Synopses & Reviews
The exhortation to "Go West!" has always had a strong hold on the American imagination. But for the gays, lesbians, and transgendered people who have moved to L.A. over the past two centuries, the City of Angels has offered a special home which, in turn, gave rise to one of the most influential gay cultures in the world.
Drawing upon untouched archives of documents and photographs and over 200 new interviews, Lillian Faderman and Stuart Timmons chart L.A.'s unique gay history, from the first missionary encounters with Native American cross-gendered "two spirits" to cross-dressing frontier women in search of their fortunes; from the bohemian freedom of early Hollywood to the explosion of gay life during World War II to the underground radicalism sparked by the 1950s blacklist; from the 1960s gay liberation movement to the creation of gay marketing in the 1990s. Faderman and Timmons show how geography, economic opportunity, and a constant influx of new people created a city that was more compatible to gay life than any other in America.
Combining broad historical scope with deftly wrought stories of real people, from the Hollywood sound stage to the barrio, Gay L.A. is American social history at its best.
Review
"Full of fascinating anecdotes (including much on Hollywood), wise and fair analysis, and significant and inspiring examples of courageous resistance recaptured from the unwritten histories of the past." Library Journal
Review
"Vital intellectual fare brimming with fascinating history." Kirkus Reviews
Review
"Faderman and Timmons deliver a meticulously researched history of the city to support their claim that Los Angeles is the city with the most influence on the gay movement over the last 200 years." Los Angeles Times
Review
"Compelling....Poignant and moving, full of facts and wonderful details that readers may not have encountered, things that are a pleasure to learn and seem important to know." Francine Prose
Synopsis
Award-winning historian Lillian Faderman teams with journalist Stuart Timmons to write the first history of gay life in America's ultimate frontier town: Los Angeles
About the Author
Lillian Faderman is a professor of English at California State University, Fresno.
Stuart Timmons is a journalist who has written about Christopher Isherwood, Rudi Gernreich, and Elsa Lanchester as well as Harry Hay, the founder of the modern gay movement. He has published in LA Weekly, The Advocate, Frontiers, Vibe, Spin, and other publications. He lives in Los Angeles.