A review by kstookley
When Brooklyn Was Queer: A History by Hugh Ryan

4.0

I always love the opportunity to learn more queer history, to see myself in figures from the past. This book did a great job of representing all different types of queer person (it would be great if there were more qpoc, but it's also less likely for their historical records to be preserved). I really, really wished that this book had maps, considering that so much of it discussed how Brooklyn's changing geography influenced its queer scene. It also assumes that its audience will have a robust knowledge of certain lgbtq figures that I don't think is smart to bank on (for example, opera composer Benjamin Britten-- even the most mainstream opera is divorced from the common pop culture consciousness, so figures like these need to be unpacked perhaps just as much as the Brooklyn unknowns Ryan describes in the book). But overall, very interesting and informative discussion on the evolution of queer identity and urban planning.