History

The remarkable tale of how queer bookshops built communities, nourished minds, redefined literature – and changed the world<BR><BR>For over a century, LGBTQ+ bookshops have been the unsung heroes of queer liberation<BR> <BR>Home not only to books but chaotic community noticeboards, vicious rescue cats and countless meet cutes, queer bookshops have always been more than just bookshops, offering friendship, solidarity and sanctuary.<BR> <BR>Travelling the world – Shakespeare and Company in Paris, Gay’s the Word in London, the Oscar Wilde Bookshop in New York – A. J. West explores the remarkable history of these bookstores. Tracing their evolution from under-the-counter operations to beloved out-and-proud institutions, West reveals how the queer bookshop stood at the vanguard of LGBTQ+ rights, offering support and vital information through the AIDS crisis and bringing the fight to Section 28 and book bans.<BR> <BR>A powerful testament not only to bookshops but to the courage of queer booksellers, from Sylvia Beach hiding books from the Nazis in laundry baskets to Craig Rodwell facing off against the police at the Stonewall riots, A. J. West celebrates the shops and booksellers that brought queer literature and lives into the mainstream.<BR> <BR>Bookshops covered include: The Highlander & Dove, The Librarie Parisienne, Shakespeare and Company, City Lights Bookstore, The London Underground, Adonis Bookstore, The Oscar Wilde Memorial Bookshop, Glad Day, Lambda Rising, Giovanni’s Room, A Different Light, Amazon Bookstore Cooperative, A Woman’s Place Bookstore, Womanbooks, Sisterwrite, Modern Books, Housmans Bookshop, Prinz Eisenherz, Gay’s The Word, Lavender Menace & West and Wilde, Vrolijk, Silver Moon, London, The Bookshop Darlinghurst, Paperxclips, Gay-on-Wye, Gayberystwyth Books.

The first-ever Black history to center queer voices, this landmark study traces the lives of LGBTQ+ Black Americans from slavery to present day<BR><BR>Gender and sexual expression have always been part of the Black freedom struggle<BR><BR>In this latest book in Beacon’s award-winning ReVisioning History series, Professors C. Riley Snorton and Darius Bost unearth the often overlooked history of the Black queer community in the United States.<BR><BR>Arguing that both gender and sexual expression have been an intimate and intricate part of Black freedom struggle, Snorton and Bost present historical contributions of Black queer, trans, and gender non-conforming Americans from slavery to the present day to highlight how the fight against racial injustice has always been linked to that of sexual and gender justice.<BR><BR>Interweaving stories of queer and trans figures such as:<BR>- Private William Cathay/Cathay Williams, born female but enlisted in the Army as a man in the mid-1860s- Josephine Baker, internationally known dancer and entertainer of the early 20th century who was also openly bisexual- Bayard Rustin, prominent Civil Rights activist whose well known homosexuality was viewed as a potential threat to the movement- Amanda Milan, a black trans woman whose murder in 2000 unified the trans people of color community,<BR>this book includes a deep dive into the marginalization, unjust criminalization, and government legislation of Black queer and trans existence. It also shows how Black Americans have played an integral role in the modern LGBTQ rights movement, countering narratives that have predominantly focused on white Americans.<BR><BR>Through storytelling and other narratives, Snorton and Bost show how the Black queer community has always existed, regardless of the attempts to stamp it out, and how those in it continue to fight for their rightful place in the world.

