leaving research studies on other vital issues lacking. Current Issues in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Health addresses this inadequacy by presenting a broad range of LGBT health issues from an interdisciplinary and mixed-method perspective. Leading experts present both quantitative and qualitative descriptions of health issues among various population groups, focusing on those topics poorly represented in present-day literature. This book is a strong start to fill in the blanks about unrealized health issues of LGBT individuals and offers insights into the resources needed to address them. Methods to assess sexual orientation and gender identity are not normally found in most population-based research. Because of the diversity within the relatively small LGBT population, research has been forced to generalize, making it less likely to effectively contribute to quality health issue data for these individuals. The research presented in Current Issues in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Health takes particular care to specify how the orientation and sexual identity of study participants was measured. This book carefully mines previously unrevealed health disparities among LGBT populations across a broad spectrum of diseases—beyond the standard focus on HIV/AIDS. The most current and important studies are presented, including rare research on transgender health issues. The chapters are extensively referenced, and several include figures and tables to clarify and enhance understanding of the information. The wide range of topics in Current Issues in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Health include: the inclusion of sexual orientation questions in research studies comparison of mental health issues between women of different sexual orientations mental health issues among men of different sexual orientations and HIV status in Australia the impact of sexual identity distress and social support in GLBT youth issues transgender youth health issues female-to-male (FTM) transexuals’ experiences accessing health care research on LBT domestic violence survivors health needs of male-to-female (MTF) transgenders of color Current Issues in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Health is crucial, thought-provoking reading for researchers working in LGBT health, public health professionals working in community health and LGBT health, policymakers, advocates, public health and community health faculty, and students interested in LGBT health issues.

Find out how the tension between LGBT studies and queer theory exists in the classroom, politics, communities, and relationships LGBT Studies and Queer Theory: New Conflicts, Collaborations, and Contested Terrain examines the similarities and differences between LGBT studies and queer theory and the uneasy relationship between the two in the academic world. This unique book meets the challenge that queer theory presents to the study and politics of gay and lesbian studies with a collection of essays from leading academics who represent a variety of disciplines. These original pieces place queer theory in social and historical contexts, exploring the implications for social psychology, religious studies, communications, sociology, philosophy, film studies, and women's studies. The book's contributors address queer theory's connections to a wide range of issues, including the development of capitalism, the evolution of the gay and lesbian movement, and the study of bisexuality and gender. Many scholars working in gay and lesbian studies still question the intellectual and political value of queer theory. As a result, queer theory has often been concentrated in the humanities, while gay and lesbian studies are concentrated in the social sciences and history. But this has begun to change in the past 10-15 years, as documented by the 12 essays presented in LGBT Studies and Queer Theory: New Conflicts, Collaborations, and Contested Terrain. LGBT Studies and Queer Theory: New Conflicts, Collaborations, and Contested Terrain includes: historical notes on LGBT studies and queer theory some continuing tensions between LGBT studies and queer theory doubts about whether queer theory can lead to social change an analysis of the current state of “proto-fields” of LGBT studies and queer studies in religion concerns that queer theory’s "erasure of identity" feeds into late capitalism an analysis of variability in social psychologists’ studies of anti-homosexual prejudice an exploration of the commodification of queer identities in independent cinema how and why the category of bisexuality has been marginalized a historical review and assessment of recent bisexual theory a case study of Provincetown, Massachusetts an investigation of the interarticulation of race/ethnicity and gender a case study of the struggle to introduce LGBT studies in the curriculum at West Chester University and much more LGBT Studies and Queer Theory: New Conflicts, Collaborations, and Contested Terrain is an essential read for researchers, academics, and practitioners involved in exploring multifaceted aspects of LGBT Studies and Queer Theory and their points of convergence and divergence.

Deconstruct changing representations of homosexuality with this important new work of cultural criticism! Homosexuality in French History and Culture explores episodes, patterns, and images of same-sex attraction in France from the sixteenth to the twenty-first century, from the essays of Michel de Montaigne to pride parades in contemporary Paris. This groundbreaking book documents the ways homosexuality has been named, experienced, regulated, understood, and imagined. During these centuries, homosexuality has been stigmatized as a sin, crime, or disease, and denounced as a threat to social order and national identity. Yet the rhetoric of condemnation has always co-existed with the reality of toleration. This groundbreaking collection analyzes the ways in which persecutions, as well as differences within minority sexual subcultures, have highlighted stereotypes and anxieties about class and age differences, gendered roles, and separatism. Homosexuality in French History and Culture offers historical and literary studies based on a wide variety of sources, including: novels, plays, and poetry gossip and satires police reports medical texts travel literature newspapers and periodicals memoirs Homosexuality in French History and Culture combines fresh, creative re-interpretation of familiar texts with exciting new explorations of neglected historical episodes and cultures. It is a landmark of meticulous scholarship and rigorous theoretical analysis, and a vital resource for scholars of queer theory, French history and culture, and literary criticism.