Martin Duberman

i was hyped up to read this, being a queer leftist who agrees with most of the author’s takes on things: i am also disillusioned with mainstream, neoliberal lgbt movements that believe in assimilating into institutions like marriage and the military industrial complex without questioning them, angry about the commercialization of once-radical pride events, and disappointed by the lack of knowledge some queer communities have about lgbtq history. i’m also trans-nonbinary, jewish, autistic, and korean-american. i am someone who is often left out of those mainstream communities, which often privilege a certain expression of (cis, white, male, abled, upper or middle-class) homo- or bisexuality. all in all, i’m pretty much the target audience for this book

i guess it just... didn’t meet my expectations? i thought it was going to be either a) an accessible, not-extremely-academic synopsis of the revolutionaryness of a variety of older lgbt movements internationally compared to the moderation of current ones, b) an assortment of the author’s personal critiques of modern lgbt movements and where he’d like the see them progress, and/or c) concrete suggestions for how we can de-commodify pride, start collectively looking deeper at the systems we’ve fought to integrate into, celebrate our radical roots and maintain a Generally Leftist Vibe™️

this book was none of those things. it was kind of all over the place and really repetitive at points?

the author does not give an overview of past and present queer revolutionary vs reformist movements as I thought it would- which is understandable, as this isn’t a history book. however, he zooms in on a specific historical example (the post-Stonewall Gay Liberation Front), spending the entire first chapter (out of 4) on its politics, in-group dynamics, etc. he seems to view GLF as the beginning of queer revolutionary thought/action, which just isn’t true. obviously it’s an extremely important example- but one in a long list.

the book is also very americancentric- exclusively so, in fact. there is no mention of gay/queer politics anywhere else in the world, or if there are similar dynamics of revolution vs moderation elsewhere. (hint: there are.)

he also talks in the first chapter about Radicalesbians and the “woman identified woman” second wave, with barely any mention of the TERFism that ideology resulted in and that continues to be perpetuated today, particularly in the UK (again a situation where a more international perspective would certainly be helpful). the closest he gets to discussing TERFism and why trans people are turned off by radical second wave lesbian feminism is when he hints at lesbian “objection to transvestism”, which he doesn’t explore further and instead jumps right back to narrating about GLF.

i had to abandon this after finishing the first chapter and going halfway into the next. might continue later, but am pretty disappointed.… (altro)

An in-depth treatment of the gay liberation movement from its early beginnings, when it was internally referred to as the homophile movement by many of the mostly conservative gay men behind it, to the transformative moment in 1969 when violence erupted at a mob-run gay bar in the West Village of NYC known as The Stonewall Inn, bringing on a "generational, organizational and ideological shift". The author profiles six individuals through the 1960s and 1970s, whose "stories were different enough to suggest the diversity of gay and lesbian lives, yet interconnected enough to...suggest some of the ...values, perceptions and concerns that centrally characterized the Stonewall generation." This is an important work, obviously painstakingly researched, but I confess I found it slightly weedy reading in parts because of the scrupulous detail included about the multitude of gay rights organizations and publications that came and went, the lack of leadership and the counterproductive in-fighting that made a cohesive national movement so difficult to create for so long. Even after the Stonewall riots seemingly gave moderates and radicals a common goal, consensus as to "message" was as difficult to attain for the LGBTQ "community" as it has proven to be for many other marginalized groups throughout history. The personal stories of the troubled teenager, the African-American jazz club junkie, the buttoned-down wealthy celibate, the Barnard graduate feminist, the transvestite hustler, and the Yippie Vietnam war protestor kept me reading (although I did skim from time to time). Originally published in 1992, my 2019 edition contained a new introduction by the author as well as an epilogue with updates on the lives of his subjects, 4 of whom have died since the book first appeared.… (altro)

Good stuff. Sylvia Rivera's bits especially interesting. Funny how the trans lib movement has reclaimed the Stonewall riots as an action mostly by gender deviants and outlaws to the extent that some actually make Sylvia out to be a trans woman. I'm not sure if her identification changed over time, but at least when she was interviewed for this book she talks about taking a stab at hormones and deciding to go off them because she was more of a genderfuck (my words) than a woman.

Got it from the used book store; definitely worthwhile, although I don't know why it took me so long to finish the last chapter!… (altro)

This is really good! I was expecting something like The Best Little Boy in the World, and they are superficially similar, but I bounced hard off TBLBITW because the author's selfishness and emotional immaturity isn't balanced by anything worthwhile. (eta: and bigotry of literally every kind; I had forgotten what a flaming shitbag the best little boy is.)

In contrast, Duberman's memoir is alternated and interlaced with the broader historical context of gay activism, even where he didn't know or purposely avoided what was going on at the time. I mean: he went to the Stonewall Inn at least once a week in 1969! wasn't there on the night of June 28th! places himself in his apartment a few blocks away! shut away from it all behind his academic work and internalized homophobia and political disdains! Wow.

Duberman's past self is super self-critical and anxious in a way I found almost triggering; looking backwards he doesn't let himself off the hook but balances the hook with compassion. (WOW I am so glad I grew up long after psychoanalysis had fallen out of fashion, because being expected to tear yourself apart that way sounds like my absolute worst and most counterproductive instincts.) He talks a bit about his failure to see or understand lesbian issues and the criticism he sometimes received for it at the time, and he doesn't have much to say about racial or class oppression intersecting with homophobia. Still: do recommend, especially if you're interested in a less-typical view on gay history.… (altro)