No Way, They Were Gay?: Hidden Lives and Secret Loves by Lee WindMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
I regularly trawl my local library's website, looking at their On Order books for anything that might catch my attention. That is how I found No Way, They Were Gay? I didn't realize at the time that it was more a middle/high school focused book but since I love reading YA/Teen things, I was good with it. It just took a moment to wrap my brain around it.
The book is split into three parts - Men Who Loved Men, Women Who Loved Women, and People Who Lived Outside Gender Boundaries. Each section has an introduction that talks about a couple people who weren't included and then dives more deeply into those who were. Each section covers four people that fit in the category, and in each the author gives his researched reasons for why he came to the conclusion that he did. Even when I wasn't sure if I reached the same conclusion as Mr. Wind, I appreciated the time and effort he put into the research.
A few of the people I had heard of before - Shakespeare, Lincoln, Sappho, Ghandi, Eleanor Roosevelt - but many of them were complete strangers to me and it was interesting getting a glimpse into their lives and loves (many of which were hidden). I'm now more interested in finding out even more about Bayard Rustin, Catalina de Erauso, and Christine Jorgensen. Once my To Read pile gets a bit lower, I'll be looking into more books about them.
This is, in this reader's opinion, a great book for kids that may be questioning their own sexuality or gender. It's written in an easily readable style and, part lecture and part conversation. I'm definitely mentioning it to my 15 year old and, if he wants, I'll pass it his way. All in all, this was a good read and I'm glad I had the chance to savor it.
View all my reviews
