From the editor : Led the field in objectivity of homosexuality, transvestism, and gender identity - Provide a unified, comprehensive description which would rid heterosexuals of homophobic prejudice and allow gays and lesbians to accept themselves and stop feeling isolated.

This encyclopedic study opens with a definition and a detailed biological diagnosis of orientation, including the childhood and adolescent phases. Hirschfeld addresses the physical, mental, and emotional life, while explaining the differences between friendship and same-sex love; genuine and false homosexuality; and the inborn nature of homosexuality and bisexuality. He also disputes the theory that homosexuality is treatable.

In the second half of the book, Hirschfeld looks at sociology: community life, bonding, roles in society, history, persecution, victimization, and the law. His documentation of gays in the military and the "new technology" of his day-such as the telephone and airplanes and their affect on the lives of homosexuals-offers farsighted observations that strongly parallel today's national debates and new developments.

The translator of this lengthy work, originally in German, is Michael A. Lombardi-Nash, Ph.D. He is also the translator of Transvestites: The Erotic Drive to Cross-Dress, and The Riddle of "Man-Manly" Love: The Pioneering Work on Male Homosexuality.

Pages: 1,209, Hardcover
Special Interest: Sexuality, Psychology, Sociology, Physiology.