Drastic Dykes and Accidental Activists

La Shonda Mims is assistant professor of history at Middle Tennessee State University.

There is no one lesbian experience, just as there is no one human experience. Mims confronts this challenge head-on in her parallel histories of "women loving women" in Atlanta, GA, and Charlotte, NC . . . . [Mims] incorporates the experiences of wo mmen of color without tokenism . . . . She also skillfully discusses the role of sexism and gay white privilege. This important work sits at the intersection of race, economics, religion, sectionalism, gender, and sexuality . . . . Highly recommended."--CHOICE Anyone who doubts the rich, multilayered history of the queer South should immerse themselves in Drastic Dykes and Accidental Activists: from bombings of gay bars during the Atlanta Olympics, to the unexpected appearance of Chick-Fil-A in the first conservative protests against Charlotte Pride, to the activists and organizers who pushed back against corporate heterosexual norms, Mims's book provides dozens of key moments and fascinating figures."--Jamie Harker, Signs Mims's expansive and meticulous research offers up multiple examples of how the printed word, through lesbian and lesbian feminist publications--some long-lasting and others fleeting and irregular--was central to building and sustaining communities and to producing knowledge about nonnormative sexualities and critical feminist philosophical formulations."--Journal of Southern History