Eric Cervini
Cervini in 2020
Born1992 (age 31–32)
California, U.S.
EducationHarvard University (BA)
Emmanuel College, Cambridge (MPhil, PhD)
OccupationHistorian
AwardsRandy Shilts Award (2021)

Eric Cervini (born 1992)[1] is an American historian and author of LGBTQ politics and culture.[2] His 2020 book, The Deviant's War: The Homosexual vs. The United States of America, was a New York Times Bestseller[3] and a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize.[4] He also runs a queer history newsletter, Queer History 101, which focuses on sharing LGBTQ history.[5]

Cervini is a member of the Harvard Gender and Sexuality Caucus' Board of Directors, as well as an advisor to the Mattachine Society in Washington, D.C.[6]

Life

Cervini was born in California and raised in Round Rock, Texas, by a single mother, Lynn Cervini.[7][8] He attended Westwood High School,[9] where he graduated with an International Baccalaureate diploma in 2010. As of 2020, he currently lives in Los Angeles.[10]

Cervini came out as gay days before enrolling at Harvard College, where he graduated in 2014 with a B.A. in History.[11][12] After a year in 2015 earning his Master of Philosophy in historical studies as the Lionel de Jersey Harvard Scholar at the Department of Politics and International Studies at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, he won a Gates Cambridge Scholarship to continue his research as part of a doctorate program.[7] He received a Ph.D. in history in 2019.[13] During his time studying at Cambridge, Cervini researched gender and sexuality in ancient society.[14]

Career

After seven years researching the pre-Stonewall riots homophile movement,[15] Cervini signed a book deal with Farrar, Straus, & Giroux in 2018.[16] In the months leading up to the book release, Cervini started a podcast The Deviant’s World, and a Youtube and Instagram series, The Magic Closet, to share his research that did not make it into the book.[17]

The Deviant's War

In June 2020, Cervini’s book, The Deviant's War: The Homosexual vs. The United States of America, was published and became a New York Times Bestseller—the first work of LGBTQ history to make the list in 27 years.[13] The Deviant's War is the first full-length biography of Frank Kameny, a key figure in the gay liberation movement[18] who is widely considered the “grandfather of the gay rights movement”.[19][20][21]

Cervini examined the life of Kameny, who was a pioneer in early homophile movement for LGBTQ rights in the decades leading up to the 1969 Stonewall riots, and beyond.[20] Gay Pride, unnamed until the 1970s, was argued in concept by Kameny to the U.S. Supreme Court in 1961.[21] In the 1970s, Kameny scored multiple victories, one being the decision to strike homosexuality from the American Psychiatric Association’s manual of mental disorders.[22][23] Charles Kaiser wrote of Kameny that he "may be responsible for more fundamental social change in the post-World War II world than any other American of his generation.”[22]

New York magazine's "Approval Matrix" placed The Deviant's War in its quadrant for "brilliant" and "highbrow" and The Washington Post book review also called it "brilliant," as well as a "rich portrait of Kameny."[24][25] Rich Juzwiak of The Attic called the book “painstakingly detailed” with "exhaustive" research.[21]

The Deviant's War examines the experiences of LGBTQ people in Kameny's lifetime.[20][21] Cervini’s research used declassified documents and thousands of personal documents, and tells Kameny’s story including the closeted gay subculture, coupled with the government fear that LGBTQ people were communists and security risks.[23][21][26] According to Michael Henry Adams of The Guardian, LGBTQ people faced the same social disdain and institutionalized hatred “faced by blacks and Jews, buttressed by centuries of religious bigotry” but were more loathed.[27] He also covers other key figures in early LGBTQ history including Jack Nichols, Barbara Gittings, Jim Fouratt, Randy Wicker, Marsha P. Johnson, and Sylvia Rivera.[22] Cervini examined the intersections of the early LGBTQ rights movement, as well as the Black Freedom Movement, the New Left, lesbian activism, and transgender resistance.[26]

Awards and honors

Cervini was named to Logo30’s 2020 list of influential LGBTQ figures.[28] The Deviant's War was named to the New York Times Editor’s Choice Recommended Books,[29] won the 2021 Randy Shilts Award[30] and was a finalist for the 2021 Pulitzer Prize for History.[31]