Christopher Street: Die Geburt einer Bewegung <BR> <BR> "Für die Homosexuellen ist das Dritte Reich noch nicht zu Ende", schrieb der deutsch-jüdische Historiker Hans-Joachim Schoeps 1963. Es endete für sie sechs Jahre später, in einer Nacht in der Christopher Street von New York. Nah an den Menschen, erzählt Thomas Sparr vom Aufstand im Stonewall Inn und seinen weltweiten Folgen. Es war eine Selbstbefreiung, die gelang und trotzdem bis heute gefährdet ist. <BR> <BR>Es war die Nacht zum 28. Juni 1969. In dieser Sommernacht wehrten sich junge Männer und Frauen im Stonewall Inn, einer Homosexuellenbar in New York, gewaltsam gegen eine Razzia der Polizei. Der kleine "Aufstand der Anstößigen" wurde später zum großen, weltweiten Symbol des Widerstands und der Selbstbehauptung einer entrechteten Minderheit. Im selben Jahr wurde in der Bundesrepublik der Paragraph 175 liberalisiert, während in der DDR Homosexualität bereits straffrei war. Thomas Sparr schildert den Mythos und die Wirklichkeit des Aufstands in der Christopher Street und zeigt seine Folgen bis heute. Wie wirkte er sich in Deutschland aus? Wie veränderte er die Selbstbilder homosexueller Frauen und Männer und wie die Art und Weise, in der andere sie bis heute wahrnehmen? Jahr für Jahr erinnern die Christopher Street Days in Deutschland, in Amerika, in Budapest und erst recht die verbotenen in Teheran wie in Moskau und Minsk daran: Wer sich nicht wehrt, liebt verkehrt.

A twentieth century history of LGBTQ+ lives in suburbia

The book offers unique insights into the politics and practice of commercial sex in the early 2000s through the eyes of male sex worker, Stefan Hülsmann, aka Marc-of-Frankfurt. It is based on sources and documents from his archive in the years 2000 to 2013. Hülsmann was a sex worker and sex workers' rights activist in Germany and Europe between 2000 and 2013, before dying in 2017 by suicide. He left his belongings and archives to the Magnus-Hirschfeld-Gesellschaft. This book explores this historically unique archive of a male sex worker and activist and makes it accessible to scholars, students and activists through introductory texts and a selection of original sources. The book centers the professional and political work of Hülsmann and the creation of his sex worker persona Marc-of-Frankfurt. Sources include meticulously drafted business plans, diary entries of paid sex encounters, drawings and mind maps about Marc's views about himself as a sex worker. Chapters tackle subjects including sex workers' engagement with the law, especially, the legal reform of prostitution laws with the Prostitutionsgesetz (ProstG) in 2001, as well as Marc's ideas and ideals of professionalization post legal change. Further chapters consider Marc's efforts at "communicating sex work" and his activism within German and European sex workers' networks, his efforts at creating a network of male sex workers and his intense activity on the sex worker online forum sexworker.at.

John Olday (1905-1977) war ein typischer Repräsentant des frühen 20. Jahrhunderts: Begabt mit vielen Talenten, den Kopf voller Ideen und auf der ganzen Welt zuhause. Als uneheliches Kind von der Mutter verlassen und bei der Großmutter aufgewachsen, begeistert er sich für die anarchistischen Denker aus Russland und Frankreich und widmet sein ganzes Leben den Idealen eines antikapitalistischen, staatsfreien Gemeinwesens. Auch seine Kunst als Maler und Musiker soll diesem Gemeinwesen dienen. Während des Nationalsozialismus flieht er nach England; von dort lädt ihn ein Freund nach Australien ein, wo er die große Liebe seines Lebens kennenlernt. Nach dem Krieg avanciert er zum ersten liebevollen Karikaturisten schwulen Lebens, dessen Arbeiten international veröffentlicht werden.Auf der Grundlage zweier autobiografischer Texte sowie des endlich aufgetauchten Nachlasses Oldays zeichnet Klaus Sator das Bild eines Menschen, dessen große Ziele immer wieder an der Wirklichkeit scheitern und der doch niemals den Mut verliert, nach seinen Idealen zu leben. In Oldays Selbstreflexion vermischt sich offenbar gelegentlich Wunsch und Wirklichkeit. Durch eigene Rercherchen und Interviews mit Freunden und Bekannten Oldays versucht Sator, die Spreu vom Weizen zu trennen; herausgekommen ist das Porträt eines unkonventionellen, liebenswürdigen Menschen - cum grano salis.

A landmark exploration of women-led communities worldwide and what they can teach us about new ways to live, think and govern, from BBC global correspondent Megha Mohan.'An inspiration for the future' GLORIA STEINEM'Essential reading' VOGUE'The best of journalism' LYSE DOUCET'Refreshing, intelligent... this book gives me hope' AFUA HIRSCH'Thoroughly researched and intelligently reported' THE TIMESSociety isn't working for women - or any of us.But what if the rules were different?Imagine a world in which women have all the power. A world in which they work together to shape their societies and their futures.In reality, women's communities have always existed, and continue to thrive. In this vital and ground-breaking book, Megha Mohan goes in search of their roots, discovering a vibrant global history, brought together here for the first time. She also takes us into today's women-led spaces, where women live on their own terms, showing us how we can rethink society for new ways of living, working and collaborating.Through extensive research and exclusive first-hand reporting and inspired by her great-grandmother's own matrilineal community in South India, Mohan introduces us to fascinating and diverse groups of women. From the controversial feminist online trolls of South Korea to older women co-housing in Paris and North London and the Rain Queens of South Africa, this is a truly global look at women's community.Essential reading for anyone interested in our collective histories, cultures, economics and governance, Herlands shows the power and possibility of new ways of living - and leading - for us all.

Der Arzt Magnus Hirschfeld (1868-1935) widmete sein Leben der Sexualerziehung breiter Bevölkerungsschichten und der Aufklärung über die vielfältigen Formen menschlichen Sexualverhaltens, darunter vor allem der Homosexualität. Für die populäre Buchreihe "Großstadt-Dokumente" verfasste er 1904 eine Schilderung des Lebens homosexueller Männer und Frauen in der Reichshauptstadt Berlin. Auch wenn Hirschfeld recht allgemein bleibt und keine Lokale etc. beim Namen nennt, ist dieser Bericht die älteste zeitgenössische Beschreibung einer "Homosexuellen-Szene".Später führte Hirschfeld den Psychiater und Kriminologen Paul Näcke (1851-1913) durch Berlin; Näckes Text "Besuch bei den Homosexuellen in Berlin" ist diesem Band im Anhang beigefügt. Für diese Neuausgabe des ursprünglich 1991 veröffentlichten Nachdrucks von "Berlins Drittes Geschlecht" verfasste Hirschfeld-Experte Manfred Herzer eine anhand neuer Forschungsergebnisse überarbeitete Fassung seines Nachworts.

A Book of the Year for The New Yorker and Electric Lit and a Time Out 10 Best Books of 2025<BR><BR>It's 1996, and Jeremy, a young American, has met the British boy of his dreams - just as, amid a media frenzy, US Congress prepares the Defense of Marriage Act, denying same-sex couples rights including immigration. The pair snatch time in forests and deserts, London fashion shows, and East Village hotel rooms; eventually, finding no other way to stay together, they shack up illicitly among unlikely allies in San Francisco.<BR><BR>What emerges is an unexpected romantic comedy haunted by centuries of gay ghosts. Deep House moves through the couple's various domiciles while unlocking doors to a lineage of outsiders who came before them: hapless criminals, sexpot bartenders, friars, pirates, government workers who subvert the system and activists who go all the way to the Supreme Court to fight for their freedoms. Combining cultural history with radically intimate memoir, Deep House is at once a romp through the queer archives and the innermost tale of two boyfriends who made a home in the shadows of a turbulent civil rights battle.

