My American History: Lesbian and Gay Life During the Reagan/Bush Years

by Sarah Schulman

My American History contains pieces written between 1981 and 1992, that document the expectations and imaginations of activists as they struggled, under impossible odds and an ever-growing opposition, to articulate a movement for freedom and dignity during the Reign of Reaganism. Also included is the Lesbian Avengers Handbook.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, LGBT, Queer, Politics, Feminism, Biography Memoir

320 pages, Paperback

First published May 5, 1994

About the author

Sarah Schulman is a longtime AIDS and queer activist, and a cofounder of the MIX Festival and the ACT UP Oral History Project. She is a playwright and the author of seventeen books, including the novels The Mere Future, Shimmer, Rat Bohemia, After Delores, and People in Trouble, as well as nonfiction works such as The Gentrification of the Mind: Witness to a Lost Imagination, My American History: Lesbian and Gay Life during the Reagan/Bush Years, Ties That Bind: Familial Homophobia and Its Consequences, and Stagestruck: Theater, AIDS, and the Marketing of Gay America. She is Distinguished Professor of the Humanities at The City University of New York, College of Staten Island.

Reviews

[Macartney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eerie at the dawn of the Trump era to look back at Schulman at the dawn of the Clinton era compiling work from the dawn of the Reagan era. The more things change, the more they stay the same. A neat compilation of Schulman's newspaper and small press non-fiction work on the women's movement and AIDS activism throughout the 1980s, with "contemporary" commentary from her in the early 90s. Captures the immediate destruction and the slow devastation of right-wing policies that sadly continue to this day. Also captures Schulman's evolution and maturation as a writer, thinker and activist. If one thing has remained constant for her, it's her devotion to truth. She's paid a price for that conviction, but reading this lets us reap the rewards. The snippets at the end on the formation and guiding principles of the Lesbian Avengers is worth the price of admission alone. Their manual is priceless for anyone working to change the world through direct action. This book really should be back in print with a new introduction. A must-read for any activist today fighting against the same right-wing policies of destruction and devastation.

[tia edi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Odličen izbor esejev Zakaj nisem revolucionarka, to bom pogosto prebirala

[Madison Grace · Rating 5 out of 5]

It took me awhile to read this book, since I was reading many other books at the same time, and the essay-format makes it hard to read through quickly, but I’m so glad that I read it. It’s chock-full of history that I, and I would guess most Americans, have never been taught, and it paints a distinct picture of an era that isn’t different enough from our modern era (though we have blessedly made some progress). Many of the people and events she references have very scant information online, making this a primary source for a great deal of 1980’s and early 1990’s LGBT+ history. Who knows what may have happened to these stories without Sarah Schulman including them here. I bought a used copy of this book mainly for the purpose of research for my own writing, and even if I didn’t have that motivation, it was an enlightening read. I enjoy Schulman’s writing and I hope to read through her bibliography in the future.

[Lesley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would say this is five-star as source material for the historical era it's describing, but as something to read straight through, a lot is essays/talks produced for particular moments/audiences. Sometimes therefore a little repetitive. Nonetheless important.

[christine✨ · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you want to see my thoughts on this book, check out this post, where I talked about what I learned.

[Shannon Wyss · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating and sobering look at the lesbian and HIV/AIDS movements from the 1980s through the early 1990s. The differences and similarities to where we are today are pretty amazing. The section at the end on the Lesbian Avengers reminds me of how much i love the Avengers, their creativity, and their attitude. (I just wish that they would have been a better fit for my personality back in the mid-90s when i tried them out in DC.)

As someone who is 14 years younger than Schulman and who was just coming out in 1993, when her book ends, i know the events about which she talks only through the words of others. I was acquainted with many of the broad brushstrokes in her book. But most of the details were new to me.

My only criticism is her almost complete erasure of bisexual and transgender people, both in the pieces she reproduces here and in the early '90s commentary that accompanies many of them. True, in the early 1990s, the trans movement was still pretty young. So that absence is probably somewhat understandable for a cisgender writer. But bi folks had been around, out, and active for just as long as lesbians and gay men had been. Lumping bisexuals in with gay men and with lesbians was then and is still now an unacceptable erasure of the specific identities and experiences of bi people.

That being said, this is an amazing book that is well-worth the read. If you want to remember what life was like from 1981-1993 or if you want to learn what those who came before you built so that our lives can be the way they are today, please read Schulman's book.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a former Lesbian Avenger, I was LONG OVERDUE to read this one. I was not disappointed. It's an odd mix of interviews, news articles, responses to current events, longer-form journalism, etc. No matter the type of piece, the writing is clear, sharp, and passionate.

I know in the "alternate history" category (you know, all that stuff left out of high school textbooks) you have lots to choose from ... Sarah Schulman stands alone in documenting politics and social movements of the 1980s from a lesbian feminist perspective. I can't think of any other historian doing this work from this angle. For that alone, this book is a must-read.

Read as #21 of Pop Sugar Reading Challenge: read a book from the bottom of your to-read list

[Paula · Rating 4 out of 5]

Una colección muy inspiradora y educativa, especialmente para tener algunas nociones sobre la historia del activismo en Estados Unidos. Me quedo con esta idea tan importante de que un acto político puede ser pacífico y poderoso a la vez. El pesimismo de las nuevas generaciones y la renuncia a cambiar el mundo no significan que uno no pueda incorporar pequeños actos de resistencia en su día a día. Incluso si uno prefiere ser "discreto" respecto a su homosexualidad en ciertos círculos, o si prefiere no vivir peleándose con todo el mundo, pienso que hay que buscar maneras de ser fiel a las propias convicciones, de evitar a toda costa la neutralidad, y Schulman siempre me ayuda a recordar eso. Mi favorita es la anécdota de los globos; se la he platicado a mi novia varias veces.

[Hubert · Rating 5 out of 5]

This compilation of writings from a grass-roots Lesbian activist in the late 70s / early 80s reveals an inner world of contemporary thought that you won't find in school, or for that matter, in the NY Times. Also follow Schulman's novels and her story of how the producers of Rent stole her novel!

[Caty]

I've just read the introduction so far and it is so good. She is brilliant and articulate.

[Corinne Blackmer · Rating 5 out of 5]

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