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This article provides an overview of the articles featured in the December 1, 1992 issue of the "Journal of Homosexuality." The author notes that this special volume of the journal has been enlarged to encompass both lesbian and gay studies as well as the issue of whether this is one integrated discipline or two separate ones. A topic on the generational and intellectual shifts that have characterized the post-Stonewall movement of gay and lesbian studies is featured in the journal. Another topic focuses on the experience and issues involved in teaching courses and developing programs in gay and lesbian studies. Likewise, a story of how the first Gay and Lesbian Studies Department at American college or university was established is presented. The last two articles deal with special issues. In these two articles, the question of what lesbian studies is and how it relates to gay studies and women's studies is explored and the role of community-based historians in reclaiming the lesbian and gay past is analyzed.

Examines homosexuality in the U.S. in the 1930s. Distinction between masculine and feminine roles; Gross-gender identification; Gender deviation.

Honmosexual identity is conceptualized as a life-spanning developmental process that eventually leads to personal acceptance of a positive gay self-image and a coherent personal identity. J. Habermas' theory of ego development is utilized to provide a synthesis and understanding of the literature on the construction and maintenance of the homosexual idenity. It is concluded that the homosexual idenity generally emerges in a three-stage process in which the person progresses from an egocentric interpretation of homoerotic feelings to an internalization of the normative, conventional assumptions about homosexuality to a post-conventional phase in which societal norms are critically evaluated and the positive gay identity is achieved and managed.

In the 1990s, queer theory has emerged as an influential mode of thought in the ongoing debate about empowerment issues. Queer theory is concerned with the non-essentializing nature of sexual identities and is premised on the notion of resistance to forms of domination, such as heterosexism and homophobia. The historical roots of queer theory are traced from the homosexual rights movement through the gay liberation movement. This history of homosexual resistance focuses on the grass roots efforts of the homosexual community to gain control from scientific experts in representing their own experience. This contextualist history provides a perspective for considering the contemporary relevance of queer theory for psychological theorizing and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]