A review by garbutch
Bad Gays: A Homosexual History by Ben Miller, Huw Lemmey

informative reflective

4.25

I love when books exist about queer culture, people, theory, sociology etc that use the word f

Spoiler

aggot

and refer to people as racist with the knowledge and fair assumption that I would not first need to be convinced racism exists. It's like a friend and comrade is infodumping to me in the alley outside a drag show while they're having a cigarette. It's writing that talks to me like a peer and a queer.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Genocide, Death, Misogyny, Xenophobia, Suicide, Slavery, Racism, Homophobia, Gun violence, War, Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Sexism, Cursing, Religious bigotry, Police brutality, Murder, Outing, Islamophobia, Injury/Injury detail, Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, Classism, Bullying, Antisemitism, and Adult/minor relationship

This book profiles several different historical figures who have done a variety of different things which are by and large, horrifying. Some of these figures have died by suicide or assassination. There is a fair bit in the book which talks about older gay men being into young boys, but it doesn't outright state what exactly that means or what the age gap is, or how young these boys are. It's unclear if they merely mean adult twinks or actual minors. (I may be misremembering details, but this is my best recollection after listening to the audiobook.)