References

  1. ↑ "Cervini, Eric 1992-". WorldCat Identities.
  2. ↑ "Eric Cervini | Authors | Macmillan". US Macmillan. Retrieved 2020-07-16.
  3. ↑ "Hardcover Nonfiction Books - Best Sellers - June 21, 2020 - The New York Times". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-07-16.
  4. ↑ "2021 Pulitzer Prizes". pulitzer.org. Retrieved June 11, 2021.
  5. ↑ "Hunky queer historian quenches thirst for knowledge on Instagram". Los Angeles Blade: LGBT News, Rights, Politics, Entertainment. 2020-03-17. Retrieved 2020-07-16.
  6. ↑ "Eric Cervini". podcasts.la.utexas.edu. Retrieved 2023-05-26.
  7. 1 2 "Eric Cervini". hcs.uraf.harvard.edu. Retrieved 2020-07-16.
  8. ↑ Cervini, Eric (2020-06-02). The Deviant's War: The Homosexual vs. the United States of America. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. ISBN 978-0-374-72156-5.
  9. ↑ Gallaga, Omar L. "Gender-neutral app from Austin native due out this week". Austin American-Statesman. Retrieved 2020-07-16.
  10. ↑ "New History Book Illuminates Gay Liberation's Great Debt to the Civil Rights Movement". The Attic. Retrieved 2020-07-16.
  11. ↑ Dr. Eric Cervini on Facebook Watch, retrieved 2020-07-16
  12. ↑ "Harvard Department of History 2014 Newsletter" (PDF). 2020-07-16.
  13. 1 2 "The Deviant's War | Gates Cambridge". www.gatescambridge.org. Retrieved 2020-07-16.
  14. ↑ ""The Book of Queer" Creator Eric Cervini Looks for the Joy in LGBTQ+ History". Them. 2022-06-06. Retrieved 2023-05-26.
  15. ↑ "'Grandfather of the gay rights movement' gets his due in 'The Deviant's War'". NBC News. Retrieved 2020-07-16.
  16. ↑ "The Deviant's War | Eric Cervini | Macmillan". US Macmillan. Retrieved 2020-07-16.
  17. ↑ Holmes, Juwan J. (2020-03-07). "This 'homo historian' is uncovering LGBTQ history & educating followers on social media". LGBTQ Nation. Retrieved 2020-07-16.
  18. ↑ Kaiser, Charles (June 12, 2020). "How a stubborn ex-federal employee launched the gay rights movement". Washington Post. Retrieved February 26, 2021.
  19. ↑ Cervini, Eric (2 June 2020). The deviant's war : the homosexual vs. the United States of America. ISBN 978-0-374-13979-7. OCLC 1119765233.
  20. 1 2 3 Kalman, Audrey. "The pre-Stonewall fight for gay rights in "The Deviant's War"". Daily Emerald. Retrieved 2020-07-18.
  21. 1 2 3 4 5 Juzwiak, Rich (June 22, 2020). "New History Book Illuminates Gay Liberation's Great Debt to the Civil Rights Movement". The Attic/Jezabel. Retrieved July 18, 2020.
  22. 1 2 3 Kaiser, Charles (June 12, 2020). "Review | How a stubborn ex-federal employee launched the gay rights movement". Washington Post. Retrieved July 17, 2020.
  23. 1 2 Luhrssen, David (June 25, 2020). "The Deviant's War: The Homosexual vs. The United States of America (Farrar, Straus and Giroux), by Eric Cervini". Shepherd Express. Retrieved July 18, 2020.
  24. ↑ "The Approval Matrix". New York magazine. July 6, 2020.
  25. ↑ Kaiser, Charles (June 12, 2020). "How a stubborn ex-federal employee launched the gay rights movement". The Washington Post.
  26. 1 2 "Charis Books and The Invisible Histories Project Host 'The Deviant's War' Virtual Book Tour". Georgia Voice. May 27, 2020. Retrieved July 19, 2020.
  27. ↑ Adams, Michael Henry (June 7, 2020). "The Deviant's War: superb epic of Frank Kameny and the fight for gay equality". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved July 19, 2020.
  28. ↑ Rudolph 6/27/2020, Christopher. "Meet the Logo30: Dr. Eric Cervini". LOGO News. Retrieved 2020-07-16.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  29. ↑ "10 New Books We Recommend This Week". The New York Times. 2020-06-18. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-07-16.
  30. ↑ "2021 Triangle Award Winners Announced". Publishers Weekly. May 12, 2021. Retrieved May 19, 2021.
  31. ↑ "2021 Pulitzer Prizes". pulitzer.org. Retrieved June 11, 2021.
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