Reviews
"Tracing the history and covering what is occurring today, the work is both historical and current, focusing on LGBTQ life in the United States in all its aspects. Bolded terms in each entry indicate cross-references, although a listing of these at the end of the entry would be clearer for the average user. ...Bottom Line: The writing is simple enough for high school students to comprehend yet academic enough for college students and scholars to reference. The coverage is sufficient for a basic background and understanding of the topic, and additional readings enable the work to be used as a starting point for additional research. Suitable for larger public libraries, academic libraries, and high school libraries."—Library Journal
"Hawley and a host of contributors address more than 600 topics of importance to gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and queer (GLBTQ) history in the last 60 years. Contemporary individuals and concepts key to understanding GLBTQ culture and contributions to US society form the crux of the work and create a context in which one may view the GLBTQ community. The alphabetically arranged, signed entries are descriptive in nature, ranging in length from 100 to 2,000 words… The title's emphasis on the popular and contemporary is its greatest strength. Overall, this is a welcome addition to the canon of GLBTQ encyclopedias. Recommended. Lower- and upper-level undergraduates; general readers."—Choice
"Directed toward academics and students in high school and beyond, LGBTQ America Today is an impressive three-volume encyclopedia that would make an excellent contribution to any academic reference collection."—ARBAonline
"...This comprehensive encyclopedia traces not only the history of the momentum toward gay rights and broader cultural acceptance but also the impact that this force has had, and continues to have, on twentieth- and twenty-first-century American culture. The encyclopedia purports to be 'an interdisciplinary record of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered, and queer life,' and to a great extent succeeds in being so. ...Each entry ends with a bibliography of both print and electronic works, and cross-referencing, denoted by terms in bold within the text, is superb. The first volume begins with a list of entries and a detailed guide to related topics, while the third volume concludes with a general bibliography and a comprehensive index. Black-and-white illustrations, though relatively infrequent, do serve to extend the text. With a narrower focus and a broader topical treatment than Great Events from History: Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Events, 1848–2006 (2006), LGBTQ America Today is a sound purchase for college and university libraries, especially those with strong gay studies programs."—Booklist
"If comprehensiveness is a collection development goal, then LGBTQ America Today is a worthwhile purchase."—Reference & User Services Quarterly
"LGBTQ America Today: An Encyclopedia provides a powerful 3-volume set of A to Z detailed references that are more article collections than brief encyclopedia entries. . . this is an extensive survey that's a 'must' for any college-level library strong in LGBTQ social issues and reference collections."—Midwest Book Review
"LGBTQ America Today is a great resource for secondary-school and academic libraries because of its interdisciplinary focus and cross-references. With its focus on the past sixty years in the United States, it is an ideal reference work on popular LGBTQ culture as well as on historical events and movements."—Feminist Collections