Homophobia

"This sweeping introduction to homophobia throughout Western history offers an illuminating . . . way to survey the dimensions of acceptance."—Alison Shonkwiler, Out Magazine

"At a time when the word 'homophobia' is dismissed by many as politically correct rhetoric, Fone's work remains a powerful introduction to the undeniable historical impact of the attitudes it describes."—Publishers Weekly

"An important work, Homophobia: A History successfully records a portion of the often elusive past of a largely invisible and highly vilified minority."—David Massengill, Seattle Weekly

"How did sex between men start out as an admired act of masculinity and end up as a shameful badge of effeminacy? How did homosexual love and sex, which were seen as important to the development of virtue, nobility, and the foundation of a strong society, become an enemy of the state? Fone answers these questions in exquisite detail with a masterful command of history, a balanced interpretation of contradictory documents, and an explosive set of assertions that fly against the conventional view of not just homophobes but of gay people themselves."—Michael Alvear, Salon