John D'Emilio: "Do We Need Another Hero?"
John D'Emilio is a Professor of History and of Women's and Gender Studies at the University of Illinois at Chicago. His research areas include the U.S. since World War II, social movements, and the history of sexuality. A pioneer in the field of gay and lesbian studies, he is the author or editor of more than half a dozen books, including Sexual Politics, Sexual Communities: the Making of a Homosexual Minority in the United States; Intimate Matters: A History of Sexuality in America, with Estelle Freedman; Lost Prophet: The Life and Times of Bayard Rustin, a National Book Award finalist; and e.The World Turned: Essays on Gay History, Politics, and Culture.
D’Emilio has won fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment for the Humanities; was a finalist for the National Book Award; and received the Brudner Prize from Yale University for lifetime contributions to gay and lesbian studies. A former co-chair of the board of directors of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, he was also the founding director of its Policy Institute.