In this book gays and lesbians from the Deep South to East Texas and Appalachia speak from vivid personal experience and turn an analytical eye on the South and its culture. Some contributors examine the power of traditional Southern attitudes toward race and religion, and consider the "don't ask, don't tell" attitude about homosexuality in some communities (the "public secret"). Other contributors show how gay culture is thriving in the form of women's festivals, gay bars, and unusual networks like that of Asian and Pacific Islanders in Atlanta. Out in the South is organized into sections that focus on a central metaphor of space and location. This grounds the book in the sense of the South as a special region and in the inside/outside dilemma faced by many gay and lesbian Southerners as they negotiate their place in an often-inhospitable homeland. Author note: Carlos L. Dews is Associate Professor of English at the University of West Florida. He is the editor of Carson McCullers' unfinished autobiography, Illumination and Night Glare.
Carolyn Leste Law is Dissertation Advisor in the Graduate School at Northern Illinois University and an independent scholar interested in social justice. Together, they edited This Fine Place So Far from Home: Voices of Academics from the Working Class (Temple).