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The Children of Harvey Milk: How LGBTQ Politicians Changed the World
Part political thriller, part meditation on social change, part love story, The Children of Harvey Milk tells the epic stories of courageous men and women around the world who came forward to make their voices heard during the struggle for equal rights.
Featuring LGBTQ icons from America to Ireland, Britain to New Zealand; Reynolds documents their successes and failures, heartwarming stories of acceptance and heartbreaking stories of ostracism, demonstrating the ways in which an individual can change the views and voting behaviors of those around them. The book also includes rare vignettes of LGBTQ leaders in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean who continue to fight for equality in spite of threats, violence, and homophobia.
A touchstone narrative of the tumultuous journey towards LGBTQ rights, The Children of Harvey Milk is a must-read for anyone with an interest in social change. Updated in paperback, this new edition accounts for developments such as the US presidential candidacy of Pete Buttigieg.
Featuring LGBTQ icons from America to Ireland, Britain to New Zealand; Reynolds documents their successes and failures, heartwarming stories of acceptance and heartbreaking stories of ostracism, demonstrating the ways in which an individual can change the views and voting behaviors of those around them. The book also includes rare vignettes of LGBTQ leaders in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean who continue to fight for equality in spite of threats, violence, and homophobia.
A touchstone narrative of the tumultuous journey towards LGBTQ rights, The Children of Harvey Milk is a must-read for anyone with an interest in social change. Updated in paperback, this new edition accounts for developments such as the US presidential candidacy of Pete Buttigieg.
376 pages, Hardcover
First published July 1, 2016
9 people are currently reading
181 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
October 30, 2019
My Recommendation: This is a great read and incredibly approachable for an academic nonfiction work. I found Reynolds' writing to be engaging and earnest (I teared up occasionally), and the variety of stories covered were as diverse and representative as they could be. I wish there was more racial diversity and more geographical diversity, as did Reynolds. He acknowledged this shortcoming of the work on a couple of separate occasions which was nice to see.
My Recommendation: I'm not sure how I stumbled across this one, but when I did I requested a copy from the publisher and they kindly obliged.* I was interested because of the subject matter, but also because Reynolds is based at UNC Chapel Hill (my undergrad) and his name rang a bell because he'd chaired the Sexuality Studies program there at some point in the recent past. And then with my master's degree focusing on the Civil Partnership Act (2014) in the UK, of course I was going to want to read this book and see what he had to say.
I thought this would have a much broader sweep than it did. It mentions a lot of non-Western, non-English speaking politicians, but doesn't really go into their stories as in-depth (The Netherlands being the primary exception). I think because it has "changed the world" in the subtitle that I thought the breath and depth of the work would be grander. Don't get me wrong, the list of out parliamentarians is global and appears to be as exhaustive as Reynolds could make it, but really the focus of this story was the English Speaking world, including but not limited to the United States, United Kingdom, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia, Canada, and South Africa.
Continue reading on my book blog at
*I received a copy of The Children of Harvey Milk from the publisherÌýin return for my honest opinion. No money or goods were exchanged.
My Recommendation: I'm not sure how I stumbled across this one, but when I did I requested a copy from the publisher and they kindly obliged.* I was interested because of the subject matter, but also because Reynolds is based at UNC Chapel Hill (my undergrad) and his name rang a bell because he'd chaired the Sexuality Studies program there at some point in the recent past. And then with my master's degree focusing on the Civil Partnership Act (2014) in the UK, of course I was going to want to read this book and see what he had to say.
I thought this would have a much broader sweep than it did. It mentions a lot of non-Western, non-English speaking politicians, but doesn't really go into their stories as in-depth (The Netherlands being the primary exception). I think because it has "changed the world" in the subtitle that I thought the breath and depth of the work would be grander. Don't get me wrong, the list of out parliamentarians is global and appears to be as exhaustive as Reynolds could make it, but really the focus of this story was the English Speaking world, including but not limited to the United States, United Kingdom, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia, Canada, and South Africa.
Continue reading on my book blog at
*I received a copy of The Children of Harvey Milk from the publisherÌýin return for my honest opinion. No money or goods were exchanged.
February 13, 2023
Sometimes a bit dry and academic, but that comes with the territory I suppose. There's some great, important research work done here, alongside some surprisingly emotionally charged and effective writing.
January 27, 2019
Loved this book, which is why I blurbed it, so you can read my blurb when you get the book :).
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
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