Generation Q

Gays, Lesbians, And Bisexuals Born Around 1969's Stonewall Riots Tell Their Stories of Growing Up in the Age of Information

Plot

Generation Q - young gays, lesbians, and bisexuals born around 1969's Stonewall riots - is a culture made up of vibrant, diverse people who live in the fragmented end of the twentieth century, surrounded by a glut of information, instant gratification, and at once terrifying and fantastic possibilities for the future. In the words of one contributor, they have inherited "a virus, wrecked communities, memorials, the NAMES quilt, clinical trials, and the AIDS industry as a viable and 'noble' career choice." Yet these young men and women also possess joy, visibility, power, astonishingly strong support networks, and previously unimaginable freedoms. They exist within contradictions, and this amazing collection of true stories captures their unique experiences.

Prologue: A Birth at Stonewall / Hedda Lettuce
On Raising the Issue / Erika Kleinman
Conversation Piece / M. Paz Galupo
Shiftings / Forrest Tyler Stevens
Tune In, Get Off, Come Out: California Dreamin' and My Age of Aqueerius / Dolissa Medina
Coming Out Under Fire (Thank God They Used Rubber Bullets) / Kelly McQuain
How I Got My Boots / Jim Davis-Rosenthal
Brainy Smurf and the Council Bluffs Pride Parade / Ricco V. Siasoco
The All-American Queer Pakistani Girl / Surina A. Khan
Fitting / Charlotte Cooper
Rocky Horror Schoolgirl / Sarah Pemberton Strong
The Village People, Tiger Beat, and Me / Michael Thomas Ford
My Life in Darkened Movie Theaters / K. Burdette
Evolution Starts with a TV Heroine and a Plaid Dish Towel / Tom Musbach
Problems / A. Rey Pamatmat
A Difficult Floating Garden / Pete McDade
My Life as a Baby Dyke, or, Ode to a Pretty Schoolgirl / Bree Coven
Till Death Do Us Part / Catherine Saalfield
Remembrances of Things Past / Nels P. Highberg
How I Got Over Virus Envy and Learned to Love AIDS Clones / Robbie Scott Phillips
Hear O Israel / Wayne Hoffman
The Scene and the Un-Scene: One Night Inside and Outside the Gay Leather Community / Emily Cotlier
Vanilla Means Having Sex With a White Person / Denise Tuggle
Stone / Nadya Arnaoot
The Creation of the Sluts / Cianna P. Stewart
Waiver / Doug Mattis
The Mattress Papers / Tom Maroney
Ms. Strangelove, or, How I Stopped Worrying and Learned to Love Gay Male Porn / Kris Franklin and Sarah E. Chinn
Alarming Transformations / Eric C. Waldemar
Breaking More Than Silence / Kimberly Scrafano
Life After Howard / Michael Olom Mennonno
More Like Myself / Lacy Silberman
Moral Fabrics / Jennifer DiMarco
Significant Others: A Queer Autobiography / Anna Myers-Parrelli
Me and My Gender(s) / Nadya Arnaoot
With a Chorus of Naked Queers / J. Keiko Lane
Fuck Your Healthy Gay Lifestyle (The FRINGE Manifesto
Freaks, Radicals, and Inverts Nail Gay Elite!) / Christy Calame and Robbie Scott Phillips
Q-Punk Grammar / Justin Chin