Gay Seattle
Title | Gay Seattle PDF eBook |
Author | Gary L. Atkins |
Publisher | University of Washington Press |
Pages | 494 |
Release | 2011-10-17 |
Genre | Social Science |
ISBN | 0295800992 |
Winner of a 2004 Washington State Book Award Winner of a 2004 Alpha Sigma Nu (ASN) Jesuit Book Award In 1893, the Washington State legislature quietly began passing a set of laws that essentially made homosexuality, and eventually even the discussion of homosexuality, a crime. A century later Mike Lowry became the first governor of the state to address the annual lesbian and gay pride rally in Seattle. Gay Seattle traces the evolution of Seattle’s gay community in those 100 turbulent years, telling through a century of stories how gays and lesbians have sought to achieve a sense of belonging in Seattle. Gary Atkins recounts the demonization of gays by social crusaders around the turn of the century, the earliest prosecutions for sodomy, the official harassment and discrimination through most of the twentieth century, and the medical discrimination and commitment to mental hospitals that continued into the 1970s as homosexuality was diagnosed as a disease that could be "cured." Places of refuge from this imposed social exile were created in underground theater and dance clubs: the Gold Rush-era burlesque shows, modern drag theater, and in mid-century the emergence of openly gay bars, from the Casino to Shelley’s Leg. Many of these were subjected to steady exploitation by corrupt police - until bar owner MacIver Wells and two Seattle Times reporters exposed the racket. The increasingly public presence of gays in Seattle was accompanied by the gradual coalescence of social services and self-help organizations such as the Dorian Society, gay businesses and advocacy groups including the Greater Seattle Business Association, and the stormy relationship between the Vatican, Seattle's Catholic hierarchy, and gay worshippers. Atkins’ narrative reveals the complex and often frustrating process of claiming a civic life, showing how gays and lesbians have engaged in a multilayered struggle for social acceptance against the forces of state and city politics, the police, the media, and public opinion. The emergence of mainstream political activism in the 1970s, and ultimately the election of Cal Anderson and other openly gay officials to the state legislature and city council, were momentous events, yet shadowed by the devastating rise of AIDS and its effect on the homosexual community as a whole. These stories of exile and belonging draw on numerous original interviews as well as case studies of individuals and organizations that played important roles in the history of Seattle’s gay and lesbian community. Collectively, they are a powerful testament to the endurance and fortitude of this minority community, revealing the ways a previously hidden sexual minority "comes out" as a people and establishes a public presence in the face of challenges from within and without.
An Evening at the Garden of Allah
Title | An Evening at the Garden of Allah PDF eBook |
Author | Don Paulson |
Publisher | Columbia University Press |
Pages | 200 |
Release | 1996 |
Genre | Education |
ISBN | 9780231096980 |
Within the pages of this book lies the story of the community of lesbians and gays that blossomed around America's first gay-owned cabaret, the Garden of Allah, in seedy downtown Seattle.
Stand by Me
Title | Stand by Me PDF eBook |
Author | Jim Downs |
Publisher | Basic Books |
Pages | 273 |
Release | 2016-03-01 |
Genre | History |
ISBN | 046509855X |
From a prominent young historian, the untold story of the rich variety of gay life in America in the 1970s Despite the tremendous gains of the LGBT movement in recent years, the history of gay life in this country remains poorly understood. According to conventional wisdom, gay liberation started with the Stonewall Riots in Greenwich Village in 1969. The 1970s represented a moment of triumph -- both political and sexual -- before the AIDS crisis in the subsequent decade, which, in the view of many, exposed the problems inherent in the so-called "gay lifestyle". In Stand by Me, the acclaimed historian Jim Downs rewrites the history of gay life in the 1970s, arguing that the decade was about much more than sex and marching in the streets. Drawing on a vast trove of untapped records at LGBT community centers in Los Angeles, New York, and Philadelphia, Downs tells moving, revelatory stories of gay people who stood together -- as friends, fellow believers, and colleagues -- to create a sense of community among people who felt alienated from mainstream American life. As Downs shows, gay people found one another in the Metropolitan Community Church, a nationwide gay religious group; in the pages of the Body Politic, a newspaper that encouraged its readers to think of their sexuality as a political identity; at the Oscar Wilde Memorial Bookstore, the hub of gay literary life in New York City; and at theaters putting on "Gay American History," a play that brought to the surface the enduring problem of gay oppression. These and many other achievements would be largely forgotten after the arrival in the early 1980s of HIV/AIDS, which allowed critics to claim that sex was the defining feature of gay liberation. This reductive narrative set back the cause of gay rights and has shaped the identities of gay people for decades. An essential act of historical recovery, Stand by Me shines a bright light on a triumphant moment, and will transform how we think about gay life in America from the 1970s into the present day.
