Henry Abelove is Professor of English at Wesleyan University. He is the author of The Evangelist of Desire: John Wesley and the Methodists.

Michèle Aina Barale is Assistant Professor of English and Women's and Gender Studies at Amherst College. Her book Below the Belt: Essays in Queer Reading is forthcoming from Routledge.

David M. Halperin is Professor of Literature at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is the author of One Hundred Years of Homosexuality and Other Essays on Greek Love.

Introduction

User's Guide

Part I. Politics of Representation

1. Thinking Sex: Notes for a Radical Theory of the Politics of Sexuality, Gayle S. Rubin

2. Epistemology of the Closet, Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick

3. Deviance, Politics, and the Media, Stuart Hall

4. Some Reflections on Separatism and Power, Marilyn Frye

5. Homophobia: Why Bring It Up?, Barbara Smith

6. One is Not Born a Woman, Monique Wittig

7. Silences: "Hispanics," AIDS, and Sexual Practices, Ana Maria Alonso and Maria Teresa Koreck

8. From Nation to Family: Containing African AIDS, Cindy Patton

Part II: Spectacular Logic

9. Sexual Indifference and Lesbian Representation, Teresa De Lauretis

10. Eloquence and the Epitaph: Black Nationalism and the Homophobic Impulse in Responses to the Death of Max Robinson, Phillip Brian Harper

11. Television/Feminsm: HeartBeat and Prime Time Lesbiansim, Sasha Torres

12. Commodity Lesbianism, Danae Clark

13. The Spectacle of AIDS, Simon Watney

14. Sontags Urbanity, D.A. Miller
15. "Just When You Thought It Was Safe to Go Back in the Water . . .", Daniel J. Selden

Part III: Subjectivity, Discipline, Resistance

16. Compulsory Heterosexuality and Lesbian Existence, Adrienne Rich

17. Chicano Men: A Cartography of Homosexual Identity and Behavior, Tomás Almaguer

18. Lesbian Identity and Autobiographical Difference[s], Biddy Martin

19. Toward a Butch-Femme Aesthetic, Sue-Ellen Case

20. Imitation and Gender Insubordination, Judith Butler

21. Spare Parts: The Surgical Construction of Gender, Marjorie Garber

Part IV: The Uses of the Erotic

22. The Uses of the Erotic: The Erotic as Power, Audre Lorde

23. The Boys in My Bedroom, Douglas Crimp

24. Looking for Trouble, Kobena Mercer

25. Robert Mapplethorpe and the Discipline of Photography, Richard Meyer

26. Freud, Male Homosexuality, and the Americans, Henry Abelove

Part V: "The Evidence of Experience"

27. The Evidence of Experience, Joan W. Scott

28. Is There a History of Sexuality?, David M. Halperin

29. "They Wonder to Which Sex I Belong": The Historical Roots of the Modern Lesbian Identity, Martha Vicinus

30. "Lines She Did Not Dare": Angelina Weld Grimke , Harlem Renaissance Poet, Gloria T. Hull

31. Capitalism and Gay Identity, John D'Emilio

Part VI: Collective Identities / Dissident Identities
32. Androgynous Males and Deficient Females: Biology and Gender Boundaries in Sixteenth- and Seventeenth-Century China, Charlotte Furth

33. The Bow and the Burden Strap: A New Look at Institutionalized Homosexuality in Native North America, Harriet Whitehead

34. Just One of the Boys: Lesbians in Cherry Grove, 1960-1988, Esther Newton

35. Hijras as Neither Man Nor Woman, Serena Nanda

36. Tearooms and Sympathy or The Epistemology of the Water Closet, Lee Edelman

Part VII: Between the Pages

37. Double Consciousness in Sapphos Lyrics, John J. Winkler

38. De-Constructing the Lesbian Body: Cherríe Moraga's Loving in the War Years, Yvonne Yarbro-Bejarano

39. When Jack Blinks: Si(gh)ting Gay Desire in Ann Bannon's Beebo Brinker, Michèle Aina Barale

40. "It's Not Safe. Not Safe at All": Sexuality in Nella Larsen's Passing,Deborah E. McDowell

41. Different Desires: Subjectivity and Transgression in Wilde and Gide, Jonathan Dollimore

42. The Sonograms of Gertrude Stein, Catharine R. Stimpson

Suggestions for Further Reading

The biggest and most comprehensive multi-disciplinary anthology of critical work in lesbian/gay studies brings together 42 groundbreaking essays which extensively illustrate the range, scope, diversity, appeal, and power of the work currently being done in the field. Essential reading for anyone interested in the history of sexuality, sexual politics, and gender studies.