Marcus' Making Gay History:

Eric Marcus. Making Gay History: The Half-Century Fight for Lesbian and Gay Equal Rights. HarperPerrenial, 2002.
ISBN: 978-0060933913.

The Half-Century Fight for Lesbian and Gay Equal Rights really is a collection of interviews, beginning with the formation of the Mattachine Society and The Daughter's of Bilitis, right through the era of Mcarthyism (when it was worse to be queer than communist), the sixties and Stonewall, the seventies and marches, with the people who were the principles in these historic events. Marcus conducted in depth interviews, then organized hundreds of inter

views to create a chronological history. The interviews are framed by editorial commentary to place the interviews in context, right up to the creation of DOMA. Interviews include people like Randy Shilts, Elizabeth Birch, Bill Clinton, Al Gore, and Ellen DeGenere, and many others who were movers and shakers in terms of gay civil rights.

The best part of this book—which is not a light offering—is that because it's based on interviews, it's a collection of primary sources by real people using their own words. It's confusing at times to identify the various people, but Marcus' editorial notes help. It's particularly fascinating to read the words of people who have been involved in gay rights for fifty or more years in terms of how things have changed, and how they've remained the same. It's an interesting collection, covering events that many people may not even know about, but should.

Marcus has a Master's degree from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, and is the author of Breaking the Surface, New York Times best-selling autobiography of Olympic diving champion Greg Louganis, and Is It a Choice? Answers to 300 of the Most Frequently Asked Questions About Gay & Lesbian People.