Creating a Place For Ourselves

<p><em>Creating a Place For Ourselves</em> is a groundbreaking collection of essays that examines gay life in the United States before Stonewall and the gay liberation movement. Along with examining areas with large gay communities such as New York, San Francisco and Fire Island, the contributors also consider the thriving gay populations in cities like Detroit, Buffalo, Washington, D.C., Birmingham and Flint, demonstrating that gay communities are truly everywhere.<br><br> Contributors: Brett Beemyn, Nan Alamilla Boyd, George Chauncey, Madeline Davis, Allen Drexel, John Howard, David Johnson, Liz Kennedy, Joan Nestle, Esther Newton, Tim Retzloff, Marc Stein, Roey Thorpe.</p> Introduction, Brett Beemyn; Chapter 1 1. The Policed, George Chauncey; Chapter 2 “I Could Hardly Wait to Get Back to that Bar”, Elizabeth Lapovsky Kennedy, Madeline D. Davis; Chapter 3 “Homos Invade S.F.!”, Nan Alamilla Boyd; Chapter 4 The Kids of Fairytown, David K. Johnson; Chapter 5 Before Paris Burned, Allen Drexel; Chapter 6 The “Fun Gay Ladies”, Esther Newton; Chapter 7 The Changing Face of Lesbian Bars in Detroit 1938–1965, Roey Thorpe; Chapter 8 A Queer Capital, Brett Beemyn; Chapter 9 Place and Movement in Gay American History, John Howard; Chapter 10 Cars and Bars, Tim Retzloff; Chapter 11 “Birthplace of the Nation”, Marc Stein; Chapter 12 Afterword, Joan Nestle; contrib Notes on Contributors; Index;