Tracy Baim

Barbara Gittings: Gay Pioneer is the first full-length biography of the woman who has been called the mother of the gay-rights movement, Barbara Gittings. Her work in the LGBT movement spanned from the late 1950s until her death in 2007. Her partner in life, Kay Lahusen, photographed many of the movement's biggest actions during the 1960s, and more than 270 photos accompany this biography.This book is available in both color and B&W editions, and in color on Kindle by July 2015.Gittings was active in a wide range of pre- and post-Stonewall groups, including the Daughters of Bilitis. She served as editor of DOB's newsletter, The Ladder. She worked with Frank Kameny on many protests and legal cases fighting government discrimination. She also was among the leaders of the push to change the American Psychiatric Association diagnosis of homosexuality as an illness, and among those pushing the American Library Association to be more inclusive of gays.The book is available in both B&W and color editions on Amazon, and also in color on Kindle."Baim's book, the first full-length biography of Barbara Gittings, demonstrates why Frank Kameny, who earned the right to be considered a father of the gay civil-rights movement, so aptly deemed Gittings its mother. As Baim shows, more than any lesbian leader of the 20th century, Gittings kept her eyes sharply focused on the prize of civil rights for gay people." - From the Foreword by Lillian Faderman "This first and deeply moving biography of Barbara Gittings, pioneer of lesbian political activism, dramatically evokes a past of open, outrageous anti-homosexual discrimination. Today's radically different world was first imagined and then begun to be built by daring activists like Gittings." - Jonathan Ned Katz, Co-Director, OutHistory.org "Tracy Baim brings Gittings to life in this captivating and inspiring biography. Skillfully combining Gittings' own words with accounts of her activist campaigns, this biography makes clear how much Gittings accomplished. A committed activist for five decades, Barbara Gittings truly changed the world. " - Author and Historian John D'Emilio (In a New Century: Essays on Queer History, Politics, and Community Life) "Barbara Gittings just about leaps from the pages of Tracy Baim's celebratory biography of the gay rights movement's happiest warrior. Determined, persistent, persuasive, and wicked-smart, Barbara wielded her smile like a machete, demolishing all demagogues and fools who got in the way of what she knew to be true about herself and the rest of us. How lucky were we that she was born at a time when we so desperately needed her to help blaze our path to freedom." - Eric Marcus, author of Making Gay History "Tracy Baim has captured the life and legacy of the mother of gay liberation in America with this book. Barbara Gittings would have loved it. Another incredible book on our history!" - Reverend Troy Perry "Gittings understood early on the critical role America's libraries would play in changing hearts and minds about gay issues. In an age before the Internet, she dedicated her life to making good information available to all through her leadership in the Gay Task Force of the American Library Association. This powerful biography tells a story that libraries across the nation can celebrate." - John Cunningham, Retired Chief of Branch and Regional Libraries, The Free Library of Philadelphia

Gay Pioneer

Barbara Gittings

Owen Keehnen

Biography of a prominent Chicago gay activist and entrepreneur who has owned bars, discos, photo studios, health clubs, bathhouses, gay magazines and newspapers, hotels, restaurants, and bookstores. Throughout it all he dealt with Mafia and police payoffs, anti-gay political policies, harassment from censors, and even controversy within the gay community. The book contains more than 300 images, including murals and drawings by Dom ?Etienne? Orejudos, posters for International Mr. Leather (IML), and photos from the Gold Coast, Pride Parades, IML contests, physique magazines and more.

The Legend of Chuck Renslow

Leatherman

Chuck Colbert

Yasmin Nair

Lou Chibbaro, Jr.