Imagining Gay Paradise
Title | Imagining Gay Paradise PDF eBook |
Author | Gary Atkins |
Publisher | |
Pages | 0 |
Release | 2012 |
Genre | Bali (Indonesia : Province) |
ISBN | 9789888083244 |
This look at gay paradises in Southeast Asia and the men who created them considers the obstacles gay men have faced in securing a voice as citizens, and how they have used images of paradise in Bali, Bangkok and Singapore to create a sense of refuge, construct homes for themselves, and dissent from typical notions of manhood and masculinity. It focuses on Walter Spies, a gay German painter who in the 1930s depicted Bali as an ideal male aesthetic state; Khun Toc, who founded an architectural paradise called Babylon in Thailand; and the "cyber-paradise" of Fridae.com created by a young Singaporean named Stuart Koe. Collectively, Atkins examines their pursuit of sexual justice, the ideologies of manhood they challenged, the different types of gay spaces they created (geographic, architectural, online), and political obstacles they have encountered. Gary Atkins is professor of communication at Seattle University. He is the author of Gay Seattle: Stories of Exile and Belonging--Página 4 de la cubierta.
What's Your Pronoun?: Beyond He and She
Title | What's Your Pronoun?: Beyond He and She PDF eBook |
Author | Dennis Baron |
Publisher | Liveright Publishing |
Pages | 237 |
Release | 2020-01-21 |
Genre | Social Science |
ISBN | 1631496050 |
“If you want to know why more people are asking ‘what’s your pronoun?’ then you (singular or plural) should read this book.” —Joe Moran, New York Times Book Review Heralded as “required reading” (Geoff Nunberg) and “the book” (Anne Fadiman) for anyone interested in the conversation swirling around gender-neutral and nonbinary pronouns, What’s Your Pronoun? is a classic in the making. Providing much-needed historical context and analysis to the debate around what we call ourselves, Dennis Baron brings new insight to a centuries-old topic and illuminates how—and why—these pronouns are sparking confusion and prompting new policies in schools, workplaces, and even statehouses. Enlightening and affirming, What’s Your Pronoun? introduces a new way of thinking about language, gender, and how they intersect.
In at the Deep End
Title | In at the Deep End PDF eBook |
Author | Kate Davies |
Publisher | Houghton Mifflin |
Pages | 333 |
Release | 2019 |
Genre | Fiction |
ISBN | 1328629678 |
"A fresh, funny, audacious debut novel about a Bridget Jones-like twenty-something who discovers that she may have simply been looking for love -- and, ahem, pleasure -- in all the wrong places (aka: from men)"--
Count Your Lucky Stars
Title | Count Your Lucky Stars PDF eBook |
Author | Alexandria Bellefleur |
Publisher | HarperCollins |
Pages | 294 |
Release | 2022-02-01 |
Genre | Fiction |
ISBN | 006300089X |
"Bellefleur has a droll, distinct voice, and her one-liners zing off the page, striking both the heart and funny bone... There's a sparkling quality here, one that mirrors the starry title. Bellefleur writes as if she's captured fairy lights in a mason jar, twinkly and lovely within something solid yet fragile." – Entertainment Weekly Following Written in the Stars and Hang the Moon, Lambda Literary Award winner and national bestselling author Alexandria Bellefleur pens another steamy queer rom-com about former best friends who might be each other's second chance at love… Margot Cooper doesn’t do relationships. She tried and it blew up in her face, so she’ll stick with casual hookups, thank you very much. But now her entire crew has found "the one" and she’s beginning to feel like a fifth wheel. And then fate (the heartless bitch) intervenes. While touring a wedding venue with her engaged friends, Margot comes face-to-face with Olivia Grant—her childhood friend, her first love, her first… well, everything. It’s been ten years, but the moment they lock eyes, Margot’s cold, dead heart thumps in her chest. Olivia must be hallucinating. In the decade since she last saw Margot, her life hasn’t gone exactly as planned. At almost thirty, she’s been married... and divorced. However, a wedding planner job in Seattle means a fresh start and a chance to follow her dreams. Never in a million years did she expect her important new client’s Best Woman would be the one that got away. When a series of unfortunate events leaves Olivia without a place to stay, Margot offers up her spare room because she’s a Very Good Person. Obviously. It has nothing to do with the fact that Olivia is as beautiful as ever and the sparks between them still make Margot tingle. As they spend time in close quarters, Margot starts to question her no-strings stance. Olivia is everything she’s ever wanted, but Margot let her in once and it ended in disaster. Will history repeat itself or should she count her lucky stars that she gets a second chance with her first love?