Towards a gay communism : elements of a homosexual critique / Mario Mieli ; translated by David Fernbach and Evan Calder Williams ; introduction by Massimo Prearo ; foreword by Tim Dean

Includes bibliographical references and index

Foreword: "I keep my treasure in my arse" / Tim Dean -- Introduction / Massimo Prearo -- Translator's preface / Evan Calder Williams -- Homosexual desire is universal -- Fire and brimstone, or how homosexuals became gay -- Heterosexual men, or rather closet queens -- Crime and punishment -- A healthy mind in a perverse body -- Towards a gay communism -- The end -- Appendix A: Unpublished preface to "Homosexuality and liberation" by Mario Mieli (1980) -- Appendix B: Translator's additional note from chapter 1 -- Index

First published in Italian in 1977, Mario Mieli's groundbreaking book is an early landmark of revolutionary queer theory - here available for the first time in a complete and unabridged English translation, with extensive annotations. Among the most important works ever to address the relationship between homosexuality, homophobia and capitalism, Mieli's essay continues to pose a radical challenge to today's dominant queer theory and politics. With extraordinary prescience, Mieli exposes the efficiency with which capitalism co-=opts "perversions" which are then "sold both wholesale and retail." In his view the liberation of homosexual desire requires the emancipation of sexuality from both heteropatriarchal sex roles and capital