"George Chauncey, Historian of LGBTQ+ Life and Kluge Prize Recipient, Releases New Video Series “Through History to Equality”; Library of Congress, October 16, 2023

Library of Congress ; "George Chauncey, Historian of LGBTQ+ Life and Kluge Prize Recipient, Releases New Video Series “Through History to Equality”

George Chauncey, recipient of the 2022 John W. Kluge Prize for Achievement in the Study of Humanity, released three videos today with the Library of Congress examining the experiences of LGBTQ+ Americans. These are now available to watch on loc.gov and the Library’s YouTube channel. 

In “From Sexual Regulation to Antigay Discrimination,” Chauncey is interviewed by Library of Congress Chief Communications Officer Roswell Encina on the history of how LGBTQ+ people in the United States were treated throughout the 20th century; the ways that their legal, social, and political treatment changed over the years; and the lives that people created for themselves in the shadow of discrimination.

In “Why Marriage Equality Became a Goal,” Chauncey interviews civil rights attorney Mary Bonauto, who has worked on the most significant legal cases dealing with marriage equality over the past 30 years. In this interview, Chauncey and Bonauto discuss the significance of the goal of marriage and why they think both the law and public opinion changed so rapidly as equality became the law of the land.

In “AIDS: A Tragedy and a Turning Point,” Chauncey convened a panel of experts to discuss the AIDS crisis that took the lives of a generation of gay people, including many who were writers and community leaders, even as it also set the stage for changes to come by prompting a new wave of activism and leading to an outpouring of LGBTQ+ people embracing their identities. In the discussion, Chauncey, Deborah Gould, Duane Cramer and Jafari Allen revisit the early history of AIDS and discuss the fear and loss as well as the action and assertiveness that came from that dark time."

Public’s Views of Supreme Court Turned More Negative Before News of Breyer’s Retirement; Pew Research Center, February 2, 2022

Pew Research Center ; Public’s Views of Supreme Court Turned More Negative Before News of Breyer’s Retirement

"The U.S. Supreme Court, which typically attracts only modest attention from the American public, is about to occupy the national spotlight with the possibility of a history-making change among the court’s justices and a series of highly anticipated rulings on matters ranging from abortion to gun policy.

The court enters this pivotal period with its public image as negative as it has been in many years, as Democrats – especially liberal Democrats – increasingly express unfavorable opinions of the court.

In a national survey by Pew Research Center, 54% of U.S. adults say they have a favorable opinion of the Supreme Court while 44% have an unfavorable view. The survey was conducted before Justice Stephen Breyer announced his retirement from the court and President Joe Biden reiterated his pledge to nominate the first Black woman to the Supreme Court to replace Breyer.

Over the past three years, the share of adults with a favorable view of the court has declined 15 percentage points, according to the new survey, conducted Jan. 10-17 among 5,128 adults on the Center’s American Trends Panel. Looking back further, current views of the court are among the least positive in surveys dating back nearly four decades."