This book was incredibly insightful. I hope to be able to use it as part of my curriculum when I'm finally a college professor and hopefully my PHD work!

I had high hopes to really learn a lot from this book about racism & queer history & the intersections of how they relate to each other. I haven't come across much queer history that goes farther back than Stonewall, which may be fault of my own or lack of writing/publishing or both. However, I interpreted the synopsis to mean this book would be a linear telling of Hirschfeld & Li's work regarding racism & queer history, and that was not my experience with it. It reads very academic & not as a linear history. The content quite honestly goes over my head as academic writing is not my forte, therefore, I have decided to DNF at page 70 because I am not able to properly follow the information given in order to learn what I had intended. This is by no means fault of poor writing or a bad book, it simply just doesn't mesh with me personally and the way I learn information.

Note: This review comes from a queer, non-binary person who is white.

*Special thanks to NetGallery and University of Toronto Press for the eARC of this book*

TW: Racism, colourism, homophobia, transphobia, suicide, eugenics, forced castration

This book is right up my ally as someone who has been focusing on reading about anti-racism and queer history. I've been fascinated by Magnus Hirschfeld and his library that was lost during WWII, and all I've learned about him was very positive, his forward thinking, his support of transgender folks and being a safe place in Germany's queer scene. This book has both confirmed that, but also turned it all on its head.

This book focuses on Hirschfeld's impact on queer history, but also how much of it was taken from the fight for civil rights, and again, it's mostly white (or people arguing they are white, as Hirschfeld does) taking advantage of activism for their own gains, without giving credit, or helping to continue the fight for those root causes.

There is amazing complexity, as Hirschfeld is both incredibly before his time, but also incredibly a product of it. Yes he believed homosexuality was a natural part of our world, but he also argued for eugenics and that queer people should never have children; yes he considered himself anti-racist, but he was also incredibly racist and dismissive to Black people.

Now onto the other focus of this book, Li Shiu Tong. He contributed so much to Hirschfeld's work, but is never credited. Li was Hirschfeld's apprentice, assistant, and probable lover. He was also a very complex person, and taken advantage of for Hirschfeld's own gains and fancies. Much of the book is dedicated to Li, which I find appropriate and needed, as in all my learnings I had never heard of him, and yet Hirschfeld would not have been able to do all he did without Li.

Li is an unsung leader in queer history and finally gets the spotlight he deserves after being abandoned to history. Just as Hirschfeld before him, Li also had problematic points, such as believing homosexuality was learned, not inate. We still know so little about him, as much of his work was lost after he died, but what we have managed to rescue needs to be displayed in the same import as Hirschfeld's work.

The final takeaway from this book is that queer history, and current day queer politics are rooted in racist actions, but it doesn't have to be so now. For example, I do not need to exploit other races and their cultures to validate myself, a white person, being non-binary. It is important to know our messy and complicated past, so that we don't repeat it in our present activism, as we so often do.

Thank you netgalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I struggle to read nonfiction books. But, I have been trying my hardest to get into them and this book was perfect for that. It was not only concerning a topic that was personal to me but it was written in such a way that it didn't feel boring. Racism and the Making of Gay Rights addressed a lot of really important issues in the history of queer activism as well as making it clear that intersectionality is extremely important. It taught me a lot about the establishment of queerness as an idea. It's a great read for those that are curious.