Growing Up Gay/Growing Up Lesbian

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Overview

The first literary anthology geared specifically to lesbian and gay youth, Growing Up Gay is a much-needed resource for young people who are often isolated, shunned by their peers, and treated by schools and the media as though they do not exist. This ambitious collection of more than fifty coming of age stories pairs selections by teenagers with older writers' reflections on growing up gay or lesbian. Fiction by James Baldwin, Rita Mae Brown, and Jeanette Winterson counterpoints autobiographical pieces by Quentin Crisp, Audre Lorde, and Paul Monette; diary accounts of growing up gay in the 1980s and 1990s complement poems, stories, and oral histories that tell what it was like to come of age as a gay man or lesbian in the 1940s and 1950s, when the notion of gay liberation was a distant prospect indeed. Topics include discovering one's sexual identity, entering into friendships and relationships, and finding a place within the sometimes hostile, sometimes welcoming worlds of school, family, work, faith, and community. Central to the book are the voices of young people struggling with how it feels to be part of a largely invisible and often misunderstood minority. The anthology also contains a comprehensive resource guide, with suggestions for further reading, listings of gay and lesbian youth organizations, and phone numbers for national and local hot lines.

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

Diversity is the central theme of this eclectic anthology, which takes a giant step forward in addressing lesbian and gay teens, a group often overlooked in YA literature. Presented in sections on self-discovery, friends, family and ``facing the world,'' this empowering collection of stories, poems, interviews, essays and excerpts from novels takes a healthy overview of gay writing. Equally balanced between male and female voices, its 56 entries represent a well-rounded and refreshing mix of viewpoints, ages and races. Coming out is, naturally, a frequent topic, but some of the most affecting pieces are those that recall the pains of adolescence and the struggles to understand a world that offers little affirmation. Not only does this anthology allow teens to see gay people's lives reflected in a rich variety of literature (from the novels of James Baldwin, Rita Mae Brown and Jeanette Winterson, to the resounding voices of poets Essex Hemphill, Dennis Cooper and Pat Parker), but it also reminds readers that the desires, fears and dreams of gay teens are not so different from those of their straight counterparts. A bibliography and an extensive resource directory are appended. Ages 13-up. (Nov.)

Library Journal

This excellent anthology includes over 50 essays, poems, and coming-of-age stories by teenagers and established writersfrom James Baldwin to Rita Mae Brown some excerpted from classic full-length works. (LJ 11/15/93)

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781565841031
Publisher: New Press, The
Publication date: 6/28/1994
Edition description: Reprint
Pages: 317
Sales rank: 584,656
Product dimensions: 5.46 (w) x 8.17 (h) x 1.00 (d)

	Preface
	Foreword
	Acknowledgments
	American Dreams	2
	It Happened on Main Street	8
	My Image of Myself	15
	from Johnnieruth	18
	from Martina	23
	from The David Kopay Story	26
	The Answers I Needed	30
	from The Well of Loneliness	34
	from The Naked Civil Servant	36
	from Zami	40
	A Diet of Green Salads	44
	Blueberry Man	50
	A World of Possibilities	52
	The World Outside	54
	Different Is Not Bad	60
	from Annie on My Mind	64
	We Two Boys Together Clinging	69
	My Archenemy	70
	from The Best Little Boy in the World	73
	My Best Friend Is Gay?!	78
	It's Too Hot	80
	from Giovanni's Room	85
	Life Line	90
	from Take Off the Masks	93
	My Story	103
	from Raven's Road	105
	from The Lost Language of Cranes	110
	Coming Out to My Mom	118
	My Mother's Worst Fears	126
	Black, Queer, and Out	133
	Cat	138
	from Becoming a Man	145
	What My Father Told Me	148
	from My Brother on the Shoulder of the Road	150
	my brother	156
	Growing Up Gay in Little Havana	161
	from Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit	166
	Dawn	175
	A Chinese Banquet	179
	Commitments	182
	from Gun-Shy	184
	from Night Kites	190
	A Whisper in the Veins	196
	Mother and Child	208
	A Lesbian in Class!	218
	A Letter to Aunt Shelley and Uncle Don	220
	from We All Nourish Truth with Our Tongues	224
	from Honor Bound	226
	Speaking Up	230
	In My Own Space	235
	from Teamwork	240
	Language of Violence	244
	from Abominations	249
	from Rubyfruit Jungle	253
	from Reflections of a Rock Lobster	260
	Does It Matter?	268
	Appendix 1: For Further Exploration	271
	Appendix 2: Resources	280

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Anonymous

Posted February 11, 2003

Relatively Diverse Collection

Late in high school, when I realized I was gay, I wanted to learn more about homosexuality. I wanted to hear other people's stories to see if they correlated with my own. Therefore, I went to Barnes & Noble and walk to the Gay & Lesbian section to explore books in which I could relate. At first, I stood uncomfortably in front of the section as if I was lost. I picked up this book in particular because the editors message which is in the first few pages of the anthology, was grabbing. He talked about how he felt like an outsider during his adolescent stages, he also spoke about the lack of gay/lesbian writings during his time. This book has stories not only about being gay in the general sense, but being African-American, female, Asian, atheletic, etc and being gay. With that, it gives an introduction into a great array of stories and poems in which excerpts have been taken out of in order to construct this anthology. This book not introduced me to other books...it aid me in "coming out" and helped me to become an opened minded individual.
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Growing Up Gay/Growing Up Lesbian

Overview

Customers Who Bought This Also Bought

More About This Book

Overview

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly

Library Journal

Product Details

Table of Contents

Customer Reviews

Rating Distribution

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Relatively Diverse Collection