I absolutely hate the way people think that the only gay-affirming society that ever existed was Ancient Greece. It basically assumes first that no modern societies support it and more importantly that no non-Western societies, ancient, modern, (or postmodern) support it either. Thus, it's great to read a book that discusses sexual orientation and gender identification in a positve manner outside of a Western context. However, this book is just some Aussie's observations on the topic. The book is practically like a "Gay Guide to Thailand." It doesn't get too in-depth and I would have much rather have read something from a gay Thai or a gay Thai living abroad. Still, this book is a good first start. It has awesome pictures. I would recommend it for Thais of all citizenships and sexualities, as well as many gay and lesbian readers.

Published in England. Nicely done. Lots of illustrations. Text is very interesting. The only problem is: it is too short. You can read it completely in under 10 minutes. They should have included more kings and queens and more detail on the ones they did include. Its billed as being a children's book, but the names of some of the kings and queens were difficult for me and I have a master's degree.

I tend to concur with the comments of reviewer from Homewood, IL USA. As an ethnic minority from Down Under, the obvious under-representation of Aboriginal [homosexual] writing is noticeable, and in some ways, embarrassing! For an introductory account to Australian issues about homosexuality, this may be an okay starter, but there certainly need to be more theoretical discussions to make it an important reading for the scholarly community.

Jackson and his colleague have amassed essays from homosexual men and lesbians of non-English descent down under. Few books have discussed ethnic and racial differences in Australia and this is truly an important intervention. It is great for a comparison of race and sexuality between Australia and the United States. However, the absence of Aboriginal [homosexual] writing is noticeable. If this book is accurate, minority [homosexuals] in Australia are decades behind their counterparts in the United States in terms of activism, publishing, and a host of other topics; the editors fail to acknowledge this either. Also, the editing is a bit haphazard. The authors say one Asian [homosexual] contributor got a fact wrong. Well, why not edit his article correctly rather than make him look stupid? The submissions are pretty evenly divided between men and women. Those who collect [homosexual] Judaic studies texts may especially be interested in this book. There are American books that are soooooo much better; but this could be a valuable tool for comparative ethnic studies scholars.