Stonewall [Paperback]

Mr. Duberman's book, which, to be honest, I picked because it was the only book of its type available at the bookstore here in my small Texas town, was interesting and a fast, entertaining read. I especially liked the way Duberman followed a small group of people over a long period of time. Learning about an historical event through the eyes of people who were actually there gave me a far better understanding than a bland, general history might have.

Duberman is well aware of the important context surrounding the events about which he writes. According to the author: "'Stonewall' is the emblematic event in modern lesbian and gay history" because the series of riots "has become synonymous over the years with gay resistance to oppression." He asserts that his focus on individuals "will increase the ability of readers to identify...with experiences different from, but comparable to, their own." Although this is not, strictly speaking, a conventional work of academic history, Duberman makes some important, incisive observations. For instance, he briefly discusses what he refers to as "the endemic homophobia that characterized the black political movement" of the 1960s. (According to Duberman, Bayard Rustin, the principal organizer of the March on Washington in 1963, was ostracized after Rustin's sexual orientation was revealed.) In Duberman's view, the "new frankness about homosexuality" of the mid-1960s, "was part and parcel of a much larger cultural upheaval," and "the homophile movement" reflected and contributed to "the general assault on cultural values." And, according to Duberman, the direct-action tactics adopted by groups such as the East Coast Homophile Organizations were "inspired" by the efforts of militant students on college campuses and Freedom Riders in the south to achieve social justice in a different arena.

Focused as it is on the personalities of six activists, this book is, in some respects, less than the sum of its parts. I found it fascinating reading, but it is far from the whole story of the early years of the gay liberation movement. There can be little doubt about the importance of individual leaders in the emergence of gay and lesbian activism in the 1960s. However, there is much more to the history of gay resistance to oppression than the extent to which it affords readers the opportunity to identify with experiences different from, but comparable to, their own.