A middle-grade history that looks at Stonewall in the context of the broader movement for LGBTQ equality.
The narrative begins in June 2015, as people came to the Stonewall Inn to celebrate the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to allow same-sex couples to marry nationwide. It then goes back to look at gay and queer life in New York City’s Greenwich Village in the 19th and early 20th centuries, before moving forward to the fateful night of the Stonewall Riots. Final chapters look at the implications of the movement that Stonewall catalyzed and the ongoing struggle for LGBTQ equality up through 2016. Backmatter includes a timeline, bibliography, and resources.
While this is meant as an introductory overview, it does jump around a lot, touching on things as disparate as the AIDS crisis, Matthew Shepard’s murder, Ellen DeGeneres’ coming out, and conversion therapy. It also uses the term “gay” a bit too often when it should be using more inclusive terms for the LGBTQ community, and only includes Stonewall icon and trans woman Marsha P. Johnson in a sidebar (and on the cover). It is a well-intended and positive treatment of LGBTQ history overall, however, and part of a popular middle-grade series of history books.
