Out in the Union: A Labor History of Queer America

The beginning chapters of this felt a little slow/not that great at making me think about the special needs of queer people in terms of working outside of the bargaining table, which might be interesting for folks looking to examine incorporative organizing. The book took off for me, though, when Frank switches to look at organizing in queer-owned businesses and queer-directed non-profits; the comparisons of trying to organize across AIDS organizations was really insightful (and therefore ABSOLUTELY enraging) as Frank hits on the affective register that queer bosses try to manipulate to prevent their queer workers from organizing (or straight bosses using their community ties.) It is also I think a great jumping off point for seeing show more more work; the bibliography spans labor and queer histories and many of the places where they overlap, and I think it's definitely teachable (I'm definitely already planning where I can use that chapter--chapter five--in a syllabus.) show less