The Dictionary of Homophobia: A Global History of Gay & Lesbian Experience

"Tin's Dictionary of Homophobiais so sweeping in its scope that one can dip into it again and again and learn something, or confront an idea in which even the most well-read queer will find fresh intellectual nourishment and historical illumination."—Gay City News

Based on the work of seventy researchers in fifteen countries, The Dictionary of Homophobiais a mammoth, encyclopedic book that documents the history of homosexuality, and various cultural responses to it, in all regions of the world: a masterful, engaged, and wholly relevant study that traces the political and social emancipation of a culture.

The book is the first English translation of Dictionnaire de L’Homophobie, published in France in 2003 to worldwide acclaim; its editor, Louis-Georges Tin, launched the first International Day Against Homophobia in 2005, now celebrated in more than fifty countries around the world. The Dictionary of Homophobiaincludes over 175 essays on various aspects of gay rights and homophobia as experienced in all regions in Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe, and the South Pacific, from the earliest epochs to present day.

Subjects include religious and ideological forces such as the Bible, Communism, Judaism, Hinduism, and Islam; historical subjects, events, and personalities such as AIDS, Stonewall, J. Edgar Hoover, Matthew Shepard, Oscar Wilde, Pat Buchanan, Joseph McCarthy, Pope John Paul II, and Anita Bryant; and other topics such as coming out, adoption, deportation, ex-gays, lesbiphobia, and bi-phobia. In a world where gay marriage remains a hot-button political issue, and where adults and even teens are still being executed by authorities for the “crime” of homosexuality, The Dictionary of Homophobiais a both a revealing and necessary history lesson for us all.

A comprehensive, global history of homophobia, available in English for the first time.

Louis-Georges Tin was a student of Ecole Normale Suprieure and has a PhD in Renaissance Studies. On May 17, 2005, he launched the first International Day Against Homophobia, now celebrated in more than 50 countries in the world, and officially recognized by the European Parliament. He is professor of French literature at the Universit d'Orlans, France.