Familiar Perversions

LIZ MONTEGARY is an assistant professor of women’s, gender, and sexuality studies at Stony Brook University in New York. She is the coeditor of Mobile Desires: The Politics and Erotics of Mobility Justice.

• Introduction: Familiar Perversions1    Anxiety: The History of Lesbian and Gay Parenting Activism      2    Visibility: Local Communities, Transnational Economies, and the Exceptionally American Family         3    Equality: Same-Sex Marriage and the Precarity and Perversity of Children      4    Vitality: The Family Business of Health Promotion and Wealth ManagementConclusion: Toward a Queer Family Politics        AcknowledgmentsNotesWorks CitedIndex

"Well researched, compellingly argued, and beautifully written, Familiar Perversions provides a wholly original approach to the cultural politics of LGBT families. Montegary seamlessly weaves together multiple methods and literatures in this important and timely book." - Christina B. Hanhardt (author of Safe Space: Gay Neighborhood History and the Politics of Violence) "Well researched, compellingly argued, and beautifully written, Familiar Perversions provides a wholly original approach to the cultural politics of LGBT families. Montegary seamlessly weaves together multiple methods and literatures in this important and timely book." - Christina B. Hanhardt (author of Safe Space: Gay Neighborhood History and the Politics of Violence) "Essential." (Choice) "Essential." (Choice) "Chronicle of Higher Education new scholarly books weekly book list," by Nina C. Ayoub (Chronicle of Higher Education) "Chronicle of Higher Education new scholarly books weekly book list," by Nina C. Ayoub (Chronicle of Higher Education) Familiar Perversions chosen as a Choice "Outstanding Academic Title" for 2018 (Choice Outstanding Academic Title 2018) Familiar Perversions chosen as a Choice "Outstanding Academic Title" for 2018 (Choice Outstanding Academic Title 2018) "[Familiar Perversions'] descriptive account and...separate prescriptions are important contributions toward a more emancipatory queer agenda. [It] serve[s] as timely reminders that the legacy of Stonewall is still unfolding-and that we all have a part to play in how the discourse surrounding queer rights is written." (Slate Magazine) "[Familiar Perversions'] descriptive account and...separate prescriptions are important contributions toward a more emancipatory queer agenda. [It] serve[s] as timely reminders that the legacy of Stonewall is still unfolding-and that we all have a part to play in how the discourse surrounding queer rights is written." (Slate Magazine) "Familiar Perversions demonstrates the strengths and importance of taking an interdisciplinary, cultural studies approach to LGBT life and politics….Refreshing….Familiar Perversions is necessary reading for scholars of LGBT studies, queer theory, social movements, and the family." (Cultural Studies) "Familiar Perversions demonstrates the strengths and importance of taking an interdisciplinary, cultural studies approach to LGBT life and politics….Refreshing….Familiar Perversions is necessary reading for scholars of LGBT studies, queer theory, social movements, and the family." (Cultural Studies) "A truly impressive work of interdisciplinary cultural studies...An invaluable recourse for scholars and students considering questions of homonormativity, homonationalism, and reproductive futurism, the impetus of its lucid, precise writing lies more in political strategy building than in theoretical intervention." (QED: A Journal in GLBTQ Worldmaking) "A truly impressive work of interdisciplinary cultural studies...An invaluable recourse for scholars and students considering questions of homonormativity, homonationalism, and reproductive futurism, the impetus of its lucid, precise writing lies more in political strategy building than in theoretical intervention." (QED: A Journal in GLBTQ Worldmaking) "Liz Montegary’s Familiar Perversions provides an in-depth examination of the emergence of the LGBT family as a recognized and increasingly legitimate cultural formation....One of the most significant contributions of Familiar Perversions is Montegary’s ability to find queer possibilities within neoliberal family formations. (GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies) "Liz Montegary’s Familiar Perversions provides an in-depth examination of the emergence of the LGBT family as a recognized and increasingly legitimate cultural formation....One of the most significant contributions of Familiar Perversions is Montegary’s ability to find queer possibilities within neoliberal family formations. (GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies) "As a queer scholar and adult daughter of lesbian mothers, I cannot overstate how refreshing it was to read [this] text. Montegary rightfully and shrewdly critiques much of the individualized, equal-rights-focused LGBT parenting activism in the United States, but she never loses sight of the fact that she is speaking about real families. It is clear she is conscious of the scrutiny and homophobia that even the most privileged queer families face, and she is respectful of the communities they create to combat these forces, as well as the real feelings of affirmation that some families experience when receiving state-sanctioned benefits and recognition." (Journal of GLBT Family Studies) "As a queer scholar and adult daughter of lesbian mothers, I cannot overstate how refreshing it was to read [this] text. Montegary rightfully and shrewdly critiques much of the individualized, equal-rights-focused LGBT parenting activism in the United States, but she never loses sight of the fact that she is speaking about real families. It is clear she is conscious of the scrutiny and homophobia that even the most privileged queer families face, and she is respectful of the communities they create to combat these forces, as well as the real feelings of affirmation that some families experience when receiving state-sanctioned benefits and recognition." (Journal of GLBT Family Studies)