surefinewhatever_ 's review for:

The Stonewall Reader by The New York Public Library

5.0

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Anthologies are really hard to rate because there are so many different authors & texts, but ultimately am landing on 5 stars because I found that this book taught me a lot. I appreciated the diverse perspectives, from Black folks & other people of color in the movement, from Drag Queens, & Trans folks, and both gay men & lesbians. They made a clear effort to avoid continuing the whitewashing of the Stonewall Riots & early aughts of queer liberation. They didn’t shy away from the problematic nature of folks within the movement as well, depicting documents where members of the movement were racist, sexist, and transphobic. This anthology looks at Stonewall & the ensuing fight for liberation, clearly & critically, shying away from a rose colored view. Worth the read on a history I (and I’d venture to say many of us) never learned.