This is the definitive account of the last great struggle for equal rights in the twentieth century. From the birth of the modern gay rights movement in 1969, at the Stonewall riots in New York, through 1988, when the gay rights movement was eclipsed by the more urgent demands of AIDS activists, this is the remarkable and until now untold story of how a largely invisible population of men and women banded together to create their place in America's culture and government. Told through the voices of gay activists and their opponents, filled with dozens of colorful characters, Out for Good traces the emergence of gay rights movements in cities across the country and their transformation into a national force that changed the face of America forever.

Out for Good is the unforgettable chronicle of an important — and nearly lost — chapter in American history.

Shane HarrisonThe Atlanta Journal-ConstitutionWhat Clendinen and Nagourney have created is an invaluable document, impressively researched, remarkably well written, and groundbreaking in scope.

Doris Kearns GoodwinOut for Good is the monumental story, told with exquisite writing, vivid detail, and a grand narrative sweep, of one of the most important movements of the twentieth century.

Jonathan RauchLos Angeles Times Book ReviewThe story...is told with political acumen, reportorial vividness, and narrative flair. [Out for Good] is a remarkable accomplishment.

From the birth of the modern gay rights movement at the 1969 Stonewall riots in New York to the impact of the AIDS crisis on gay and lesbian activism, this riveting book traces the story of men and women who banded together to establish their place in American culture, politics, and society. Drawing on hundreds of interviews, archival research, and reports from key cities, Clendinen and Nagourney reveal the political tensions and emotional conflicts that marked a landmark campaign — and celebrate those who fought to achieve civil rights for millions of gays and lesbians.

Dudley Clendinen has been a national correspondent and editorial writer for The New York Times. He is the editor of a book of essays, The Prevailing South, and the author of the text of a book of photographs, Homeless in America. He lives in Baltimore, Maryland.

Contents

Introduction: An Invisible People

Part One: Awakening

1. A Fight at a Bar
2. Los Angeles
3. New York
4. Climbing the System
5. First Stirrings
6. Sisters and Brothers

Part Two: A Place at the Table

7. Kameny for Congress
8. A Voice in the Statehouse
9. The Fifth Column
10. San Francisco: Coming to Power
11. In Our Mothers' Names
12. New Orleans: Fire UpStairs
13. Ordinary People
14. A Question of Sanity
15. Elaine
16. Minneapolis: The Coat Check
17. Ordinary Things
18. Citizen Goodstein
19. Brothers and Sisters

Part Three: The Backlash

20. The Governor of Georgia
21. A Voice in the White House
22. Miami: The Fundamentalists Awake
23. A Very Bad Year
24. An Uneasy Victory in San Francisco
25. Money in the Hills of Bel Air
26. A Black-Tie Affair
27. California: The Main Event
28. A Friend in City Hall
29. Colliding Forces
30. The Pink Invitation
31. Until the Party Ended

Part Four: Out of Anger

32. After Disco
33. Swept Away
34. Little to Celebrate
35. For the Public Good
36. Cop at the Door
37. Requiem
Epilogue

Cast of Characters and Interviewees
Notes
Bibliography
Acknowledgments
Index