Für die Mehrzahl der Untertanen Kaiser Wilhelms II. war die im Frühjahr 1907 durch die sensationellen Enthüllungen Maximilian Hardens Platz greifende Erkenntnis, dass sich viele Vertraute des Hohenzollernherrschers offenbar der gleichgeschlechtlichen Liebe verschrieben hatten, ein nachhaltiger Schock. Homosexualität war in der wilhelminischen Gesellschaft verpönt, schien sie doch ganz eklatant dem natürlichen Geschlechtsempfinden zu widersprechen. Weithin galt die Homosexualität als angeborene krankhafte Perversion des Geschlechtstriebes, und mannmännliche Liebeshandlungen wurden juristisch gar als "widernatürliche Unzucht" begriffen und strafrechtlich gnadenlos verfolgt. Die von den Medien verbreitete Auffassung, dass Fälle von Homosexualität vor allem in hochadeligen Familien und im gehobenen Bürgertum gehäuft aufzutreten schienen, sollte sich darüber hinaus als ein hochbedeutsames Politikum erweisen, förderte sie doch die Vorstellung von der Dekadenz der preußisch-deutschen Machteliten, die ihre gesellschaftliche und reichspolitische Stabilisierungsfunktion längst nicht mehr erfüllen konnten. Bestimmten homoerotische Beziehungsgeflechte, so lautet schließlich die zentrale Frage, zu Beginn des 20. Jahrhunderts wirklich die Politik in Deutschland, und wenn ja, auf welchen Ebenen?

This sprawling, unique visual history of New York City's queer spaces documents the evolution of LGBTQ+ culture, community, and activism within Manhattan's dynamic landscape over the course of a century, spanning from 1920 to 2020.New York's LGBTQ+ history is everywhere, but rarely is it visibly documented. Aside from current venues and a handful of landmark plaques, important queer spaces from the city's past have otherwise been forgotten about, or remain entirely hidden. This multifaceted book joyfully and poignantly explores a century of LGBTQ+ gathering spaces across Manhattan through hundreds of historic photographs, flyers, posters, club membership cards, magazine spreads, and more. Author Marc Zinaman's carefully researched, engaging text includes first-person accounts and little-known facts that range from the humorous to the heartbreaking. From 1920s bathhouses, drag balls, and the ascent of homophobia during World War II, to the protests and parades of the 1960s and 1970s to the horror of AIDS; from the vibrant nightlife scene of the 1990s, to the rise of geosocial dating apps, every major milestone of LGBTQ+ social history is thoughtfully documented. The result is a testament to the endurance of queer culture, and an important contribution to its preservaton and celebration.

**Résumé du livre :**Découvrez la vie inspirante de Chase Joynt, un leader influent dans lactivisme LGBTQ, à travers un voyage captivant de résilience et de créativité. Explorez son parcours cinématographique unique, ses combats pour la représentation trans et ses triomphes personnels. Chase uvre pour défier les stéréotypes, en brisant les barrières de la binarité et en plaidant pour une plus grande diversité et inclusion. Son héritage persiste, influençant des générations à venir et façonnant le cinéma moderne. Un hommage vibrant à son impact sur la société et une invitation à poursuivre la lutte pour légalité.

*Shortlisted for the 2026 GORDON BURN PRIZE**<BR><BR>'Compelling, funny, intelligent . . . Thank You for Calling the Lesbian Line is a remarkable piece of work.' Kerry Hudson, Observer<BR>'Utterly essential queer reading.' Lucy Rose, author of THE LAMB<BR>'Deliciously informative and rigorously researched . . . I loved it.' Julia Bell, author of DIRTY WORK<BR><BR>With warmth and humour, Elizabeth Lovatt reimagines the women who both called and volunteered for the Lesbian Line in the 1990s while also tracing her own journey from accidentally coming out to disastrous dates to finding her chosen family. <BR><BR>With callers and agents alike dealing with first crushes and breakups, sex and marriage, loneliness and illness (or simply the need to know the name of a gay bar on a night out), this is a celebration of the ordinary lives of queer women. <BR><BR>Thank You for Calling the Lesbian Line is a timely and vital exploration of how lesbian identity continues to remake and redefine itself in the 21st century and where it might lead us in the future.

