Introduction - Diane Richardson and Steven Seidman
PART ONE: HISTORY AND THEORY
From Liberation to Transgression and Beyond - Barry D Adam
Gay, Lesbian and Queer Studies at the Turn of the Twenty-first Century
The Heterosexual/Homosexual Binary - Sasha Roseneil
Past, Present and Future
The Mainstreaming of Lesbian and Gay Studies? - Peter M Nardi
Unusual Fingers - Lynda Birke
Scientific Studies of Sexual Orientation
Heterosexuality - Chrys Ingraham
It's Just Not Natural!
The Comparative Sociology of Homosexualities - Stephen O Murray
PART TWO: IDENTITY AND COMMUNITY
From the Bowery to the Castro - Verta Taylor, Elizabeth Kaminski and Kimberly Dugan
Communities, Identities and Movements
New Technologies and `Cyber-Queer' Research - Nina Wakeford
Queer Bodies and the Production of Space - Gill Valentine
The Forgotten - Stephen Pugh
A Community Without a Generation - Older Lesbians and Gay Men
Queer Diaspora - Anne-Marie Fortier
Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Youth - Melinda S Miceli
The Bisexual Menance - Kristin G Esterberg
Or, Will the Real Bisexual Please Stand Up?
PART THREE: INSTITUTIONS
Imagining the Place of the State - Davina Cooper
Where Governance and Social Power Meet
Lesbian and Gay Health - Tamsin Wilton
Power, Paradigms and Bodies
Innocence and Experience - Debbie Epstein, Sarah O'Flynn and David Telford
Paradoxes in Sexuality and Education
Lesbian and Gay Bodies of Law - Leslie J Moran
Religious Views of Homosexuality - Dawne Moone
Gays and Lesbians as Workers and Consumers in the Economy - Marieka M Klawitter
Sweating in the Spotlight - Joshua Gamson
Lesbian, Gay and Queer Encounters with Media and Popular Culture
Queer Families Quack Back - Judith Stacey and Elizabeth Davenport
PART FOUR: POLITICS
Making a Minority - Stephen Engel
Understanding the Formation of the Gay and Lesbian Movement in the United States
Anti-Gay and Lesbian Violence and Its Discontents - Valerie Jennesss and Kimberley D Richman
Globalization and the International Gay/Lesbian Movement - Dennis Altman
Nationalism Has a Lot to Do with It! - Jyoti Puri
Unraveling Questions of Nationalism and Transnationalism in Lesbian/Gay Studies
Sexual Citizenship - David Bell and Jon Binnie
Marriage, the Market and the Military

`The creation of a new field of lesbian and gay studies over the past thirty years has been a fascinating project. This volume brings together key authors in the field in 26 major essays and provides a clear sense of just how much has been achieved. It is a guide to the state of the art, and invaluable for scholars throughout the world' - Ken Plummer, Professor of Sociology, University of Essex; and Editor of Sexualities

`This book is unique in lesbian and gay studies. From politics to health, cyber-queers to queer families, the review essays in this volume cover all the important bases of GLB history and politics. The Introduction is a simple and accessible overview of the changing faces of theory and research over many decades. This book is bound to be an important resource in a burgeoning field' - Janice Irvine, Associate Professor of Sociology, University of Massachusetts, Amherst

`The Handbook of Gay and Lesbian Studies, assembled by two leading theorists of sexuality, makes available more than two dozen new cutting-edge essays in gay studies. Essential for social science scholars and students of gay/queer studies' - David F. Greenberg, Professor of Sociology, New York University

With this benchmark work, lesbian and gay studies comes of age. Drawing from a rich team of global contributors and carefully structured to elucidate the core issues in the field, it constitutes an unparalleled resource for teaching, research and debate. The volume is organized into 4 sections:

· History and Theory

This covers the roots of lesbian and gay studies, the institutionalization of the subject in the Academy, the 'naturalness' of heterosexuality, science and sexuality, the comparative sociology of homosexualities and the heterosexual/homosexual division.

· Identity and Community

This examines the formation of gay and lesbian identities communities and movements, 'cyber-queer' research, sexuality and space, generational issues in lesbian and gay lifecycles and the subject of bisexuality

· Institutions

This investigates questions of the governance of sexualities, lesbian and gay health, sexualities and education, religion and homosexuality, homosexuality and the law, gay and lesbian workers, homosexuality and the family, and lesbian, gay and queer encounters with the media and popular culture

· Politics

This explores the formation of the gay and lesbian movements, impact of globalization, antigay and lesbian violence, nationalism and transnationalism in lesbian and gay studies and sexual citizenship.

The result is an authoritative book that demarcates the field, stimulates critical discussion and provides lesbian and gay studies with an enriching focal reference point. It is, quite simply, a breakthrough work that will galvanize discussion and research for years to come.