City of Friends: A Portrait of the Gay and Lesbian Community in America

City of Friends offers a practical, intelligent, and well-informed overview of whatit means to be gay or lesbian. The authors seek to help gay men and women, as well as their familiesand friends, to better understand the institutions and communities that make up the most culturallyand ethnically diverse minority in America today.Beginning with basic concepts, LeVay and Nonasdefine the words "homosexual," "gay," "lesbian," and "bisexual" and discuss the various patterns ofhomosexuality in different cultures around the world. They relate the history of the gay and lesbiancommunity in the United States, and its struggle for equal rights and social acceptance, beforetackling the question -- still highly controversial -- of what determines an individual's sexualorientation.City of Friends describes the great diversity within the gay and lesbian Lifein the "gay ghetto." Old lesbians in rural hideaways. Gay resorts. A "town without men." Gay andlesbian Latinos, African-Americans, Asian-Americans, and Native Americans -- what it means to be aminority within a minority. Lesbian and gay youth, the elderly, the deaf. Bisexuals andtranssexuals. Academics, drag queens, technoqueers, publishers, softball players -- all make theirappearance in these pages.LeVay and Nonas continue with a discussion of health issues (especially ofthe AIDS epidemic and the community's response to it), the law, and gay and lesbian politics. Theydescribe the cultural achievements of lesbians and gay men -- their art, literature, theater, music,and dance. Finally they take a look at the spiritual life of gays and lesbians, both within andoutside of organized religion.