Dr. Eric Cervini

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Award-Winning Historian of LGBTQ+ Politics and Culture

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    Dr. Eric Cervini: Biography at a Glance

    • Dr. Eric Cervini is an award-winning historian of LGBTQ+ politics and culture.
    • He is the creator of Book of Queer, a show that delves into the origins of queer symbols, lexicon, and civil rights figures with a heavy dose of absurdist humor. Book of Queer received six Daytime Emmy Award nominations in 2023.
    • His book The Deviant’s War: The Homosexual vs. The United States of America covers the secret history of the fight for gay rights that began a generation before Stonewall. It became the first LGBTQ+ nonfiction book on the NY Times Bestseller list in 27 years.
    • He graduated summa cum laude from Harvard College and received his Ph.D. in history from the University of Cambridge, where he was a Gates Scholar.
    • As an authority on 1960s gay activism, Cervini serves on the Board of Directors of the Harvard Gender and Sexuality Caucus and on the Board of Advisors of the Mattachine Society of Washington, D.C., a nonprofit dedicated to the preservation of gay American history.
    • His award-winning digital exhibitions have been featured in Harvard’s Rudenstine Gallery, and he has presented his research to audiences across America and the United Kingdom.

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    Biography

    Dr. Eric Cervini is an award-winning historian of LGBTQ+ politics and culture. He graduated summa cum laude from Harvard College and received his Ph.D. in history from the University of Cambridge, where he was a Gates Scholar.

    As an authority on 1960s gay activism, Cervini serves on the Board of Directors of the Harvard Gender and Sexuality Caucus and on the Board of Advisors of the Mattachine Society of Washington, D.C., a nonprofit dedicated to the preservation of gay American history. His award-winning digital exhibitions have been featured in Harvard’s Rudenstine Gallery, and he has presented his research to audiences across America and the United Kingdom.

    His book "The Deviant’s War: The Homosexual vs. The United States of America" covers the secret history of the fight for gay rights that began a generation before Stonewall. It became the first LGBTQ+ nonfiction book on the NY Times Best Seller list in 27 years. Based on firsthand accounts, recently declassified FBI records, and forty thousand personal documents, The Deviant’s War unfolds over the course of the 1960s, as Kameny built a movement against the government’s gay purges. It traces the forgotten ties that bound gay rights to the Black Freedom Movement, the New Left, lesbian activism, and trans resistance. Above all, it is a story of America (and Washington) at a cultural and sexual crossroads; of shocking, byzantine public battles with Congress; of FBI informants; murder; betrayal; sex; love; and ultimately victory.

    He lives in Los Angeles with his two plants, Coco Montrese and Fig O’Hara.

    Topics

    The Deviant's War: The Homosexual vs. the United States of Americaarrow-down

    Harvard and Cambridge-trained historian, Dr. Eric Cervini expertly explains the cultural crossroads that America is currently facing in the timeless battle for gay rights. Based on firsthand accounts, recently declassified FBI records, and roughly 40,000 personal documents, Cervini uncovers the secret history of gay activism that began a generation before Stonewall. From public battles with Congress and FBI informants to murder and betrayal, Cervini chronicles the events that have led us to this exact moment.

    Cervini also explores the intersectionality of several civil rights movements as he traces the forgotten ties that bound gay rights to the Black Freedom Movement, the New Left, lesbian activism, and trans resistance. Audiences will walk away with a new perspective on how we got to this point, and also what needs to happen next.

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