Unlike many social movements, the gay and lesbian struggle for visibility and rights has succeeded in combining a unified group identity with the celebration of individual differences. Forging Gay Identities explores how this happened, tracing the evolution of gay life and organizations in San Francisco from the 1950s to the mid-1990s.

List of Tables and Figures ix
Preface xi
Acknowledgments xv
Note on Use of Identity Terms xix
The Transformation of the Lesbian/Gay Movement 1(30)
Part I. Forging a Gay Identity Movement
Beginnings: Homosexual Politics and Organizations, 1950--1968 31(25)
Innovation: Gay Liberation and the Origins of Coming Out, 1969--1970 56(25)
Opportunity: Gay Liberation and the Decline of the New Left, 1969--1973 81(16)
The Crystallization of a Gay Identity Movement, 1971--1973 97(16)
Part II. Consequences of Field Formation
Success: Growth of a Gay Identity Movement in the 1970s 113(21)
Exclusions: Gender, Race, and Class in the Gay Identity Movement, 1981--1994 134(20)
 Challenge: The Effect of AIDS on the Gay Identity Movement, 1981--1994 154(22)
Continuity and Change: The Gay Identity Movement in the 1980s and 1990s 176(17)
Part III. Conclusion
Institutions, Social Movements, and American Political Culture 193(12)
Appendix: Constructing a Database of San Francisco's Lesbian/Gay Organizations 205(8)
 Notes 213(34)
Works Cited 247(14)
Index 261