Homosexuality: Power and Politics

by Gay Left Collective

A socialist journal edited by gay men in the 1970s

After the leading organizations of radical sexual politics - the Gay Liberation Front and the Gay Marxist Group - imploded or dissolved, the Gay Left Collective formed a research group to make sense of the changing terrain of sexuality and politics writ large. Its goal was to formulate a rigorous Marxist analysis of sexual oppression, while linking together the struggle against homophobia with a wider array of struggles, all under the banner of socialism.

This anthology combines the very best of their work, exploring masculinity and workplace organizing, counterculture and disco, the survivals of victorian morality and the onset of the HIV/AIDS crisis.

Genres: Nonfiction, LGBT, Queer

224 pages, Paperback

Published October 2, 2018

Reviews

[Michael Kowalchuk · Rating 4 out of 5]

A product of its time, the collection asks a wonderful array of questions without providing too many specific answers. Emerging from the dogmatism of GLF's politics, this may have been a welcome change of scenery. For a 21st century queer intellectually bludgeoned by endless, useless postmodernist complications, this was a bit of a letdown.

For me, the biggest takeaway was that oppressed groups should retain autonomous spaces/organizations that speak to their own oppression in all of its intricacies and contradictions. From there, they should engage with the overarching framework of the Left to authentically challenge capitalism. Caucuses within existing left-wing organizations feel insufficient, while an over-emphasis on autonomy leads to easy co-optation by capitalism. One author made the point that while queer people are overwhelmingly working class, the so-called gay community and gay culture are rooted in the middle class; this contradiction can't be bridged by shame and guilt alone. There should be breathing room in some spheres to articulate an unapologetic queerness that transcends party discipline. "Apolitical" gay culture persists for a reason and part of that reason is its insistence on the validity of joy, pleasure and desire.

I particularly loved the essay on traditional vs. radical gay culture and its political ramifications, as well as the personal accounts describing individuals' burgeoning lesbian consciousnesses. On a whole, the collection was full of serious pieces that dealt with complicated emotional, intellectual and political issues.

[Sky Harrison · Rating 3 out of 5]

Extremely contextual and at times too abstract. Interesting historical document.

[Brett Glasscock · Rating 3 out of 5]

not so much a study of gay politics as it is a post mortem on a very specific moment of gay socialist organizing in britain. most of the chapters were personal reflections on the movement and as such pretty ungrounded. they ran together, and the details were a bit murky to me. the chapters not about the gay liberation front, ironically, were the best. the essays analyzing public perceptions of lesbians were actually quite good. at the end of the day, this book doesn't offer you much if you're not already well versed in the british gay liberation front. if you are, you'll find here a personal retrospective on its work. if you aren't, like me, you're better off picking up more concerted historiography/political writing

[Eurethius Péllitièr · Rating 4 out of 5]

While sometimes indulging in liberalism, it's still a decent set of essays