THE GAY MYSTIQUE: The Myth and Reality of Male Homosexuality

I read this book so long, long ago (about 20 years ago), that I don't know if I can really write a review that will do it justice. While the advent of AIDS and changes in society have likely rendered obsolete much of the information in this book written during the early years of "gay lib", *The Gay Mystique* (written back when the computing power of a primo personal computer such as mine would have filled up an entire high-school gymnasium) should still be an one of the "canon" books of any gay and lesbian library. This told me exactly what a lost, confused teenage homosexual in a small town needed to about who he was and why, and what his relationship to society was and why. I often wonder what ever happened to this author and whether or "the plague" got him as it did so many of our brightest and best from the early to mid-70's. Peter, if you should ever happen to read this review, thanks a million, seriously.

This book is old! I read it years ago and it was made years before that. In many ways, it should be treated as a Stonewall-era text. Even the title is influenced by Friedan's "Feminine Mystique" which has been thoroughly criticized by younger feminists. In the "Gay Mystique", the author talks about his life as a gay man. I read it in one sitting; it's a quick one. He shows that he's proud to be gay without having to bash queens and say trite statements like "What I do in bed is my own business." The thing that hit me the most is when he said, "Most of my friends are Black and Jewish gay men." He could just be reflecting the demographics of New York City. Still, it spoke to me that he was trying to factor in race and religion into his talk of sexual identity matters. The "gay" in this title means "gay male"; some female readers may be bothered by the androcentrism here, but it's reflective of the time in which it was written and I can definitely say this is not a sexist book. For those interested in reading the classic gay rights and gay studies texts, you should try to find this book. (Good luck, btw!)