In Your Face: Stories from the Lives of Queer Youth

by Mary L. Gray, John P. De Cecco

First published in 1999. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Genres: LGBT

184 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 26, 1999

About the author

Mary L. Gray is a Professor of Communication and Culture at the University of Indiana.

Reviews

[Thomas Murphy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was like a sociological study using interviews from about 15 LGBT youth from various places in the United States. The kids were either in late high school or early college. When it came out, I was in the first year of college myself, and I bought it specifically for the purpose of feeling like I wasn't the only person going through the coming out process and the like even though I came out mid-high school. I was the first person gay male to come out in my small Catholic high school in smalltown Ontario. I think I was mostly investigating things like how to meet people and how to be gay in the world. But... I never got around to reading it until now. I have no idea why. I bought it at "This Ain't the Rosedale Library": a gay book shoppe on Church Street in Toronto.

It was interesting reading these snapshots of youth that I remembered from people who are truly my own contemporaries. I could have as easily been one of the interviewees of the book. So, the kids are the same age as me now; however, now, naturally, it felt like reading from a generation gap. I remember the '90s as being extremely gay- and sex-positive. I guess even though it was the initial explosion of visibility and acceptance-- it still was a long road to where we are now. I imagine it was my own experiences that also made it seem like the '90s were just super gay positive. I remember the refrain of "This is the '90s..." followed by something very open-minded and open-hearted. I was surprised to find even the term "LGBT" hadn't yet been solidified in '99 as it is now. The kids are described as "GLBT" or just "Queer".

A small footnote / mystery that I'm sure I'll never be able to solve. I was quite taken with the handsomeness of the youth on the cover. But this exact photo / image appeared as only him advertising a dental clinic in the classifieds of the gay and alternative newspapers in Toronto. It made me wonder if he was a real person in the book or if his image was just pulled from a series of generic photos for both purposes. Who is the cute boy on the cover? Where is he now? (he would be 50 or so like me)

[Thorn MotherIssues · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was very interesting in that even though I'm reading it in my 30s (and the local library didn't buy it until 2006) I'm reading about people who were coming out as teens when I was, in the mid-'90s. I'm not sure all of that is pertinent in the same way today (though it certainly could be!) and I'd love to read some follow-ups, but it was amazingly familiar and important to me on that front.