The
Global Emergence of Gay and Lesbian Politics : National Imprints
of a Worldwide Movement by Jan Willem Duyvendak
(Editor), Andre Krouwel (Editor), Barry D. Adam (Editor)
Some say that we who live in the United States
are much too self-absorbed and pay little attention to people and
events outside our boarders. After reading "The Global
Emergence of Gay and Lesbian Politics," edited by Barry D.
Adam, Jan Willem Duyvendak, and André Krouwel, I believe that
such criticism may well be warranted. For both serious and
arm-chair students of politics, ethics, culture, anthropology,
religion, sociology, or modern history (as well as for garden
variety social activists, particularly of pink & lavender
stripes), this book is an excellent introduction to the worldwide
gay and lesbian equal rights movement. These three editors
(themselves writing from both Canada and Holland) have fashioned
for us a very informative book from thirteen international
contributors. This work seeks to not only give us historical
background on national gay movements in selected countries, but
also, in very scholarly fashion, applies current social theory to
these various movements hoping to: (1) see if any generalizations
can be made about how gay movements can or cannot develop in a
given place, and (2) appraise the accuracy of the theories
themselves (i.e. do these academic theories accurately reflect
political, "real-world" reality).
Adam et al. pieced together contributors'
reports from Canada, the United States, Brazil, Argentina,
Britain, Holland, France, Spain, Romania, Hungary, the Czech
Republic, South Africa (including brief, troubling dispatches
regarding anti-gay elements in Zimbabwe and Namibia), Japan, and
Australia. In some of these countries, national movements have met
with incredible success to the point that gay and lesbian people
are practically main-streamed into their dominant cultures. In
others, however, it is quite a different story. Some fledgling
movements are just now struggling to find their gay political and
cultural identity. If this were not enough of a problem, it is
compounded by what for them is the new problem of capitalist
economics versus the need for gay and lesbian Community building.
In yet other parts of the world, due to ancient cultural customs
regarding public discourse, the entire notion of individual
"gay identity" as being separate and apart from
heterosexual identity is in question (much less any kind of
collective gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgender political
aggressiveness).
Clearly linked to the development (or arrest) of
all national movements is the connection with national/global
economics. For a movement to be successful in gaining legal
equality (always the first order of battle), it appears that a
gay-friendly space or Community must also be built. It is a
two-fold task and some places have, for a variety of reasons,
enjoyed greater success than others. "Global Gay and Lesbian
Politics" is a window into specifically what those
"variety of reasons" are. This book is well worth the
read.
The few criticisms that it must sustain however,
are that at several points (particularly in the Introduction) it
needlessly encumbers itself with thick academic rhetoric instead
of just making its point. Further, if greater international
communication is a valued movement goal, the book limits its
usefulness by not including any kind of contact information for
various groups in these countries (with the most glaring omission
being that of the International Lesbian and Gay Alliance in San
Francisco). However, these faults are relatively minor in
comparison with the fact that the editors and most contributors
fail to sufficiently connect the global reach of anti-gay,
American-based Christian evangelical/ fundamentalism.
Specifically, I refer to televangelists and fundamentalist
missionaries with their influence in and upon foreign, right-wing
regimes. (Being written from a socio-political viewpoint, such
errors are common when analysts fail to make use of available
inter-disciplinary research.)
And finally, the scope of the study omits any
analysis (or substantive mention) of conditions in Russia, China,
India, or any Islamic nations. Granted, there may well be no
"movements" as yet organized in these countries;
however, it would have been satisfying to have at least a general
chapter on what is going on in the rest of the world besides the
nations studied. But perhaps the editors will include such a
chapter in a much needed and hopefully forthcoming second volume.
The Community owes this book's editors, contributors and
publisher, Temple University Press, a debt of thanks. As for
potential readers, particularly myopic, self-absorbed, concerned,
courage-filled, caring, committed American gay, lesbian, bisexual,
and transgender people, this book is a "must read." --
Michael Arnold
