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Out in All Directions: Almanac of Gay and Lesbian America
An illustrated, wide-ranging compendium of information about all aspects of gay and lesbian life, history, and culture includes a glossary of gay concepts, a survey of the gay rights movement, reviews of gay movies, and more. National ad/promo.
635 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1995
2 people are currently reading
67 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
September 19, 2023
This book was a titan! I had this on my shelf for far too long, and every time I looked at it I thought, "Maybe I should take that to Half Price Books. There's no way that I'll actually read it." I eventually decided I would conquer it, and at length, I did!
What I found is an amazing little time capsule. This book is the LGBT struggle as it was known in 1995. It catalogues the experience of life in many, many ways. It catalogues the history of the movement, the ways people got by before the movement, and the many institutions large and small that people founded during the movement. This ongoing struggle saw so many amazing episodes of progress and shared so many touchstones of history. I want to throw this book in a larger time capsule so that it will be evidence used by future historians to reconstruct the struggle for LGBT rights from the vantage point of 1995.
The worst thing about this book was its length. It was difficult to keep making myself return to it. It was a little like the experience of trying to read an encyclopedia. I didn't get sucked in; I had only so much stamina at a given reading session. And it blocked up my reading of other books, because I always felt, "Well, I have an Important Book that I'm working on."
Having now read the entire thing, I have gained a reference source. Every one of the many essays in this book is titled in the Table of Contents. I can now flip through directly to what I'm looking for if I ever return to this book. I say if. The dreadful fact is that this book might go back to sitting on my shelf being disused. I'm certainly not taking it to Half Price Books now though. I'm keeping it! I feel inspired to write more with LGBT characters and maybe even market my own writing to queerer audiences. I was inspired by reading it to acquire gay fiction and add it to my reading queue. I am queer myself. This book made me feel more in touch with that facet of myself.
What I found is an amazing little time capsule. This book is the LGBT struggle as it was known in 1995. It catalogues the experience of life in many, many ways. It catalogues the history of the movement, the ways people got by before the movement, and the many institutions large and small that people founded during the movement. This ongoing struggle saw so many amazing episodes of progress and shared so many touchstones of history. I want to throw this book in a larger time capsule so that it will be evidence used by future historians to reconstruct the struggle for LGBT rights from the vantage point of 1995.
The worst thing about this book was its length. It was difficult to keep making myself return to it. It was a little like the experience of trying to read an encyclopedia. I didn't get sucked in; I had only so much stamina at a given reading session. And it blocked up my reading of other books, because I always felt, "Well, I have an Important Book that I'm working on."
Having now read the entire thing, I have gained a reference source. Every one of the many essays in this book is titled in the Table of Contents. I can now flip through directly to what I'm looking for if I ever return to this book. I say if. The dreadful fact is that this book might go back to sitting on my shelf being disused. I'm certainly not taking it to Half Price Books now though. I'm keeping it! I feel inspired to write more with LGBT characters and maybe even market my own writing to queerer audiences. I was inspired by reading it to acquire gay fiction and add it to my reading queue. I am queer myself. This book made me feel more in touch with that facet of myself.
July 29, 2020
Its probably unfair to even review this book, since my copy is from 1995 and all of the information in it is incredibly outdated. It is an interesting look at what the LGBTQ+ community was dealing with 25 years ago, and its amazing to see the advances the community has made since then. Still, it seems pointless to read about a lot of the organizations this book highlights, since many of them don't exist anymore or are almost unrecognizable today.
September 11, 2018
I mostly benefited from the most common myths about gay men and lesbians. Though as ridiculous as they may seems, a lot of people believe that gay people recruit because they can’t produce. The author’s debunk this myth along with many others, such as: homosexuality is caused by a distant father and dominant mother.
June 11, 2025
Definitely interesting to read, but mainly as a historical document from the time period it was made. There's a huge amount of discussion about HIV/AIDs and the other stuff, especially previously active organizations which were important during this time.
October 8, 2019
Out in All Directions: A Treasury of Gay and Lesbian America (Paperback)
by Lynn Witt (Editor)
by Lynn Witt (Editor)
January 7, 2024
important historical resource, written in an engaging and easy-to access format. truly an encyclopedia of LGBT history in the US. whether you have five minutes at a time to read or several hours, you can drop into this book and learn something each time.
i’m incredibly grateful for the media recommendations i found in this book, and have discovered so many historic queer films and books that have been largely otherwise buried.
as attitudes towards LGB and especially T individuals continue to shift in this country and the world, sources like these are vital to understanding our position in history, and in navigating a path forward.
i’m incredibly grateful for the media recommendations i found in this book, and have discovered so many historic queer films and books that have been largely otherwise buried.
as attitudes towards LGB and especially T individuals continue to shift in this country and the world, sources like these are vital to understanding our position in history, and in navigating a path forward.
November 16, 2012
"Out in All Directions: The Almanac of Gay and Lesbian America" is a smorgasbord of information that is so exciting and pleasurable, it was difficult for me to know what to read first. As I browsed the 600-plus pages, all sorts of illustrations, articles, lists, and marginalia vied for immediate attention.
Divided into 10 chapters, the themes in "Out in All Directions" include: "Myths and Facts," "The Material World" (among the topics are "Owning Our Own: Gay and Lesbian Bookstores," "Queer Groups at Work," and "Gay Money: What Is It? Who Has It?"), and "We Are Everywhere" (the topics in this chapter include "Gays in the Fashion Industry" and "Queers in the Church").
The editors have made a special effort to be inclusive, hence there is much information by and about people of color, for example.
The stated aim of the editors is to "uncover history, illuminate gay and lesbian life, explode myths, and break new ground."
One flaw is the listing of famous people as gay or lesbian without corroborating evidence.
"Out in All Directions" belongs in every gay and lesbian home library despite that flaw because it contains genuinely important information we all--gay and straight--should know about.
The above review is from a book column I wrote for the Manhattan Spirit (February 9, 1996). It has been slightly edited. It was also published on my blog www.urbanbookmaven.blogspot.com (March 26, 2012) under the title "A Cornucopia of Gay & Lesbian Facts."
Divided into 10 chapters, the themes in "Out in All Directions" include: "Myths and Facts," "The Material World" (among the topics are "Owning Our Own: Gay and Lesbian Bookstores," "Queer Groups at Work," and "Gay Money: What Is It? Who Has It?"), and "We Are Everywhere" (the topics in this chapter include "Gays in the Fashion Industry" and "Queers in the Church").
The editors have made a special effort to be inclusive, hence there is much information by and about people of color, for example.
The stated aim of the editors is to "uncover history, illuminate gay and lesbian life, explode myths, and break new ground."
One flaw is the listing of famous people as gay or lesbian without corroborating evidence.
"Out in All Directions" belongs in every gay and lesbian home library despite that flaw because it contains genuinely important information we all--gay and straight--should know about.
The above review is from a book column I wrote for the Manhattan Spirit (February 9, 1996). It has been slightly edited. It was also published on my blog www.urbanbookmaven.blogspot.com (March 26, 2012) under the title "A Cornucopia of Gay & Lesbian Facts."
Want to read
July 4, 2008I DID own this, but I think it must've moved out with Catherine b/c I haven't seen it in years.
Read
September 22, 20132 copies
my-books
December 7, 2008Chapter entitled "Lesbians and gay men on stage: A necessarily incomplete history."
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews