Reviews - Bad Gays: A Homosexual History

1.09k reviews for:

Bad Gays: A Homosexual History

Super informative history book. Listened to the audiobook version of this and learned so much! Here's to hoping it sticks though my brain is like a sieve sometimes when it comes to new info OTL. Some people have complained about the explicit nature of some parts of this book but I liked it lol, it spiced up things in between rather detailed discussions of political parties and movements. Honestly it's just such a cool book, truly so much information in here that I'd never learned before. It's always an interesting feeling to realize that there were such huge gaps in your knowledge.

EDIT: Did have to skip ahead sometimes because of graphic descriptions of torture and self harm/mutilation. Be warned!

emilyrpf's review against another edition

3.25

informative

stardust_ashes's review against another edition

2.0

On paper, I love this book. Queer villains? I am so in.
In reality, however, it kind of felt like a miss.
To start with, the book sold undeniable villains, the title made me want juicy horrible stories. But here, most of the guys are ambiguous, if not partially bad only from a modern point of view because now we know better. Even though it is interesting to question what is good or bad and to show that not every LGBTQ+ throughout history fought for all minorities and sometimes only defended their interests, I feel like it does not truly meet the readers' expectations.
There's another issue with the people chosen for the book. There is a terrible lack of Queer diversity, whereas I don't doubt there is a plethora of ambiguous LGBTQ+ to choose from. On the good side, the people picked are not necessarily known but are really representative of their time.
I wish the book was written more orally or simple manner because something about the text does not work well. The sentences are often long and full of pointless fancy words. There is a few queer jokes (which are enjoyable) but they fall flat because they are not enough for the book not to fall into the boring history book. The jokes do not fit with the historical text. That huge discrepancy makes it hard to read when it could be a fun yet educative book.
Too bad that the best part of the book is the conclusion. It is what helps to put in perspective all the stories of the book but it comes a little too late.
I am curious about the podcast though because I am sure everything about it fixes the misses of the book but for now, the book is bad publicity for it.

btw_rae's review against another edition

4.0

challenging informative reflective slow-paced

rosereads_books's review against another edition

2.5

informative reflective medium-paced

bargainbinkazbrekker's review against another edition

2.0

Very dry, very poorly written, makes a better podcast than a novel. Wished they'd been more women and gender nonconforming people mentioned.

alittleshy's review against another edition

4.0

challenging emotional funny informative medium-paced

This work sure goes a lot of interesting places. Here are a few of the takeaways that stuck with me:

The use of the term "homosexual" and "homosexuality" didn't appear until the mid-1860s. While the historical record has clear instances of what we might today call "homosexual" or "gay" people, that's unlikely to be how people of the past described themselves.
Class, race, social standing, and age could all play an important role in how one acted on and was reacted to as a result of same-sex attraction. Pederasty in ancient Greek is brought up as one such example, with it being depicted as (among other things) a vehicle for the education and mentorship for the younger recipient. Moreover, gay / queer behavior could be an "open secret" or "overlooked" in the last 120-or-so years if the person in question was rich and/or powerful (and white) enough.
There sure were a lot of fascists and Nazi-sympathizers in this work; I guess the work wouldn't be called Bad Gays if everyone featured was moral and upstanding. Moreover, people like Pim Fortuyn stands as a reminder that gay and queer identities can and will be co-opted by the state to push a nationalist, fascist agenda when convenient. (E.G. "We can't allow Muslims into the Netherlands because they're not tolerant of the queer community." This, in turn, creates a vulnerable, exploitable underclass for capitalists.)
The work closes on the importance of solidarity and intersectionality as both the antidote to the erosion of rights faced by the queer community (either when they are no longer convenient for those in power or when more conservative / reactionary / fundamentalist individuals and factions rise to power in a given nation) and the method by which protections for disenfranchised people may be enshrined into law. The work is also skeptical of respectability / appeasement politics (ie casting one group as "good queers" and one as "deviants"). According to the work, such an approach is, at best, a temporary strategy that will lead to short term gains / protection at the cost of an erosion or loss of rights for all queers over a long enough timeline.

With all of that said, I was somewhat disappointed by the lack of female and lesbian representation in the book. I was also surprised that a handful of alternate takes were included in the audiobook right alongside the "main" take. I know the book is advertised as "unabridged," but what I experienced goes beyond that. Granted, it was rare over the course of the book and didn't really interrupt my enjoyment.

Ultimately, while this book is often challenging, it is also an interesting read. If nothing I've described above turns you off, this one is, at the very least, worth a look.