A Woman Like That:
Lesbian and Bisexual Writers Tell Their Coming Out Stories

Synopsis:
The act of "coming out" has the power to transform every aspect of a woman's life: family, friendships, career, sexuality, spirituality. An essential element of self-realization, it is the unabashed acceptance of one's "outlaw" standing in a predominantly heterosexual world.
These accounts -- sometimes heart-wrenching, often exhilarating -- encompass a wide breadth of backgrounds and experiences. From a teenager institutionalized for her passion for women to the mother who must come out to her young sons at the risk of losing them -- from the cautious academic to the raucous liberated femme -- each woman represented here tells of forging a unique path toward the difficult but emancipating recognition of herself. Extending from the 1940s to the present day, these intensely personal stories in turn reflect a unique history of the changing social mores that affected each woman's ability to determine the shape of her own life. Together they form an ornate tapestry of lesbian and bisexual experience in the United States over the past half-century.

Synopsis:
Nearly two dozen women from widely varying backgrounds and age groups give accounts of their journeys toward self-discovery. The stories dramatically give voice to each woman's efforts to develop a lesbian identity, explore her sexuality, and build a community with other lesbians.

Synopsis:
Gershen Kaufman and Lev Raphael expose the role shame has come to play in the lives of gay men and lesbians. The authors break the silence surrounding gay and lesbian experience so that individuals can "come out" of shame and begin a path toward personal growth and acceptance.

Synopsis:
This groundbreaking book is a superb collection of essays geared for individuals concerned with improving the climate for lesbian and gay persons in our schools, colleges, and universities. This is a critical book for all educators who are trying to understand and confront homophobia and heterosexism in education.

Synopsis:
Exploring identity development and gender orientation, Lesbian Epiphanies: Women Coming Out in Later Life contains firsthand information about the experiences and difficulties of women who discover and reveal their newfound lesbian sexuality in later life.

Lesbian Epiphanies is unique because it quotes extensively from the interviews of 24 lesbians and bisexuals who had entered into heterosexual marriages. This book conveys the importance of early sexual awareness in terms of human lives instead of cold statistics. From the analysis of these 24 interviews, readers will learn about the psychological, erotic, and social processes of women who come out as lesbians or bisexuals after a heterosexual marriage.

These women tell about realizing their same gender attractions and the barriers they faced, including negative attitudes toward lesbian women and the lack of strong role models. This insightful book knocks down the sociological and psychological barriers that keep women from knowledge of their own real sexual orientation and offers invaluable advice.