21st Century Gay »

Areas discussed are: Gay separatism vs. Gay mainstreaming; Coming out; AIDS; Marriage; Adoption; Religion; Politics; Pop culture and media; and, most importantly, what the future holds.

Library Journal

In this simplistic overview, Malone (Straight Women/Gay Men) examines recent events in the struggle for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender civil rights but offers little new information or interpretation. Introducing a specious middle-of-the-road construct ("These `third-way' members of the gay community can often sympathize with the arguments and aims of both separatists and mainstreamers to some degree, but also tend to see the problems inherent in the positions on either side"), he investigates the impact of various issues on lesbians and gay men in America: AIDS, coming out, marriage, adoption, religion, violence, and politics. Oversimplification, gross generalizations, sloppy writing, and unarticulated assumptions (e.g., "The gay community is unquestionably more diverse than the general public, yet even some gay leaders do not always seem to fully recognize how multifaceted it is") render this book, based on interviews, New York Times articles, and other written sources, unsuitable for any but the most comprehensive collections.--James E. Van Buskirk, San Francisco P.L. Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.\