Before Lawrence v. Texas : the making of a queer social movement /
"In Before Lawrence, Wesley Phelps recounts the legal challenges to discriminatory Texas sodomy laws before the major breakthrough in the U.S. Supreme Court's 2003 decision in Lawrence v. Texas. While most scholars and activists recognize the Lawrence decision to be the foundation for all...
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| Format: | Book |
| Language: | English |
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Austin :
University of Texas Press,
2023.
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| Edition: | First edition. |
| Series: | Jack and Doris Smothers series in Texas history, life, and culture.
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| Subjects: |
| Summary: | "In Before Lawrence, Wesley Phelps recounts the legal challenges to discriminatory Texas sodomy laws before the major breakthrough in the U.S. Supreme Court's 2003 decision in Lawrence v. Texas. While most scholars and activists recognize the Lawrence decision to be the foundation for all subsequent gains for gay and lesbian equality in the twenty-first century, Phelps argues that the earlier legal challenges laid the necessary groundwork for the modern movement for queer civil rights. By probing the fascinating human stories behind these cases, this book offers a rare glimpse into an important component in the movement for gay and lesbian equality and constitutional reform in the United States. The main contribution of the book is to challenge the widely held assumption that the Lawrence v. Texas decision came out of nowhere in 2003. In reality, over several decades grassroots activists had been busy building the organizational groundwork and legal strategies necessary for this final victory over archaic sodomy laws in the United States. In the process, these activists played significant roles in creating and shaping our modern gay and lesbian rights movement"-- |
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| Item Description: | The Cushing Library/Women & Gender Studies copy was acquired as part of The Don Kelly Research Collection of Gay Literature and Culture. |
| Physical Description: | 292 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm. |
| Bibliography: | Includes bibliographical references (pages 227-271) and index. |
| ISBN: | 9781477322321 1477322329 9781477329474 1477329471 |