'Bursting with empathy, understanding and humour. A crucial book for our community and allies.' Suzi Ruffell <BR><BR>What is a black cat lesbian? Is 'aromantic' a sexuality or a preference? How are bisexual and pansexual different? What's it like to be queer and religious? Does Gen Z do darkrooms? How do you navigate life as a OAQ (Old Age Queer)? What does trans euphoria feel like? Why is nightlife so central to the community? What is camp today?<BR><BR>As queer people themselves, authors Lotte Jeffs and Stu Oakley knew they didn't have all the answers, because their individual experience represents a single pixel of the rainbow. Do Ask, Do Tell is an unapologetically curious journey through the dazzling spectrum of queer life that will give people - queer, straight, cis and everything in-between - the confidence to say 'I don't know'.<BR><BR>With humor, warmth, and radically open minds, Stu and Lotte tackle the questions you may have avoided asking for fear of getting it wrong. Covering everything from ageing to open relationships, darkrooms to Drag Kings, camp to carabinas, as well as the intricacies of gender and sexuality.<BR><BR>This insightful and provocative exploration challenges assumptions, shatters taboos, and opens up the conversation. Whether you're seeking clarity for your cis straight self or deeper insight as a member of the community, this book is your guide to better understanding and celebrating the richness of queer life.

Featuring 50 profiles and select B&W illustrated portraits, Heroes of Queer Myth & Legend is a celebration of gay gods and goddesses, sapphic sirens, misunderstood mermen, and lesbians of legend.<BR><BR> Hidden in the margins of history books, classical literature, and thousands of years of stories, myths and legends, through to contemporary literature, TV and film, there is a diverse and other-worldly super community of queer heroes to discover, learn from, and celebrate.<BR><BR> Be captivated by stories of forbidden love like Patroclus & Achilles (explored in Madeleine Miller's bestseller Song of Achilles), join the cult of Antinous (inspiration for Oscar Wilde), get down with pansexual god Set in Egyptian myth, and fall for Zimbabwe's trans God Mawi. And from modern pop-culture, through Dan Jones's witty, upbeat style, learn more about 90s fan obsessions Xena: Warrior Princess and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Neil Gaiman's American Gods and the BBC 's Doctor Who.<BR><BR>Heroes of Queer Myth & Legend brings to life characters who are romantic, brave, mysterious, and always fantastical. It is a magnificent celebration of queerness through the ages in all its legendary glory.

Découvrez La Découverte dune Étoile, la fascinante épopée dErick Barrington-Ward, un enfant atypique qui brave les préjugés conservateurs pour sépanouir tant artistiquement que personnellement. Ce récit captivant explore son cheminement bouleversant vers la reconnaissance de son identité de genre, ses luttes courageuses face à la discrimination et son activisme incessant pour les droits transgenres. Suivez Erick de sa jeunesse à lobtention dune influence internationale, tout en laissant un héritage de résilience et dinspiration pour les futures générations dactivistes.

*SHORTLISTED FOR THE SUNDAY TIMES YOUNG WRITER OF THE YEAR AWARD 2025*<BR><BR>'Remarkable... entertaining... deft... moving... refreshing'<BR>Daily Telegraph<BR><BR>'A richly rewarding account of a resonant cultural moment'<BR>Guardian<BR><BR>'Textured literary portraits of the masculine mind and body'<BR>Raymond Antrobus, author of The Perseverance<BR><BR>In 1960, James Baldwin decisively diagnosed the troubled state of American society as a 'failure of the masculine sensibility'. <BR><BR>Strange Relations explores this mid-century crisis through the lives and works of four bisexual writers: Tennessee Williams, Carson McCullers, John Cheever, and James Baldwin.<BR><BR> In a mesmerising blend of biography and cultural criticism, Ralf Webb examines how these writers challenged the damaging restrictions of contemporary gender and sexuality, and how, through both their art and relationships, they sought a transformative new masculinity - one grounded in fluidity, love and intimacy.<BR><BR>'Webb's writing is of a quality rarely seen, and his book returns you to the world slightly changed, equipped with another angle of vision on the quiddity of man'<BR>Diarmuid Hester, author of Nothing Ever Just Disappears<BR><BR>'Impeccably well researched and hugely enjoyable'<BR>Nicole Flattery, author of Nothing Special<BR><BR>'Wise, hopeful, and exquisitely written'<BR>Will Tosh, author of Straight Acting

Galardonada conel National Book Award 2023,unanoveladeslumbrante quedesentierra unepisodiofundacional de lacomunidad queer yexploralosorígenes desupatologización.'Sedifuminanloslímites de la Historia, laautobiografía y laficción conelarte. Hermoso'. Sam Sacks, The Wall Street JournalEn un remoto asilo en el desierto, un hombre joven acompaña a un moribundo. Han pasado diez años desde que coincidieran brevemente en una institución psiquiátrica. Ahora, el que está punto de morir le pide al otro que termine el proyecto al que ha dedicado su vida: la reconstrucción de la singular historia de Jan Gay. Esta investigadora, escritora y activista queer de principios del siglo XX dedicó su vida a documentar las vidas lesbianas y la cultura nudista en Estados Unidos y Europa, y sin embargo su trabajo fue el origen de un manual sobre la homosexualidad como perversión titulado Desviacionessexuales: unestudio delospatroneshomosexuales.La lectura de las misteriosas páginas tachadas de dicho manual infame acompañará las vigilias diurnas que siguen a las calurosas noches de insomnio de aquellos dos hombres. En las horas de oscuridad mantendrán una larga conversación sobre sus vidas y las de Jan Gay y los sujetos que participaron en la truncada investigación.En este atmosférico relato de amor, que es a la vez un collage documental y un homenaje a Pedro Páramo y Elbeso de lamujeraraña, Justin Torres desentierra un episodio borrado de la historia estadounidense para explorar los orígenes de la patologización de la comunidad queer; una bella e imaginativa novela que ha sido merecedora del National Book Award.La crítica ha dicho:'Íntimo, lúdico [...], una rica y poética reivindicación de la herencia cultural'. Beejay Silcox, The Guardian'Sin duda, la novela más sexy de 2023. Un tour deforce'. Hamilton Cain, Star Tribune'Brillante, es como una fábula [...]. Un inteligente ensamblaje de investigación, viñeta, imagen e ingenio'. Charles Arrowsmith, The Washington Post'Un viaje experimental a los anales de la historia queer que es, a partes iguales, una carta de amor intergeneracional y un sueño febril homoerótico'. Jeremy Childs, LosAngeles Times'Una novela de ensueño que se despliega entre el uso de diversos géneros y diálogos socráticos, moviéndose libremente entre la realidad y la ficción mientras sugiere y problematiza cuestiones relacionadas con el modo en que se escribe la Historia'. Joshua Barone, The New York Times'Justin Torres vuelve con otro libro que expande los límites del concepto de novela. Blackouts me sorprendió y me encantó [? un extraño mosaico de sueños y realidad [?]. No podía dejar de leer'. Emily Temple, Literary Hub'Fascinante, ingenioso [?]. La intrincada red narrativa de Torres te atrapa de principio a fin. Sus personajes, ricamente retratados, son apasionados, pero dolorosamente conscientes de sí mismos'. John Clum, New York Journal of Books

2025 Winner of the Holocaust Category of the 75th National Jewish Book Awards. Queerness remains one of the most stigmatized and overlooked aspects of Holocaust history, often erased due to the lingering homophobia of survivors. People Without History Are Dust challenges this silence, weaving together compelling stories of German, Dutch, Czech, and Polish Jewish Holocaust victims and survivors – including Anne Frank, Molly Applebaum, Margot Heuman, and Gad Beck – whose experiences help illuminate the hidden history of queerness in a time of genocide. <BR>Drawing on extensive archival research, this groundbreaking book uncovers the lives of those who were doubly marginalized, not only persecuted as Jews but also as queer individuals. In doing so, it confronts the ways in which history has excluded or minimized their experiences, urging us to question normative accounts of the Holocaust. <BR>By shedding light on these long-overlooked stories, People Without History Are Dust deepens our understanding of identity, survival, and memory, reminding us why an inclusive and complex approach to history is essential – not just for the sake of the past, but in service to the present and the future as well.

