Mirka Negroni:
Originally a doctoral thesis, this book is an oral history of the lesbian movements in Latin America and their relationship to both the feminist and male homosexual movements. The doctoral thesis received an Honorable Mention from the Universidad Autonoma de Mexico as well as a Martin Duberman Fellowship in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Studies from New York University.
The book collects interviews and life stories of more than 78 lesbians, both militant activist within groups and independents, and through their stories brings to life the often unhappy relationship between lesbians and male homosexuals on the one hand and lesbians and feminists on the other.
The period analyzed in the book begins in 1971 and ends in 1995. Dr, Mogrovejo has reconstructed and brought to life the spaces that lesbians have formed in their coming out process, spaces shaped by the participants love relationships. The book includes an in-depth look at the various Encuentros Lesbico-Feministas (Lesbian Feminist Gatherings) as important political spaces.
While the book focuses primarily on lesbian groups in Mexico it includes chapters on the lesbian movements in Argentina, Brazil, Peru, Chile, Costa Rica and Nicaragua. It is no surprise that this first attempt to document lesbian history in the region has been mired in controversy both in Mexico and in other countries. Other books will surely follow, but this one will be become necessary reading for all researchers in this area.
Some of the interviewees claim they had no idea the doctoral thesis would be publish and object to having their testimonies taken out of the “academic closet”. As the author is clear to point out, her book is not the only truth.
This book is currently available only in Spanish but the author hopes to have it translated and published in English.
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