This book provides an overview of the history of LGBT community newspapers and magazines in America. It provides a specific focus on weekly and biweekly newspapers, but also assesses the LGBT state of print media overall. The book starts with an in-depth look into the reasons a gay press started in the 1900s--as a response to either absent or anti-gay coverage by the mainstream media. It then explores the early gay media and journalists working in the gay press from the 1950s to the 1980s. The book includes chapters on some of the longer-lasting LGBT newspapers, such as the Washington Blade, Bay Area Reporter and Philadelphia Gay News. There is also an in-depth exploration of advertising and marketing in LGBT media, and a look at the future of queer media in America. Quotes about Gay Press, Press Power: "Tracy Baim's Gay Press, Gay Power: The Growth of LGBT Newspapers in America is a complete treasure for anyone interested in queer history, the intricacies of social movements, or media in the United States. Comprehensive, well written, and well researched, this media journey from homosexual to gay to queer is eye-opening and inspiring. If you thought you knew about this aspect of the gay movement -guess again: You will be endlessly surprised. The bravery of individuals, groups, collectives, and organizations here is breathtaking and vital. You can't understand queer life today without understanding the history of the LGBT media. This book is endlessly entertaining and extremely important." - Michael Bronski, author of A Queer History of the United States, Professor of the Practice in Activism and Media, Harvard University. "Gay Press, Gay Power is a meticulous and prodigious work, long overdue. It will be a reference source-but, more importantly, a source of inspiration." - Barbara Ettorre, former reporter for The New York Times, New York Daily News and Chicago Today. Founder and editor, LetterBalm.com. "This meticulously researched book captures the flavor and nuance of a myriad of specific events and times, such as the coverage of LGBT issues in Chicago in the 1980s and 1990s, through compelling interviews with the people involved, gay and straight, backed up with insightful analysis. Hundreds of images of magazine covers, news clips, photos and ads from the 1800s to today present a comprehensive, stunning visual history of the evolving relationship between the media and the LGBT community. Belongs on everyone's bookshelf." - Jean Latz Griffin, former Chicago Tribune reporter, author of In the Same Breath and One Spirit: A Creation Story for the 21st Century. "For the past two hundred years no oppositional movement has succeeded without the involvement of an engaged community press. The political successes of the gay liberation movement, and the defeats, were reported in the pages of the lesbian and gay press while the mainstream press ignored or denigrated our efforts. Today, in the age of presidential evolution towards recognition of our humanity, and in the era of the Internet, Facebook and Twitter, it is possible to presume that the need for an independent GLBT press is past. But this would be a mistake. As we learned during the AIDS epidemic, when push comes to shove - as it reliably does - there is no substitute for a focused, relentless and smart GLBT press. Tracy Baim has long represented the best of the GLBT press, and this book will be a valuable resource in the struggle not to forget our history as we continue to fight for our future." -- Larry Gross, USC Annenberg School for Communication & Journalism, Author, Up From Invisibility: Lesbians, Gay Men and the Media in America. "Gay Press, Gay Power tells the story of the women and men who focused a revolutionary lens on our activism and still grind it every day, brightening the light on the paths of the LGBT generations that succeed us." - John Teets, former editor for the Chicago Sun-Times and Chicago Tribune.

The Growth of Lgbt Community Newspapers in America, Color

Gay Press, Gay Power

An illustrated history of the Windy City's vibrant gay culture draws on a wealth of scholarly, historical, and journalistic sources to cover a range of periods from the nineteenth century and World War II to the civil rights era and the early AIDS years.

An Overview of the City's Gay Community

Out and Proud in Chicago

"Presents a clear, lively, in-depth review of Barack Obama's policies on gay issues, from the early days of his political career through his meteoric rise to prominence-- all in the context of the political landscape of the times"--P. [4] of cover.

A Political Marriage

Obama and the Gays

In the early 1990s, prior to Don't Ask, Don't Tell, the U.S. military discharged gay and lesbian servicemembers under a longstanding ban. During the first Gulf War, many of those soldiers were kept in under a "stop loss" order, only to be discharged upon their return home. Now that DADT has been struck down, this novel is perfectly timed to give a closer look at the lives of people impacted by any policies or laws that ask them to compromise who they are. In The Half Life of Sgt. Jen Hunter, long-time lesbian journalist Tracy Baim takes a fictional look at this era in our nation's history, when gays and lesbians served proudly, but quietly, risking their lives for a country that disrespected and attacked who they were. What would happen if an out lesbian journalist met a closeted military spokeswoman? Would sparks fly? Would the sergeant risk her career for love? Would the journalist compromise her ideals for a chance at happiness? What about the servicemembers on the ground in Iraq? They faced bullets and dangerous chemicals, and some came back wounded and faced the loss of their career. See what happens in this fast-paced tale of war, pride, sacrifice, and love. This story was adapted for the Chicago stage as Half Life, in 2004.

Tracy Baim

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