For those interested in further reading on the subject of homosexuality and the ways in which personal identity is socially constructed, the following books offer a beginning point. This is by no means an exhaustive list of the books currently available on these subjects.

Adair, N. & Adair, C. (1978). Word is out: Stories of some of our lives. New York: Dell Publishing Co., Inc. Based on the award-winning documentary film about the lives of 26 gay men and women. Interviews conducted by members of the Mariposa Film Group.

Bell, A.P. & Weinberg, M.S. (1978). Homosexualities: A study of diversity among men and women. New York: Simon and Schuster. (An Official Publication of The Institute for Sex Research founded by Alfred C. Kinsey.) Based on face-to-face interviews with 1500 persons.

Blumenfeld, W.J. & Raymond, D. (1993). Looking at gay and lesbian life. Boston: Beacon Press. A comprehensive look at "every major aspect of the lives of gay men and lesbians..."

Boswell, J. (1980). Christianity, social tolerance, and homosexuality: Gay people in Western Europe from the beginning of the Christian era to the fourteenth century. Chicago & London: The University of Chicago Press. "Historical treatise on the place of gay people in Western Europe from the beginning of the Christian era to the fourteenth century."

Greenberg, D.F. (1988). The construction of homosexuality. Chicago & London: The University of Chicago Press. An extensively researched and thorough cross-cultural presentation of the historical and cultural responses to homosexuality.

Gross, L. (1993). Contested closets: The politics and ethics of outing. Minneapolis & London: University of Minnesota Press. "...about the shifting boundaries between the public and private realms...It is a book about outing."

Kirk, M. & Madsen, H. (1989). After the ball: How America will conquer its fear & hatred of gays in the 90's. New York: Plume. "...trace[s] the deep psychological roots of anti-gay bigotry...outline[s] a boldly original plan for conquering bigotry by exploiting the mass media."

McNaught, B. (1988). On being gay: Thoughts on family, faith and love. New York: St. Martin's. A collection of very insightful articles written over a period of thirteen years for the gay and mainstream press.

Minow, M. (1987). Forward: Justice engendered. Harvard Law Review, 101, 10-95. A discussion of the search for justice within a society in which the very notions of right and wrong, deviant and "normal" are socially and politically constructed by those in positions of power and in which those constructions and assumptions have become invisible.

Miller, N. (1989). In search of gay America: Women and men in a time of change. New York: Harper & Row Publishers. Based on a journey "through small towns, farmlands, suburbs, and cities in search of the diversity of gay and lesbian life in America in the late 1980s."

Miller, N. (1992). Out in the world: Gay and lesbian life from Buenos Aires to Bangkok. New York: Random House. Based on travel throughout the world, looking at the social construction of homosexuality across cultures.

Monette, P. (1988). Borrowed time: An AIDS memoir. New York: Avon Books. A very moving autobiography of a deeply committed love relationship between two gay men.

Monette, P. (1992). Becoming a man: Half a life story. San Francisco: Harper. (Winner of the National Book Award.) A fast-paced, self- deprecating autobiography of a gay man, full of black humor. A very funny and insightful look at growing up gay in a straight society.

Penelope, J. & Wolfe, S.J., ed. (1989). The original coming out stories. Freedom, CA: The Crossing Press. A "collection of poems and personal narratives about the coming-out experience and its significance during four decades of lesbian lives and loving."

Peplau, L.A. (1981). What homosexuals want. Psychology Today. March, pp. 28-38. Discussion of research on love relationships of gay men and lesbians compared with heterosexuals and each other, showing no appreciable differences in satisfaction, commitment, and other relationship measures.

Preston, J., ed. (1992). A member of the family: Gay men write about their families. New York: Dutton. Individual narratives written by gay male writers about a member of their families.

Shilts, R. (1988). And the band played on: Politics, people, and the AIDS epidemic. New York: Penguin Books. "...a masterpiece of investigative reporting--a brilliant expose of the federal government putting budget ahead of the nation's welfare, health authorities placing political expediency before public health, and scientists more concerned with international prestige than with saving lives."

Shilts, R. (1993). Conduct unbecoming: Gays and lesbians in the U.S. military. New York: St. Martin's Press. Based on interviews with over 1100 gay service people over a five-year period.

Signorile, M. (1993). Queer in America: Sex, the media, and the closets of power. New York: Random House. A compelling look at the homophobia of powerful closeted gay people and the resultant perpetuation of that homophobia throughout the media, politics, and the entertainment industry, exacerbating the homophobia throughout our society.

Weinberg, G. (1972). Society and the healthy homosexual. Boston: Alyson. By the author who coined the term `homophobia.' Examines the causes of homophobia and outlines healthy responses to it.

Weston, K. (1991). Families we choose: Lesbians, gays, kinship. New York: Columbia University. (Awarded a Ruth Benedict Prize in anthropology.) "...draws upon fieldwork and interviews to explore the ways gay men and lesbians are constructing their own notions of kinship by drawing on the symbolism of love, friendship, and biology."

Whitney, C. (1990). Uncommon lives: Gay men and straight women. New York: New American Library. Based on a survey and interviews with over 1,000 people in relationships between gay men and straight women. Talks of their love, their compromises, their struggles to keep their lives whole. 

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