Stonewall Strong: Gay Men’s Heroic Fight for Resilience, Good Health, and a Strong Community

327 Pages·2017·2.7 MB·English

by  John-Manuel Andriote

STONEWALL
STRONG

STONEWALL
STRONG
Gay Men’s Heroic Fight for Resilience,
Good Health, and a Strong Community
John-Manuel Andriote
Rowman & Littlefield
Lanham • Boulder • New York • London
Published by Rowman & Littlefield
A wholly owned subsidiary of The Rowman & Littlefield Publishing Group, Inc.
4501 Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200, Lanham, Maryland 20706
www.rowman.com
Unit A, Whitacre Mews, 26-34 Stannary Street, London SE11 4AB
Copyright © 2017 by John-Manuel Andriote
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any
electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems,
without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote
passages in a review.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Information Available
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Andriote, John-Manuel, author.
Title: Stonewall strong : gay men’s heroic fight for resilience, good health,
and a strong community / John-Manuel Andriote.
Description: Lanham : Rowman & Littlefield, [2017] | Includes bibliographical
references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2017023924 (print) | LCCN 2017037565 (ebook) | ISBN
9781442258242 (electronic) | ISBN 9781442258235 (cloth : alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Gay men—United States. | Gay men—Political activity—United
States—History. | Gay rights—United States—History.
Classification: LCC HQ76.2.U5 (ebook) | LCC HQ76.2.U5 A53 2017 (print) | DDC
306.76/62—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2017023924
™
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of
American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper
for Printed Library Materials, ANSI/NISO Z39.48-1992.
Printed in the United States of America
For Doc
“It was seeing death all the time in this war got me to thinking these
things. Death was so common, it didn’t mean anything. That freed me
to think of life. Queer, isn’t it? Death made me think of life. Before that
life had only made me think of death!”
—Eugene O’Neill, Mourning Becomes Electra (The Homecoming)
Contents
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction 1
PART I Growing Strong in My Broken Places
Overview: Part I 13
Chapter 1 Why Not Me? A Medical Diagnosis Upturns
My Life and Launches a Journey of Self-Discovery 15
Chapter 2 S urvivor: The Roots of My Resilience 21
Chapter 3 N ormal: My Gay Liberation 27
Chapter 4 D estiny Calling: How a Lonely Boy Became a
Professional Outsider 33
Chapter 5 T he End of Innocence: How AIDS Became
My “Beat” 37
Chapter 6 T ribulations: Perpetual Grief Fuels My Budding
Activism (and Self-Defeating Sexual Behavior) 43
Chapter 7 T he Cruelest Month: Watching the Man I
Loved Die 49
vii
viii • Contents
Chapter 8 H ard Ways to the Stars: Romantic and Professional
Rejections to Overcome 55
Chapter 9 S truggling Writer: Trying to Stay Balanced as
Losses Mount and Risks Increase 63
Chapter 10 W ounded Warrior: How AIDS and a Shame-Filled
Man Taught Me to Value Myself 73
PART II T he Heroic Legacy
Overview: Part II 83
Chapter 11 S ubversives: How “Gaydar” Helped Gay Men
Survive in the “Old Days” Before Stonewall 85
Chapter 12 G ay Power! Seizing Control of the Discussion
About Gay Lives 93
Chapter 13 O ut and Proud: A Community and Movement Emerge 101
Chapter 14 L ove in Action: Showing the World What
“Community” Looks Like in the AIDS Epidemic 109
Chapter 15 C laiming Our Power: AIDS Organizing Proved
Our Ability to Create Change That Benefits All 115
Chapter 16 L ove (and America) Won: Our Successful Push for
Marriage Equality Moved America Closer to
Fulfilling Its Promise 125
PART III A Home in the World
Overview: Part III 137
Chapter 17 H ow to Raise a Gay Son: Straight Parents Become
Staunch Allies After Son Comes Out to Them
at Fifteen 139
Chapter 18 H usbands and Dads: Pioneering Massachusetts
Couple Finds Resilience in Marriage and Fatherhood 145
Chapter 19 B ecoming Their Story’s Hero: Helping At-Risk
Gay Youth Find Strength in Their Resilience 151
Contents • ix
Chapter 20 I nvincible City of Friends: From Drag Houses to
Community Centers, LGBT Americans Take Our
Communities Seriously 161
Chapter 21 G od Loves Us, Too: The Inside Truth About
Religion and Homosexuality 171
PART IV At Home in Ourselves
Overview: Part IV 185
Chapter 22 I ntegration: The Power of Authenticity in Our
Work Lives 189
Chapter 23 D oubly Different, Twice as Strong: Gay Men of
Color or Different Ability Show How to Find
Resilience in All Their “Identities” 207
Chapter 24 T o Our Health! Building Upon Our Resilience
Is the Key to Good Health 221
Chapter 25 D efining “Old” for Ourselves: The Open Secret Is
That Most of Us Already Do 241
Chapter 26 S tonewall Strong: Life Is Good When We Are the
Heroes of Our Own Life’s Story, Standing Firmly on
Our Community’s Proud History of Resilience 257
Notes 273
Bibliography 289
Index 299
About the Author 313