ABSTRACT
Social movements carry layered meanings in the history of sexuality. Certainly, many movements have centered expressly on sexual identities and politics, whether by pursuing sexual freedom, safety, or constraint. In addition to affective links, many different movements, particularly those grounded in the politics of race, have confronted problems interwoven with sexuality. This chapter focuses on social movements in the United States since World War II that have linked sexual freedom to other struggles. While the anti-lynching and anti-rape movements at times worked together, tensions existed between them. Both placed value on advancing women’s self-determination and restricting men’s sexual privilege. While the homophile movement shared ground with other movements, it was ultimately hampered by its differences from them. Anti-militarism carried longstanding impacts on feminist and queer politics. In the later 1970s and 1980s, LGBTQ activists and feminists participated in the anti-nuclear and Central American solidarity movements in large numbers.
