Deborah T. Meem - Finding Out: An Introduction to LGBTQ Studies

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The first edition of this book appeared in January 2009. In that same month, Barack Obama was inaugurated president of the United States. Obama brought with him a Democratic Congress (for the first two years of his presidency) and a firm commitment to progressive politics. In the years since then, much has occurred that impacts LGBTQ lives, both at home and worldwide. Some of these events have been positive, sometimes amazingly so. Consider, for instance, the election of a gay prime minister in Luxembourg and a lesbian opposition leader in Scotland, the election of a gay mayor in Paris, and the recredentialing of the International Lesbian and Gay Association (ILGA) as part of the United Nations Economic and Social Council. Add to these the overturning of Dont Ask, Dont Tell and the Defense of Marriage Act, plus the Supreme Courts endorsement of workplace equality, in the United States. But other events have been stunningly negative. Here we think of de-homosexualization centers in Ecuador, or the evangelically inspired Anti-Homosexuality Bill in Uganda, or the refusal of Republican U.S. senators to support the Violence Against Women Act if it acknowledges LGBTQ victimization. Consider too the homophobically inspired mass murder of mostly Latino gay men at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Florida, or the anti-trans bathroom bills proliferating in Congress and in Republican-controlled state legislatures nationwide. Finally, the shocking 2016 Brexit vote; the rise of right-wing, anti-immigration parties in Europe; and Donald Trumps upset victory in the November 2016 U.S. presidential election revealed veins of racism, classism, and homophobia that have been lurking beneath the surface of Western democracies. All these events have taken place since the first edition, and the rapid pace of global change (compounded by the vast and instantaneous sharing of electronic information) necessitates continual reconsideration of the cultural, political, and personal experiences of LGBTQ people. So we offer you this fourth edition, updated but also reorganized and theoretically deepened, in an attempt to fill gaps created by dizzying change.

While history continues to unfold around us, we remain committed to the pedagogical approach with which we began writing this book. The impulse to author Finding Out originated in our own classroom experiences. In teaching Introduction to LGBTQ Studies, we found that students ranged in background from advanced undergraduate Womens Studies majors well versed in the rudiments of queer history and basic interdisciplinary methodology to first-year students who enrolled in the course after having met the first person they knew to be gay, lesbian, bisexual, or trans. Before writing