Books like The Deviant's War by Eric Cervini


In 1957, Frank Kameny, a rising astronomer working for the U.S. Defense Department in Hawaii, was dismissed after the Pentagon suspected his homosexuality. While many homosexuals faced such discrimination, Kameny championed resistance. Eric Cervini’s *The Deviant's War* chronicles the 1960s through Kameny’s founding of the Mattachine Society of Washington, the first organization to protest the systematic persecution of gay federal employees. Drawing on firsthand accounts, recently declassified FBI records and forty‑thousand personal documents, the book shows how gay rights intertwined with the Black Freedom Movement, the New Left, lesbian activism and trans resistance. It portrays Washington as a cultural and sexual crossroads, with public battles in Congress, FBI informants, murder, betrayal, and ultimately a victory for LGBTQ activists.
First publish date: 2020
Genre: History/Modern History
Authors: Eric Cervini
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The Deviant's War by Eric Cervini

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