The Stonewall Experiment

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Ian Young, 'The Stonewall Experiment; A gay psychohistory' Cassell UK/USA 1995, 312 pages ISBN 0-304-33270-0.

The Stonewall Experiment is an exploration of the psychic life of gay men, from the Whitman era to the AIDS crisis.

In examining the self-images, motivations, behaviours and belief systems that have shaped this newly developing community, poet and historian Ian Young situates gay history in the broader context of contemporary culture, using examples from street poetry to advertising, from political pamphlets to Hollywood movies, to illustrate the powerful, often unconsciously held, ideas that have influenced the behaviour of gay men.

What role have imagination and fantasy played in gay culture? Ideology and philosophy? Or medicine, drugs and organized crime? In exploring these questions, The book uncovers an array of myths shared by gay and straight alike - myths of saints and outlaws, animals and assassins, race and contagion, death and rebirth.

Works, both classic and neglected, by Wilde, Carpenter, Gerald Heard, Burroughs, Rechy, Larry Kramer, George Whitmore and others are here reconsidered in a new light as prophetic texts.

A unique book, The Stonewall Experiment is both a study of gay life in relation to modern history and an investigation into the psychic origins of a plague.

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Ian Young was born in London. His involvement in the gay movement, as activist, writer and publisher, began in the 1960s. His books include poetry, literary anthologies, bibliography and history. Director of a communications consultancy firm and a frequent contributor to the gay press, he lives with his partner Wulf in Toronto and Banff, Alberta.

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