While these are all good stories to listen to, the last story is from David Isay when he interviews people in 1989 that were part of the 1969 stonewall riots. It's the first time they had been interviewed and acknowledged as having a role in that defining moment in history -- and the first time i've heard a first-person narrative from the stonewall riots.

By turns, this made me cry and made me feel pure joy. So many incredible stories here - my only wish was that there were more.

My deepest thanks to all of those who chose to share their stories with this project.

Not...really a book, so it feels weird for it to be on Goodreads. HOWEVER. So enjoyable, so uplifting, and, while we shouldn't always be telling queer youth "it gets better," this recording provides some great context to the decades of trials and triumphs of the queer community. In the first half, we hear from a lesbian veteran who wasn't allowed to participate in her wife's memorials (but who was accepted by her wife's mother), a son of an evangelical household who eventually gained the love of all of his siblings (even if his parents still won't acknowledge him), and the first gay man in California who was allowed to adopt a child.

The latter half is made up of interviews of survivors of the Stonewall Riots. Mostly from the queer community, but also a few lines from the police officers involved. And thank GOODNESS it makes good note that the main movers were trans-women of color! Especially cool, considering the recording was done on Stonewall's 20th anniversary, in 1989. Not exactly the most enlightened time.

As regards purchasing this...I'm not sure? I feel like it's not bad as a gift, because no one really focuses on how much someone spent on a gift vs the enjoyment they get from the gift. But for myself, I don't think I'd have spent the $20 on the audio CDs. I was lucky to find this in a Humble Bundle, so it was all of a part of the original price, for me. I'd say, if you want to listen, but are balking at price, as I did, check if your public library has a copy. It seems to be widely purchased in most progressive communities.

The collections of stories were amazing to get an inside look at how it was like to be gay in the pre-Stonewall era. And then came the Stonewall documentary. Oh! Just listening to the voices that were featured, a gay couple with a 60-year long relationship. lesbians in the riot and Silvia Revia (just t name a few) took me back to the front lines.