David M. Halperin and Valerie Traub, editors

Ever since the 1969 Stonewall Riots, “gay pride” has been the rallying-cry of a broad social movement for sexual freedom as well as the political force behind the emergence of the field of lesbian and gay studies. But has something been lost in the scramble to transform homosexuality from a perversion to a proud social identity? Have the political requirements of gay pride blocked recognition of the more uncomfortable or undignified aspects of homosexuality?  Gay Shame seeks to lift this unofficial ban on everything gay pride is not proud of, presenting a range of reflections from some of the most lively practitioners of queer studies today.

David M. Halperin is W. H. Auden Collegiate Professor of the History and Theory of Sexuality, Professor of English, Women's Studies, Comparative Literature and Classical Studies. Valerie Traub is Professor of English and Women's Studies.

Gay Shame is published by the University of Chicago Press.