All the Rage: The Story of Gay Visibility in America

Anyone watching the prime-time sitcom Will & Grace may feel that the first and most essential steps toward gay civil rights in America--visibility and acceptance--have been achieved. Not so fast, says Georgetown University professor Suzanna Danuta Walters, whose readable, witty study tracks the murky relationship between visibility and political progress. In her search for examples, Walters casts a wide net that brings up everything from the hatemongering of Dr. Laura, to gay marriage initiatives, to gay-targeted Budweiser and IKEA ads. She focuses in particular on two pivotal events of the 1990s: the coming out of Ellen DeGeneres and the murder of Matthew Shepard, arguing that "these two events illustrate the confusing and often incomprehensible tenor of the times. We rejoice at breaking down one barrier only to be faced, again, with the ugliness and brutality of another." You win some, you lose some, in other words. While Walters's even-handedness means that her thesis doesn't exactly sizzle, readers will appreciate her thoughtful optimism and the ways in which she brings her own life, and her experiences as a lesbian mom, into her larger argument. --Regina Marler