1981-My Gay American Road Trip: A Slice of Our Pre-AIDS Culture

1981. Rich with promise and possibility, the post-Stonewall era saw queer Americans standing up for themselves and each other like never before. With the rise of gay newspapers, bars, clubs, and businesses in cities all over the US, it was a time of hedonism, activism, pride, and community. A scene ripe for exploration and documentation, and journalist JD Doyle hit the road to do just that, traveling through 27 states to create a playful, intimate, profusely illustrated, one-of-a-kind record of gay life, love, lust, and liberation in the heady days before the devastating crisis that would change everything.

This is the trip he took.

A remarkable journey through gay male life in the early 1980s...gay bars, restaurants, sports associations (who knew Houston had 55 gay bowling teams in 1981?), strip clubs, and easy hookups, just before AIDS cast a shadow over everything. Doyle takes us beyond the coasts to highlight the vibrant gay scenes in large cities and small towns across the South and West. From close encounters with Grace Jones and Diana Ross to even closer encounters with the men he met along the way, this book is full of insights and vivid sketches of people and places.

George Chauncey

DeWitt Clinton Professor of History, Columbia University

Author of GAY NEW YORK: GENDER, URBAN CULTURE, AND THE MAKING OF THE GAY MALE WORLD, 1890-1940