The Many Faces of Gay: Activists Who Are Changing the Nation

by Arthur David Kahn

A comprehensive exploration of the gay experience, this book depicts in rich detail the coming out experiences of some sixty lesbians and gay men. The interviewees are of varied ethnic, religious, and racial backgrounds, and of different ages, educational levels, and vocations; they include people with AIDS, a transvestite and a transsexual, as well as gays who spent years in heterosexual marriages (some subsequently deprived of their children). The second half of the book investigates the advanced level of the coming out experience―active participation in the struggle against homophobia―through accounts by gay public officials, leaders of ACT UP, Queer Nation, Pink Panthers. the Hetrick Martin Institute and Harvey Milk School for troubled gay youth, Gay Men's Health Crisis, GOAL (the gay police organization), gay veterans, and the Anti-Violence Project. A chapter is included on the experiences of members of PFLAG (Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays).

352 pages, Hardcover

First published January 30, 1997