Jon Savage, the author of the canonical England's Dreaming, explodes new ground in this electrifying history of pop music from 1955 through 1979. In demonstrating that gay and lesbian artists were responsible for many of the greatest cultural breakthroughs in the last half of the twentieth century, he shows that it was their secretly encoded music-appealing to a closeted but greatly oppressed public-which led to the historic dismantling of discriminatory gay laws and the fusion of queer and straight culture.Fittingly, Savage's kaleidoscopic work begins with the pomp-and-pompadour appearance of Little Richard, whose relentlessly driving sound, replete with gospel shrieks and sexual contortions, enthralled a generation of 1950s stultified white teenagers. Things soon went mainstream, as Elvis enthralled a nation with his seductive low moans and bump-and-grind twists, heavily derivative of Black music, while James Dean and Rock Hudson became the face of 1950s Hollywood; yet this explosion of queer expression remained covert and could not be accepted for what it was.While music, with supporting roles from cinema and fashion, became the key medium through which homosexuality could be clandestinely enacted, overt expressions of gay behavior were met with arrests and crackdowns. While hippies reveled in 1967's "Summer of Love," gays remained "harassed by police, demonized by the media and politicians, imprisoned simply for being who they were." J. Edgar Hoover, himself a closeted homosexual, continued to spy on homosexual deviants; CBS's Mike Wallace aired an invidious show about homosexuality; and the New York police continued to raid gay bars.Yet the music itself produced a cultural eruption that simply could not be stanched. While Bette Midler sang "Boogie Woogie Bugle Boys" to a Continental Baths audience of 600 gay men, all naked except for towels, David Bowie "blew the whole topic wide open" and "became the most totemic pop star of his generation." Even though roadblocks remained, the gear-grinding crunch of the music signaled that the gay civil rights movement could no longer be suppressed.Ending the narrative with the sudden collapse of disco, The Secret Public asserts then that the genie was out of the bottle, that queer culture had finally entered the mainstream, producing a transcendent vision of pop culture that could never be marginalized again.

Set in interwar Germany, The Intermediaries tells the forgotten story of the Institute for Sexual Science, the world's first centre for homosexual and transgender rights. Headed by a gay Jewish man, Dr. Magnus Hirshfeld, the institute aided in the first gender-affirming surgeries and hormone replacements, acting as a rebellious base of operations in the face of rising prejudice, nationalism and Nazi propaganda. Brandy Schillace introduces readers to Dora Richter, an institute patient whom we follow from early desperate years to gender-affirming care and her right to live as a woman. She offers an example of queer resilience in the face of punishing cultural constraints. The Intermediaries charts the interdependent relationships between nascent sexual science, queer civil rights and the fight against fascism. It tells riveting stories of LGBTQ pioneers, a surprising, long-suppressed history and offers a cautionary tale in the face of today's oppressive anti-trans legislation.

A highly readable cultural history of queer women's lives in the second half of the twentieth century<BR>'An inspiring celebration of lesbian camaraderie, activism and fun' SARAH WATERS<BR><BR>'A cracking read, and a reminder of what shaped where we are now' VAL MCDERMID <BR><BR>'Riveting; indispensable; and suffused with a humane warmth' ALISON BECHDEL<BR><BR>For as long as queer women have existed, they've created gathering grounds where they can be themselves. In A Place of Our Own, journalist June Thomas invites readers into six iconic lesbian spaces over the course of the last sixty years, including the rural commune, the sex toy boutique and the feminist bookstore. She also illuminates what is gained and lost in the shift from the exclusive, tight-knit women's spaces of the '70s toward today's more inclusive yet more diffuse LGBTQ+ communities.<BR><BR>'Thomas's ability to resurrect the past is a testament to her meticulous research. But it's her voice - charming, irreverent, tender - that makes the journey through lesbian history so worthwhile' NEW YORK TIMES<BR><BR>'A must-have for any queer bookshelf' TEGAN QUIN<BR><BR>'Pulses with delicious dykes and the spaces we have made for ourselves over the years' STELLA DUFFY