This accessible and authoritative book looks at the key debates in gay and lesbian studies and provides an introductory overview and critical reflection of each field.

Alternative lifestyles are anathema to the inhabitants of rural areas of the Bible Belt. Even gays and lesbians themselves resist the notions of community and self-identification espoused by city queers. As Wilson demonstrates, it is the combination of internalized self-hatred, the influence of the right-wing Republicans and religious fervor, together with the hatred, fear, and suspicion aroused by the intervention of gay and lesbian activists from urban areas, that determine the tenor of gay life in the American rural South. A series of shocking interviews with local religious leaders and...