This book tells the stories of 11 American gay men who tried to make sense of their identities in the years before the modern gay movement began. In their own words, these men recollect fascinating accounts of what it was like negotiate their desires within a social and psychological context in which homosexuality was marginalized. The editors carefully situate the lifestories in US culture before Stonewall and skillfully raises the issues and problems in presenting such stories.

This collection tells the stories of 11 American gay men who tried to understand their indentities in the years before the modern gay liberation movement began. From the 1920s through the 1960s, from a variety of regions and social classes, the men describe their families, early childhood experiences, coming out in settings unlike the gay neighbourhoods and communities of today, and their current romantic and sexual lives. For some men the military presented the opportunity to explore their personal and social identities; for others, a chance encounter in a seminary, an...