Crossing the barriers : the autobiography of Allan H. Spear / Allan H. Spear ; foreword by Barney Frank ; afterword by John Milton.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Spear, Allan H.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Legislators--Minnesota--Biography.

Legislators.

Gay politicians--Minnesota--Biography.

Gay politicians.

Civil rights workers--United States--Biography.

Civil rights workers.

Gay liberation movement--Minnesota.

Gay liberation movement.

Minnesota--Politics and government--1951-.

Minnesota.

Minnesota. Legislature. Senate--Biography.

Spear, Allan H.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (468 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Minneapolis : University of Minnesota Press, c2010.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Allan Spear had a long and distinguished career as a historian and as a Minnesota state senator. Perhaps best known for coming out as openly gay during his first term in the Minnesota Senate-becoming one of the first elected officials in the nation to do so-Spear was also a leader of Eugene McCarthy's run for the presidency, an organizer against the war in Vietnam, and a key proponent for the establishment of the African-American studies department at the University of Minnesota. Spear's memoirs are fascinating and moving: in early chapters on his childhood and college years, he writes with gr

Contents:

A difficult child, 1937-1954

Bright college years, 1954-1958

Discovering the African American past

and present, 1958-1964

Becoming a Minnesotan, 1964-1967

Love, war, and politics, 1967-1969

Campus and community, 1969-1972

The turning point: coming out and getting in, 1972

Entering the Senate and leaving the closet, 1973-1974

The first struggle for gay rights, 1975-1978

Settling into a legislative career, 1978-1982

A new district, a new partnership, and new responsibilities, 1982-1988.

Notes:

Includes index.

ISBN:

0-8166-7536-8

OCLC:

688292114