Out Front: Lesbians, Gays, and the Struggle for Workplace Rights

The contributors to Out Front take a hard look at the emergent relationship between sexual politics and the labor movement. With a fundamental focus on the relationship between class and social identity, they explore real and potential connections between the gay rights and labor movements. Encompassing a range of political issues concerning rights and representation, the essays have been shaped by the combined influences of trade unionism and identity politics of New Left social movements. In their examinations of worker and gay rights, the scholars, artists, and activists who speak in this volume argue that neither the labor movement nor the gay rights movement will make substantial progress without a deeper understanding of the connections between identity politics and class. Included is a major policy statement by AFL-CIO president John J. Sweeney. Four other labor leaders-Bill Fletcher Jr., Yvette Hererra, Gloria Johnson, and Van Allen Sheets-discuss homophobia as labor’s new frontier. Nikhil Pal Singh’s conversation with lesbian activist Amber Hollibaugh and a virtuoso piece by filmmaker Tami Gold offer incisive personal histories and commentaries, which Cathy J. Cohen takes the mainstream gay and lesbian movement to task for not adequately or consistently focusing on issues of class. Contributors. Cathy J. Cohen, Bill Fletcher Jr., Tami Gold, Yvette Herrera, Amber Hollibaugh, Gloria Johnson, Kitty Krupat, Patrick McCreery, Van Allen Sheets, Nikhal Pal Singh, John J. Sweeney