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| Linda Hirshman (Credit: Nina Subin) |
I've known Linda for a few years now. She's rather fascinating. I've not known many people who truly understand the way gay (or any other) politics is, and has been, done in (and outside of) Washington over the years. Linda is one of the select few who does.
Among other things, she right away recognized the importance of the gay Netroots, of the gay blogs and our readers, in the making of gay civil rights policy in Washington. It's something that even gay and lesbian observers don't always fully recognize or understand. Linda, a straight woman in fact, immediately did.
Here's a quick description of the book from the publisher, Harper Collins:
More than just a history, VICTORY is the enthralling and groundbreaking story of how a dedicated and resourceful minority transformed the notion of American equality and forged a classic campaign for cultural change that will serve as a model for all future political movements.
Hirshman acknowledges that there is a lot of work left to be done. But VICTORY is nevertheless the amazing story of how a band of extraordinary individuals brought on a revolution that, in forty years, has transformed American life and our notions of human identity. As she writes in the epilogue, “No matter how the saying goes, the arc of history more wiggles than bends toward justice. The Victory was not only the funding of AIDS research or the legalization of same-sex marriage in California or the Will and Grace television show or the Supreme Court ruling that sodomy laws were unconstitutional. But all these events together, plus many more, have served to slowly bend the arc of history toward justice.”Linda's book is coming out this week on Tuesday, and I asked her if she could provide an exclusive excerpt for you guys. She thought the portino of her book dealing with the gay Netroots would be the most interesting.
You can buy Linda's book on Amazon either in hardcover (for $18.47) or for Kindle ($14.99).
Here's the extended excerpt with Linda's notes added in:
Excerpts From "Victory: The Triumphant gay Revolution"
