Sheri R. Notaro - Marginality and Global LGBT Communities: Conflicts, Civil Rights and Controversy

This series examines the ecology of neighborhoods and communities in not only twenty-first century America, but across the globe. By taking an ecological approach, the study of neighborhoods takes into account not just structures, buildings and geographical boundaries, but also the relationship and adjustment of humans to highly dense urban environments in a particular area or vicinity. As the violent events of the past year in marginalized urban neighborhoods and communities across the country have demonstrated, place matters. The series contain original research about the power of place, that is, the importance of where one lives, how public policies have transformed the shape and geography of inequality and disparity in our metropolitan areas, and, the ways in which residents impacted by perceived inequality are trying to confront the problem.

More information about this series at http://www.palgrave.com/gp/series/15097

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This year marks a propitious time in our nations history as we celebrate, in June 1969, the violent confrontations at the Stonewall Inn in Greenwich Village, in Manhattan, in New York City. Little did we know that the Stonewall riots, from fifty years ago, would become the signal event of the modern LGBT rights movement, a previously marginalized group on the periphery of social, political and economic life in America. Once ostracized and hidden from public view, we now see symbols of LGBT pride in both public and private venues. Notaros timely volume, Marginality and Global LGBT CommunitiesConflict, Civil Rights and Controversy , examines just how far the LGBT movement has come and how much more remains to be accomplished in their quest for equal justice under the law. Nowhere is LGBT pride more evident than on college campuses, where lavender graduations have now become commonplace, as an end of the year ceremony which celebrates the achievements of graduating LGBT college students, who, at times, faced challenges and discrimination during their college years. According to the Human Rights Campaign, the color lavender is important to the LGBT community for several reasons. First, lavender represents the pink triangle that gay men were forced to wear in concentration camps. Second, the black triangle designates lesbians who were political prisoners in Nazi Germany. The LGBT rights movement combined them to make symbols and vivid colors to denote pride and a sense of community. Notaros book cover is endemic of this sense of pride, and of community. Where appropriate, Marginality and Global LGBT CommunitiesConflict, Civil Rights and Controversy , provides a lens by which to view LGBT issues not just in the United States, but in differing nation states as well.

As co-editors of the series, Neighborhoods, Communities and Urban Marginality , we welcome this volume as we now see the globalization of the LGBT community and their fight for just and legal recognition and accommodation. The extent to which any community of persons is marginalized and not afforded basic human rights is the extent to which the rights of us all are denied.

This book is a product of family, friends, and colleagues and their unwavering confidence in me.

My mother, Joyce Gail Marshall Wynn, always put my needs before her own, never letting me know of the sacrifices she made for me on a daily basis. To see and remember her joy in my accomplishments inspired me to always reach higher. When I lost her, my second mother took on the role of loving me unconditionally. Thank you Aunt Tine.

My husband, Paul C. Notaro, has shared his life with me as a loving and dedicated partner who can always make me laugh. He stands beside me in all things, reviewing copious drafts, boosting my confidence, and cooking the best meals Ive ever tasted. His devotion to our son, Paul M. Notaro, knows no bounds.

My dear friend, Carol Camp Yeakey, saw something special in me so many years ago. Because of her faith in me, I have learned to recognize my potential and to strive for excellence in all things.

I also want to thank Rachel Daniel, Madison Allums, and the entire Palgrave Macmillan staff for supporting this book from inception to publication.