Resist, Organize, Build: Feminist and Queer Activism in Britain and the United States During the Long 1980s

368 Pages·2022·4.004 MB·English

by  Sarah Crook (editor), Charlie Jeffries (editor)

RESIST
ORGANIZE
BUILD
SUNY series in Queer Politics and Cultures
——————
Cynthia Burack and Jyl J. Josephson, editors
RESIST
ORGANIZE
BUILD
FEMINIST AND QUEER ACTIVISM IN BRITAIN AND
THE UNITED STATES DURING THE LONG 1980S
EDITED BY
SARAH CROOK AND CHARLIE JEFFRIES
Published by State University of New York Press, Albany
© 2022 State University of New York
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner without
written permission. No part of this book may be stored in a retrieval system
or transmitted in any form or by any means including electronic, electrostatic,
magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the
prior permission in writing of the publisher.
For information, contact State University of New York Press, Albany, NY
www.sunypress.edu
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Crook, Sarah, 1988– editor. | Jeffries, Charlie, editor.
Title: Resist, organize, build : feminist and queer activism in Britain and
the United States during the long 1980s / edited by Sarah Crook and
Charlie Jeffries.
Description: Albany, NY : State University of New York Press, [2022] |
Series: SUNY series in queer politics and cultures | Includes bibliographical
references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2022005688 | ISBN 9781438489599 (hardcover : alk. paper) |
ISBN 9781438489605 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: Feminism—Great Britain—History. | Gay liberation
movement—Great Britain—History. | Conservatism—Great Britain—
History. | Feminism—United States—History. | Gay liberation movement—
United States—History. | Conservatism—United States—History.
Classification: LCC HQ1191.G7 R37 2022 | DDC 305.420941—dc23/eng/20220404
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022005688
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction: Thinking through and beyond the 1980s 1
Sarah Crook and Charlie Jeffries
Part I
Student Politics and the Body Politic
“Aggies are Not Queers” A History of Gay Student Services v.
Texas A&M University, 1975–1985 31
Michael S. Hevel and Charles J. Thompson
“Specialty” Listening: Creating Space for Queer Programming on
American College Radio in the Long 1980s 53
Katherine Rye Jewell
Part II
Anti-Racist, Anti-Imperialist, Anti-Borders Action
“We were fire-fighting against Thatcher and the system she was
putting forward”: The Black Women’s Movement and the
Boundaries of Nationhood in Thatcher’s Britain 75
Jade Bentil
vi | Contents
“Spiritualists, ideologues, pragmatists, feminists, and women of all
descriptions”: The British Women’s Liberation Movement,
the UN Decade for Women, and Feminist Transnationalism
in Spare Rib 117
Charlotte Lydia Riley
Part III
Families, Reproduction, and Health
Making Queer Families: Foster Family Activism in Los Angeles,
1977–1985 147
Nora Kassner
Thatcherism, the Black Women’s Movement, and the Politics of
Motherhood in Britain 171
Kate Turner
A Framework for Choice: The Lasting Influence of 1980s
Advocacy on Reproductive Rights in the United States 199
Tamar Holoshitz
Opening DOORWAYS and Closing Others: Tactical Deployments
of Respectability, Religion, and Race in the St. Louis
Early-AIDS Response 229
Katie Batza
Part IV
Grassroots Images, Speech, and Power
Polareyes: A Magazine by and for Black British Women
Photographers as a Site of Resistance in London, 1987 255
Taous R. Dahmani
The Business of Feminism Endures: Four Decades of Spinsters Ink
and Aunt Lute Books Publishing Lesbian-Feminist Books in the
United States 285
Julie R. Enszer
Contents | vii
Lesbians Talk: British Lesbian Politics and the Sex Wars 307
Flora Dunster
Epilogues
Looking Back, Thinking Forward: Grassroots Activism and
Modern Histories 331
Sarah Crook
Critically Reflecting (on) the 1980s 335
Charlie Jeffries
Contributors 339
Index 343

Acknowledgments
This book is the result of several years of collaboration and enthusiasm
across continents and time zones. We would like to thank our contrib-
utors for their expertise, patience, and work. It has been a pleasure to
develop this book with them. We are enormously grateful to our editor
at SUNY, Rebecca Colesworthy, who has been efficient, helpful, and
wise throughout. Thank you also to Sneha Krishnan, Martin Johnes,
and Christoph Laucht for invaluable insights and advice.
This book has been shaped by our students’ questions and interests:
thank you to students at Swansea, Oxford, Queen Mary, University of
London, Birkbeck, UEA, and Cambridge for your curiosity and positivity.
Sarah would like to thank Calum, for everything.
Charlie would like to thank Christabel for all the support, ideas,
and care.
ix