Join LGQRI in celebrating Esther Newton’s forthcoming memoir.

During her difficult childhood, Esther Newton recalls that she “became an anti-girl, a girl refusenik, caught between genders,” and that her “child body was a strong and capable instrument stuffed into the word ‘girl.’” Later, in early adulthood, as she was on her way to becoming a trailblazing figure in gay and lesbian studies, she “had already chosen higher education over the strongest passion in my life, my love for women, because the two seemed incompatible.”

In her new memoir, Newton tells the compelling, disarming, and at times sexy story of her struggle to write, teach, and find love, all while coming to terms with her identity during a particularly intense time of homophobic persecution in the twentieth century.

Affecting and immediate, "My Butch Career" is a story of a gender outlaw in the making, an invaluable account of a beloved and influential figure in LGBT history, and a powerful reminder of only how recently it has been possible to be an openly queer academic.

SPEAKER BIO:
Esther Newton, one of the pioneers of gay and lesbian studies, is formerly Term Professor of Women's Studies at the University of Michigan and Professor of Anthropology at Purchase College, State University of New York. She is the author of several books, including "Margaret Mead Made Me Gay: Personal Essays, Public Ideas" and "Cherry Grove, Fire Island: Sixty Years in America's First Gay and Lesbian Town," both published by Duke University Press, as well as the groundbreaking "Mother Camp: Female Impersonators in America."

Event Accessibility:
Ramp and elevator access at the E. Washington Street entrance (by loading dock). Accessible restrooms on south end of Lane Hall, on each floor of the building. Gender neutral restroom on first floor.