“Radical Relations”: A History of Lesbian and Gay Parents

rivers_radical_smThe history of out lesbian and gay parents started decades before the term “gayby boom” was coined in 1990. A new book charts that history—so of course I had to review it.

The book is Radical Relations: Lesbian Mothers, Gay Fathers, and their Children in the United States Since the Second World War, by Daniel Winunwe Rivers. Rivers, an assistant professor of history at Ohio State University, draws on numerous LGBT historical archives and 130 personal interviews, and was clearly motivated by his own childhood in a lesbian feminist community during the 1970s.

My full review is in the May/June issue of the Women’s Review of Books, which for over 30 years “has provided a forum for serious, informed discussion of new writing by and about women.”  I’m grateful to Editor-in-Chief Amy Hoffman for the opportunity to do the review, and flattered that it’s the cover story. Hope you’ll have a read.

wrobcover_05_01_14The image on the cover? That’s lesbian activist and mom Blue Lunden with her daughter Linda, in 1955. Yes, 1955. It’s when Dwight D. Eisenhower was U.S. president, Winston Churchill retired as prime minister of the U.K., Disneyland first opened to the public, and Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on the bus. It’s five years before the first episode of Mad Men is set. We might not have cars like that anymore, but much of what we do have in terms of awareness and equality we owe to those like Blue, who first showed the world that being LGBT and being a parent were not incompatible.

6 thoughts on ““Radical Relations”: A History of Lesbian and Gay Parents”

  1. Thanks for this review! UNC is a great press, and I’m looking forward to this book. I think this book fits in really well with your post the other day about parent plaintiffs. It’s so interesting to think about where parents fit in the back and forth between queer radicalism and a mainline LGBT movement. I would imagine that gay parents historically were engaged in a radical project, and one that may have made the earliest homosexual advocacy groups nervous (please, just leave the children out of it!). Now, it’s the gay families with children that are at the forefront of every pro-gay marriage commercial, while the single gays, with their imagined or real partying and such make the non-gay public nervous. That, sometimes false, divide leaves those of us who are progressive or radical queer parents in the awkward spot of playing up our “family values” for the camera, while our true values are much more inclusive.

    In any case, I’m excited to read this book!

  2. Thanks for the review, I am fascinated by our the hidden history and I have added the book on my to my read list.. Found your link on Facebook from The Handsome Father group. I’m a gay parent, adoptingm one of the “gayby boom”, and it’s easy to think that gay parenting started with us, and miss the ground breakers that went before us.

  3. And the same post, without the spelling and grammar bugs when I hit the submit button too soon.

    Thanks for the review, I am fascinated by our hidden history and I have added the book on my to my read list. Found your link on Facebook from The Handsome Father group. I’m a gay parent, one of the “gayby boom”. It’s easy to think that gay parenting started with us and miss the ground breakers that went before us.

  4. Thanks, Mary! Yes, the change over time that you note is interesting. Rivers covers some of it in his book, but clearly there’s more to be said.

  5. No problem! Yes, this all puts me in mind of the saying that “History is written by the victors.” Looks like we’re finally winning. Having a sense of our own history is important on a personal level, too — makes us feel less like we have to make up everything as we go along (although every parent, LGBTQ and not, does some of that, I think).

  6. Great observations, Mary. Clearly, there’s a lot more to explore in terms of our history — and a lot to be conscious of as a community as we move into the future.

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