Jim Van BuskirkCritiques

From Amazon: this study of gay and lesbian history culture in San Francisco begins with the cross-dressing practices of 18th-century Native Americans and continues through to the signing of municipal transgender laws in 1995 in the 'Gay Capital of the World.' Some 300 well-chosen black-and- white
From the Author
originally conceived the book as an exhibit.
As I was working toward the opening of the James C. Hormel Gay & Lesbian Center at the San Francisco Public Library, my colleague Susan Stryker, representing the Gay & Lesbian Historical Society of Northern California, asked what kind of inaugural exhibit was being planned. A historian, she was anticipating something along the lines of the far-reaching 'Becoming Visible' at the New York Public Library (now, finally, a book). During our early brainstorming sessions, I insisted that there be a catalog to preserve the research we were doing. When we realized, to our suprise, that there was no single history documenting the importance of San Francisco's role in the struggle for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights, we decided that we would create that book. The end result, with its many images, extensive captions, and pull quotes, in addition to a very readable text, reflects its original conception as an exhibit. I don't know if it is true that authors write the book they want to read, but it was certainly true for us.