Smash the Church, Smash the State! The Early Years of Gay Liberation

"When everyone hates you, it's natural to hate them right back. Smash the Church, Smash the State!: The Early Years of Gay Liberation is a look at the early days of gay liberation where much of society grew finally tired of hiding a major part of them and took a stand for their rights. A fight that rages on to this day, the stories of those who threw the first stone are inspiring and will show more motivate current civil rights fighters to stand their ground. Smash the Church, Smash the State! is an ideal addition to any history collection focusing on civil rights." show less

"Let's posit the Stonewall riots that rocked New York City in 1969 as the Big Bang of the gay movement. Ater that, all things seemed to be loose in the universe. It was a cultural, sexual and political revolution, or, as Thomas Foran commented at the time, 'a freakin' faggot revolution.' And it was about time. Edited by Tommi Avicolli Mecca, Smash the Church, Smash the State! (City Lights, show more $18.96) is a lively account by many of the people who were there at the revolution and others whose lives were changed forever by the push for gay liberation." show less

"To many Americans, the gay liberation movement began sometime in the 1960s as a seemingly sudden phenomenon of all manner of queer men and women doing silly things, militant things, and serious things to express their dissatisfaction with what they viewed as a repressive social order. According to Mecca, editor of this engaging anthology and a dedicated participant in gay liberation, the show more movement actually began decades earlier, possibly as early as 1949. This anthology is a collection of stories shared by many individuals from the perspective of their lives inside the movement." show less