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Shoulder to Shoulder: A Queer History of Solidarity, Coalition and Chaos
This is a love letter to the pioneers of solidarity and coalition. It's a new global look at those bold moments where marginalised voices came together to say 'enough is enough'. It's the story of those who sacrificed individual gains to fight for collective freedom.
'Incredibly useful in our current times. Enticing and nuanced.' TRAVIS ALABANZA
'Full of incredible detail, I learned so much about the history of the fight against oppression. A revelation and an important book to read in today's world.' JILL NALDER
'An inspirational and much-needed examination of the power of solidarity. A great read.' DIPO FALOYIN
'An antidote to despair, Shoulder to Shoulder reminds us of the battles that came before, of their interconnection and their heart. A joy to read.' FRANKIE MIREN
'A profoundly beautiful, humanising and necessary road map to freedom.' DAN GLASS
Through astounding research and fascinating storytelling, Shoulder to Shoulder, transports us through time and into the world of these trailblazers, bringing their tales to life and exploring both the inexplicable joys and brutal realities of their fights for justice.
Spanning movements from the Black Panthers coalition with the Gay Liberation Front in the US to the Pride support for miners strikes in the UK, Shoulder to Shoulder shows how marginalised activists have always been intertwined in their pursuit of joint liberation.
A beautiful celebration of our often chaotic, and always messy, human history and those incredible, ordinary people who pushed for equality no matter the cost. Shoulder to Shoulder is for anyone who loved Bad Gays, Natives or Poverty Safari and is hungry for a fresh perspective on our shared human history.
'Shoulder to Shoulder makes me hopeful for the future.' ANNA MASING
'Incredibly useful in our current times. Enticing and nuanced.' TRAVIS ALABANZA
'Full of incredible detail, I learned so much about the history of the fight against oppression. A revelation and an important book to read in today's world.' JILL NALDER
'An inspirational and much-needed examination of the power of solidarity. A great read.' DIPO FALOYIN
'An antidote to despair, Shoulder to Shoulder reminds us of the battles that came before, of their interconnection and their heart. A joy to read.' FRANKIE MIREN
'A profoundly beautiful, humanising and necessary road map to freedom.' DAN GLASS
Through astounding research and fascinating storytelling, Shoulder to Shoulder, transports us through time and into the world of these trailblazers, bringing their tales to life and exploring both the inexplicable joys and brutal realities of their fights for justice.
Spanning movements from the Black Panthers coalition with the Gay Liberation Front in the US to the Pride support for miners strikes in the UK, Shoulder to Shoulder shows how marginalised activists have always been intertwined in their pursuit of joint liberation.
A beautiful celebration of our often chaotic, and always messy, human history and those incredible, ordinary people who pushed for equality no matter the cost. Shoulder to Shoulder is for anyone who loved Bad Gays, Natives or Poverty Safari and is hungry for a fresh perspective on our shared human history.
'Shoulder to Shoulder makes me hopeful for the future.' ANNA MASING
304 pages, Hardcover
Published May 23, 2024
8 people are currently reading
272 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
December 23, 2025
I appreciate that Hall has delved into so many of these movements across different periods of time, that alone is no easy task. Framing them as a queer historical narrative is itself reiterating the necessity of solidarity across all social movements. I think that is important, especially for LGBT+ readers who are unaware of many of these movements.
It's a fast-paced book and Hall is a very clear, engaging and fun writer, but at times the book can reiterate the sub-heading of 'chaos' with moments where it can be disjointed, with Hall moving between so many topics between chapters.
I think this also includes what exactly is meant by solidarity. Some examples are very much demonstrating the power and necessity of coalitional movement building, whilst others can feel a bit like they are simply acknowledging the representation of individuals in movements or detailing any work an individual has done. Those are different things to me.
Hall's own politics are explicitly socialist, but it's not really defined anywhere what kind of socialism that is. It's a vague leftism that focuses heavily on examples of grassroots, DIY community organising and attempts at base-building as examples of solidarity and coalition.
That's fine, I appreciate the acknowledgement of smaller social movements and what they mean to people, even if they bring in only a few people or only last a few months or years, they're still meaningful in some way. But it goes into what I noticed in the book. When Hall writes about more organised movements with a more structured, detailed history, I think those are the strongest parts of the book (and the most useful for organisers).
Whilst Hall tries to elaborate what they mean by solidarity, including how we decide what is a success or a loss, it can be a bit confusing politically. I know many socialists would not find May '68 'fruitful' for example. Solidarity and coalition can be influenced by failed movements, learning lessons from it. I guess it's thinking about if movements like that still 'win' even with some benefits, or acknowledging the overall impact of the movement in different periods of time.
Hall's background in fashion journalism and queer art is also evident throughout. Some of this is again useful, social movements have a lot to learn from subversive queer tactics throughout history. It's clear that Hall loves talking about these themes, even if they are not necessarily relevant to the themes of solidarity and coalition. Their writing is more fun and playful when they talk about queer squats, drag balls and extravagant parties.
But at times, Hall can go on slight tangents about this or any art exhibitions or pieces they liked that have a tentative relation to the chapter or an organisation/individual discussed. I think keeping the focus more on political examples of solidarity would have helped and allowed for more room to explore some examples that I thought would be here, such as the Madygraf co-operative in Argentina (whose struggle to take over the factory included defending a trans woman in the workplace).
Hall has done a lot of research for this, including explorations in French and Spanish language resources. However, almost all of the references in this book are from newspaper articles or websites. Hall references some books and journal articles, but it did stick out to me how reliant the book is on these kind of resources.
