Reviews

A Queer History of the United States, Revised and Updated Edition by Michael Bronski

dreaming_ace's review against another edition

4.0

It was interesting to read about LGTBQ history through the lens of how america has responded to gender and sexuality as well as how these intersected with other issue such as Racism etc. It also explained the social factors which led to the persecution of LGBTQ individuals.

dbgeejr's review against another edition

informative reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

ellerobot's review against another edition

3.5

Misgenders the Publick Universal Friend in the same sentence as they listed Friend’s statement about pronoun use. Skews heavily white gay male. Still more queer history than I ever had in school and worthwhile to find more people and events to read about in depth. 

katrinaeames's review against another edition

informative medium-paced

4.0

d_roseeee's review against another edition

5.0

i really enjoyed this book, probably my favorite one that i’ve read for my queer history class so far. as someone who rarely reaches for non-fiction, this book kept me reaching for it over and over, i found myself waiting for this book to be assigned in our readings so i could have an excuse to read more of it. it covers a broad expanse of queer history in a way that’s exciting to read that brought my attention and eyes to different aspects to queer culture that i hadn’t known or thought about before. highly recommend :]

cduu's review against another edition

3.0

Great information, and a thorough picture of queer history. It was, however, quite academic, and bit difficult to get through on my own. I think this would be a great book to discuss in a class setting, but on an individual basis, I often found myself lost in the overly academic, quite wordy writing.

catbrigand's review against another edition

1.0

It’s pretty rare that I one-star a book. I was so excited for this book and the series of which it’s a part. Queer history is American history and this is a story that needs to be told. But this book is so woefully inadequate that I just feel angry. This would be a decent book if it were titled A White Gay History of the United States. I say decent because the author seemed to really struggle to decide whether he wanted to talk about queer people or black people (but not, I should mention, queer black peoples); this results in large sections that are seemingly random digressions into racial relations.

A short list of terms that do not appear in this book:
asexual, intersex, transgender, bisexual

Trans people are, instead (horrifyingly, anachronistically) called transvestites. The examples on which the author focuses are those of women cross dressing as men for purposes of war. Even when discussing bisexual peoples’ same gender relationships, bisexuality isn’t even implied; instead, and far worse, the implication is made that they were straight people who incidentally had sex with the same gender. I don’t think I’ve ever been so disgusted in my life to read this piping hot take from someone who is a noted scholar of LGBT studies at an Ivy League school. The B and T parts aren’t just there for sandwich ingredients.

alicjaz's review against another edition

hopeful informative medium-paced

3.5

wintermote's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective slow-paced

4.0

I still think making so many claims about the sexual orientation of people hundreds of years ago is a shaky proposition. 

mesy_mark's review against another edition

informative reflective medium-paced

4.25

 This is a book not highlighting queer events in the US history but the queer populations along side the side only talked about, cisgender heterosexuals, from way back in the day, like civil war solders that were women to ACT UP in the AIDS epidemic. It is an easy read and fuller rendition of history that includes all rather than a select few.