| Learning to find a voice in which to express oneself is a goal for most college students, and for LGBTQ students that is especially complicated. At the same time, life writing since the time of St. Augustine has been indicative of changing mindsets and social values. The role of gay, lesbian, and transgender autobiography in creating a more inclusive environment in American society provides a proper place to begin our discussion of the intersections of history, culture, and politics in the transformation of identities.
John C. Hawley, Professor and former chair of the English department at Santa Clara University, is the recent editor of the three volume encyclopedia, LGBTQ America Today. Among his other related publications are Postcolonial, Queer and essays such as “Lavender Ain’t Pink: Emerging Queer Self-Expression in a Non-White World,” and “The Emerging Fictionalization of AIDS in Africa.”
He serves on the Modern Language Association’s executive committee on Postcolonial Studies, is Associate Editor of the South Asian Review, and is president of the US Association for Commonwealth Literature and Language Studies. |