UIS professor’s encyclopedia on LGBTQ Politics named one of Choice’s top summer picks

University of Illinois Springfield Professor of Political Science Jason Pierceson’s “LGBTQ Americans in the U.S. Political System: An Encyclopedia of Activists, Voters, Candidates, and Officeholders” was recently featured on Choice’s top ten editors’ pick list for June 2020. 

Choice is a publishing unit of the Association of College and Research Libraries, a division of the American Library Association. 

The two-volume work, published in November 2019, includes introductory essays on LGBTQ candidates, elected officials and voters, as well as more than 250 entries on important events, issues, organizations and people in the LGBTQ rights movement. It also includes a timeline of important events in addition to noteworthy government documents, court cases and speeches by LGBTQ candidates and activists. The encyclopedia covers people and events from the early-twentieth century through the 2018 elections. 

Among the politicians profiled in the work are pathbreaking candidates and officials such as José Sarria, Kathy Kozachenko, Elaine Noble, Harvey Milk, Danica Roem, Kate Brown, Barney Frank, Tammy Baldwin, Kyrsten Sinema, Sharice Davids and Pete Buttigieg. Activists profiled include Barbara Gittings, Frank Kameny, Marsha P. Johnson, Cleve Jones, Larry Kramer and Bayard Rustin. 

Pierceson is the author or co-author of several books on same-sex marriage and sexuality and politics, including “Same-Sex Marriage in the Americas: Policy Innovation for Same-Sex Relationships,” “Courts, Liberalism and Rights: Gay Law and Politics in the United States and Canada,” “Same-Sex Marriage in the United States: The Road to the Supreme Court” and “Sexual Minorities in Politics: An Introduction.” 

Pierceson’s commentary and writings have appeared in such media outlets as The New York Times, The Washington Post and U.S. News & World Report. He has also served as an expert witness in federal civil rights litigation.