Out in the World

PUBLISHERS WEEKLY 31 AUG. 1992

Miller ( In Search of Gay America ) traveled for two and a half years through 12 countries, observing gay and lesbian life. This crisply written report underscores sharp cultural differences as it moves from Denmark, where homosexual partnerships enjoy virtually the same legal status as heterosexual marriage, to Argentina, which is home to entrenched, violent, socially sanctioned prejudice against homosexuality. In Japan, Thailand and Egypt, Miller encountered cultures in which same-sex relations have traditionally been accepted, while the larger fact of people's gay identities has been denied. In Australia, he found extremely enlightened AIDS policies. Among Australian Aborigines, black or mixed-race South Africans, and Maoris in New Zealand, he pondered the dilemma faced by people struggling to combine gay awareness with cultural and racial identities. In reunited Germany and post-1989 Czechoslovakia, Miller noted considerable political tolerance toward gays and lesbians. His compelling survey documents the international effects of the AIDS epidemic in forging gay community. Author tour.