I think that this book has to be viewed as something aimed more at casual readers who know nothing or very little about the presence of LGBT+ communities in social movements across the globe. Knowing this though is essential for everyone involved in left-wing organising and social movements to know about (esp. LGBT+ communities). For that, it is a book I would recommend, but for myself, I already knew about some of these movements or struggled with the lack of a clear political direction or strategy to take from this (aside from the acknowledgment of small, DIY, grassroots groups).
It's a fast-paced book and Hall is a very clear, engaging and fun writer, but at times the book can reiterate the sub-heading of 'chaos' with moments where it can be disjointed, with Hall moving between so many topics between chapters.
I think this also includes what exactly is meant by solidarity. Some examples are very much demonstrating the power and necessity of coalitional movement building, whilst others can feel a bit like they are simply acknowledging the representation of individuals in movements or detailing any work an individual has done. Those are different things to me.
Hall's own politics are explicitly socialist, but it's not really defined anywhere what kind of socialism that is. It's a vague leftism that focuses heavily on examples of grassroots, DIY community organising and attempts at base-building as examples of solidarity and coalition.
That's fine, I appreciate the acknowledgement of smaller social movements and what they mean to people, even if they bring in only a few people or only last a few months or years, they're still meaningful in some way. But it goes into what I noticed in the book. When Hall writes about more organised movements with a more structured, detailed history, I think those are the strongest parts of the book (and the most useful for organisers).
Whilst Hall tries to elaborate what they mean by solidarity, including how we decide what is a success or a loss, it can be a bit confusing politically. I know many socialists would not find May '68 'fruitful' for example. Solidarity and coalition can be influenced by failed movements, learning lessons from it. I guess it's thinking about if movements like that still 'win' even with some benefits, or acknowledging the overall impact of the movement in different periods of time.
Hall's background in fashion journalism and queer art is also evident throughout. Some of this is again useful, social movements have a lot to learn from subversive queer tactics throughout history. It's clear that Hall loves talking about these themes, even if they are not necessarily relevant to the themes of solidarity and coalition. Their writing is more fun and playful when they talk about queer squats, drag balls and extravagant parties.
But at times, Hall can go on slight tangents about this or any art exhibitions or pieces they liked that have a tentative relation to the chapter or an organisation/individual discussed. I think keeping the focus more on political examples of solidarity would have helped and allowed for more room to explore some examples that I thought would be here, such as the Madygraf co-operative in Argentina (whose struggle to take over the factory included defending a trans woman in the workplace).
Hall has done a lot of research for this, including explorations in French and Spanish language resources. However, almost all of the references in this book are from newspaper articles or websites. Hall references some books and journal articles, but it did stick out to me how reliant the book is on these kind of resources.
I think that this book has to be viewed as something aimed more at casual readers who know nothing or very little about the presence of LGBT+ communities in social movements across the globe. Knowing this though is essential for everyone involved in left-wing organising and social movements to know about (esp. LGBT+ communities). For that, it is a book I would recommend, but for myself, I already knew about some of these movements or struggled with the lack of a clear political direction or strategy to take from this (aside from the acknowledgment of small, DIY, grassroots groups).
March 23, 2024
Shoulder to Shoulder is a book, as the subtitle says, about "queer history of solidarity, coalition and chaos", exploring the history of solidarity in the 20th and 21st century. It explores a range of movements and political moments, from the Black Panthers to Just Stop Oil, via sex workers' rights, gay rights, Mad Pride, AIDS activism, support for asylum seekers, and more. Everything is entangled, so though there are separate chapters on different areas, these often bleed into each other, and there's a particular interest in this and the ways in which different groups of people end up in solidarity and actively working together. At the same time, Hall acknowledges some of the difficulties, often down to people's opinions and media representation, and this is perhaps most notable in the chapter about Pits and Perverts, highlighting how both LGBTQ people and working-class miners were demonised in the 1980s.
Though there is a lot of focus on English-speaking activism particularly in the UK and US, there is also discussion of movements and solidarity across the globe, and particularly the parts about AIDS activism in Africa were interesting and not always in narratives of AIDS responses. The 'chaos' of the subtitle does infuse the book, sometimes making it a bit confusing around who or what something is because there's so many different groups and people covered all at once, but it has an energy that celebrates this multi-faceted nature. It provides an introduction to a lot of movements at once and is ideal for people looking for inspiration and hope in the current climate (both literal and metaphorical climate), particularly for queer people who may sometimes need the reminder of the history of queer solidarity with other movements, rather than being isolated.
Though there is a lot of focus on English-speaking activism particularly in the UK and US, there is also discussion of movements and solidarity across the globe, and particularly the parts about AIDS activism in Africa were interesting and not always in narratives of AIDS responses. The 'chaos' of the subtitle does infuse the book, sometimes making it a bit confusing around who or what something is because there's so many different groups and people covered all at once, but it has an energy that celebrates this multi-faceted nature. It provides an introduction to a lot of movements at once and is ideal for people looking for inspiration and hope in the current climate (both literal and metaphorical climate), particularly for queer people who may sometimes need the reminder of the history of queer solidarity with other movements, rather than being isolated.
June 3, 2024
A phenomenal history of queer solidarity, exactly what I needed to read right now
May 23, 2024
Thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the ARC.
If you're looking for a book that shows how any protest isn't just a one issue escalation, and brings you to tears about how amazing humans are-try this one!
If you're looking for a book that shows how any protest isn't just a one issue escalation, and brings you to tears about how amazing humans are-try this one!
December 29, 2025
Especially loved the last pages which summed up the point of the whole book and stressed the difference between being an ally and being in solidarity with other oppressed groups
October 31, 2025
Good insight into the history of solidarity between LGBTQ+ people and other minorities/communities. Incredibly important in today’s society when minorities need to collaborate to help achieve our common goals
December 3, 2024
Well researched, love the additions of things that aren't just about the USA. Found it very easy to read and digest, and learnt a lot of new things!
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews