Gay Olympian


Book Description

Tom Waddell perhaps did more to flout gay stereotypes than any other American. He was not effeminate; he was a world-class athlete. He was also a pheneomenon--a revelation to mainstream America when he appeared with his lover in People and on ABC's 20/20 when he was dying of AIDS. Now, celebrated sports writer Dick Schaap teams up with Waddell to offer an inspiring biography.




Gay Olympian


Book Description

Tom Waddell perhaps did more to flout gay stereotypes than any other American. He was not effeminate; he was a world-class athlete. He was also a pheneomenon--a revelation to mainstream America when he appeared with his lover in People and on ABC's 20/20 when he was dying of AIDS. Now, celebrated sports writer Dick Schaap teams up with Waddell to offer an inspiring biography.




Beautiful on the Outside


Book Description

Former Olympic figure skater and self-professed America's Sweetheart Adam Rippon shares his underdog journey from beautiful mess to outrageous success in this hilarious, big-hearted memoir. Your mom probably told you it's what on the inside that counts. Well, then she was never a competitive figure skater. Olympic medalist Adam Rippon has been making it pretty for the judges even when, just below the surface, everything was an absolute mess. From traveling to practices on the Greyhound bus next to ex convicts to being so poor he could only afford to eat the free apples at his gym, Rippon got through the toughest times with a smile on his face, a glint in his eye, and quip ready for anyone listening. Beautiful on the Outside looks at his journey from a homeschooled kid in Scranton, Pennsylvania, to a self-professed American sweetheart on the world stage and all the disasters and self-delusions it took to get him there. Yeah, it may be what's on the inside that counts, but life is so much better when it's beautiful on the outside.




Gay Games I: the True Story


Book Description

This is the true story of Gay Games I and Mark Brown's part in its happening—a story that has never been told.




Who'S Who in Contemporary Gay and Lesbian History


Book Description

First published in 2004. With subjects drawm from politics, the arts and popular culture, Who's Who in Contemporray Gay & Lesbian History, includes 500 entries from a large team of expert international contributors. The geographical scope takes in the whole of the Western world. Includes fascinating information about little-known figures as well as cult icons from World War II to the present day.




The Gay Games


Book Description

This book explores the significance of the Gay Games in the context of broader currents of gay and lesbian history, and addresses a wide range of key contemporary themes within sports studies, including the cultural politics of sport, the politics of difference and identity, and the rise of sporting mega-events.




Athletes Breaking Bad


Book Description

At their basic level, sporting events are about numbers: wins and losses, percentages and points, shots and saves, clocks and countdowns. However, sports narratives quickly leave the realm of statistics. The stories we tell and retell, sometimes for decades, make sports dramatic and compelling. Just like any great drama, sports imply conflict, not just battles on the field of play, but clashes of personalities, goals, and strategies. In telling these stories, we create heroes, but we also create villains. This book is about the latter, those players who transgress norms and expectations and who we label the "bad boys" of sports. Using a variety of approaches, these 13 new essays examine the cultural, social, and rhetorical implications of sports villainy. Each chapter focuses on a different athlete and sport, questioning issues such as how notorious sports figures are defined to be "bad" within particular sports and within the larger culture, the role media play in creating antiheroes, fan reactions when players cross boundaries, and how those boundaries shift depending on the athlete's gender, sexuality, and race.




The Arena of Masculinity


Book Description

Sports are perhaps the most visible expression of the ideals of masculinity in our society, and figure as a training ground on which young boys are taught what it means to be a man. Given the involvement of sports with masculinity, the homosexual athlete becomes a paradox, and the recent explosive growth of gay sporting leagues, a puzzle. Pronger explores the paradoxical position of the gay athlete in a straight sporting world, examines the homoerotic undercurrent subliminally present in the masculine struggle of sports, and explicates the growth of gay sports in the framework of the developing gay culture.




Reader's Guide to Lesbian and Gay Studies


Book Description

The Reader's Guide to Lesbian and Gay Studies surveys the field in some 470 entries on individuals (Adrienne Rich); arts and cultural studies (Dance); ethics, religion, and philosophical issues (Monastic Traditions); historical figures, periods, and ideas (Germany between the World Wars); language, literature, and communication (British Drama); law and politics (Child Custody); medicine and biological sciences (Health and Illness); and psychology, social sciences, and education (Kinsey Report).




Speak Now


Book Description

A renowned legal scholar tells the definitive story of Hollingsworth v. Perry, the trial that stands as the most potent argument for marriage equality Speak Now tells the story of a watershed trial that unfolded over twelve tense days in California in 2010. A trial that legalized same-sex marriage in our most populous state. A trial that interrogated the nature of marriage, the political status of gays and lesbians, the ideal circumstances for raising children, and the ability of direct democracy to protect fundamental rights. A trial that stands as the most potent argument for marriage equality this nation has ever seen. In telling the story of Hollingsworth v. Perry, the groundbreaking federal lawsuit against Proposition 8, Kenji Yoshino has also written a paean to the vanishing civil trial--an oasis of rationality in what is often a decidedly uncivil debate. Above all, this book is a work of deep humanity, in which Yoshino brings abstract legal arguments to life by sharing his own story of finding love, marrying, and having children as a gay man. Intellectually rigorous and profoundly compassionate, Speak Now is the definitive account of a landmark civil-rights trial. — Winner, Stonewall Book Award