Description
Book Synopsis On a September night in 1958, three New Orleans college students went looking for a gay man to assault. They chose Fernando Rios, who died from the beating he received. In perhaps the earliest example of the gay panic defense, the three defendants argued that they had no choice but to beat Rios because he had made an improper advance. When the jury acquitted the three, the courtroom cheered. The author offers a detailed examination of the murder and the trial.
Trade ReviewA riveting and important work of grassroots LGBT history, that reveals the connections and fissures between homophobia and anti–Latino prejudices in US history. Delery-Edwards unmasks the origins of one of the most sinister legal and cultural foundations of anti-gay oppression, the false accusation of desire, and how it has been used to excuse injustice."" - Sarah Schulman, award-winning writer and gays rights activist.
