Long Before Stonewall: Histories of Same-Sex Sexuality in Early America

by Thomas A. Foster (Editor)

2007 Choice Outstanding Academic Title

Although the 1969 Stonewall riots in New York City symbolically mark the start of the gay rights movement, individuals came together long before the modern era to express their same-sex romantic and sexual attraction toward one another, and in a myriad of ways. Some reflected on their desires in quiet solitude, while others endured verbal, physical, and legal harassment for publicly expressing homosexual interest through words or actions.

Long Before Stonewall seeks to uncover the many iterations of same-sex desire in colonial America and the early Republic, as well as to expand the scope of how we define and recognize homosocial behavior. Thomas A. Foster has assembled a pathbreaking, interdisciplinary collection of original and classic essays that explore topics ranging from homoerotic imagery of black men to prison reform to the development of sexual orientations. This collection spans a regional and temporal breadth that stretches from the colonial Southwest to Quaker communities in New England. It also includes a challenge to commonly accepted understandings of the Native American berdache. Throughout, connections of race, class, status, and gender are emphasized, exposing the deep foundations on which modern sexual political movements and identities are built.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, LGBT, Queer, Gender and Sexuality, American History, Gay

414 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2007

About the author

Thomas A. Foster is Professor of History at Howard University, in Washington, DC, and author of Sex and the Eighteenth-Century Man: Massachusetts and the History of Sexuality in America, and Sex and the Founding Fathers: The American Quest for a Relatable Past. He is also editor of Long Before Stonewall: Histories of Same-Sex Sexuality (NYU Press, 2007), New Men: Manliness in Early America (NYU Press, 2011), and Documenting Intimate Matters: Primary Sources for a History of Sexuality in America.

Reviews

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lots of diverse essays looking at same-sex sexuality, homoeroticism, etc. in early American history. It's very academic, and with some of the authors almost impenetrably so. So this is a collection I'd recommend only for someone who already has some sort of academic background in history, not for a lay person who just wants a quick read. That being said, these are very well-researched and detailed essays and I learned a lot from this book.

[Jon · Rating 1 out of 5]

Although this book has some great subject matter, it was much too technical for my taste. I struggled with picking it up, on a daily basis, as I was also reading other books that were much more interesting. What made Long Before Stonewall difficult to read is that it is a series of essays by various writers. With each chapter, I found it difficult to adjust to their varied writing techniques. I found the essays a bit dry, and I felt like I was doing research for a thesis paper. The entertainment value was quite low. With that said, this would be an excellent book for someone who is doing research for a sociology or an anthropology class.

[Marc · Rating 3 out of 5]

Save for Richard Godbeer's contribution and an article on the role of sex in divorce, Long Before Stonewall shows that evidence, not interest, limits that scholarship on colonial America's sexual margins