Playing It Straight

About the Book

Playing It Straight: Gay Men and Heterosexual Marriage Milton E. Ford The words “gay men and straight marriage” raise many questions. Why would a man who knows he’s gay marry a woman? Can a man discover he’s gay after he marries? What is life like for a gay man in a marriage to a woman? Why, having married, would he get divorced? Why might he remain married? And what is the role of society, particularly religion, in this experience? Playing It Straight answers these and many other questions by examining common themes that emerge from interviews with men from many areas of the United States who are gay, or predominantly gay, and who married women. In face-to-face taped interviews, the men talk about the way they see themselves now, what their childhood and teen years were like, their experiences leading up to marriage, what the marriages were like, and how those marriages are continuing or how they ended. The book looks at where the men are now and the meaning they now make of their marriages to women. The topical arrangement of the book makes it a valuable resource for anyone interested in a deeper understanding of the realities that often emerge for a gay man when he marries a woman.

About the Author

Milt Ford, author of Playing It Straight: Gay Men and Heterosexual Marriage, is a Professor of Liberal Studies at Grand Valley State University in Allendale, Michigan, where he teaches courses on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender topics. He is the Founding Director of Grand Valley’s LGBT Resource Center, was long-time faculty advisor to the University’s student gay/straight alliance, Out ‘N’ About, and a trainer for the University’s faculty and staff organization, Allies & Advocates, dedicated to supporting LGBT students. His previous book, Life Journey; Literature and the Search for Meaning in the Stages of Life, grew out of a course Ford created, called “Life Journey,” which is now offered in nearly fi fty sections each year.