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• A family matter : a parents' guide to homosexuality
  Psychologist Charles Silverstein (1935-2023) was a writer and pioneering advocate for LGBTQ+ rights. His presentation to the American Psychiatric Association (APA) contributed to the removal of homosexuality as a mental illness from the APA’s ‘DSM’ (the ‘Diagnostic and Statistical Manual’) in 1974. Three years later, he published his first book, ‘The Joy of Gay Sex’, co-authored with Edmund White – another ‘Operation Tiger’ seized title – and, in the same year, ‘A Family Matter’. While ‘The Joy of Gay Sex’ focused on a community of men who have sex with men, ‘A Family Matter’ is a contribution to the genre of books intended to help parents of lesbian and gay children “come to terms with their own feelings about homosexuality”. In a briefing document about the seized titles, the Defend Gay’s the Word Campaign noted that the book was “Dedicated to his ma and pa!!”
• The joy of gay sex : an intimate guide for gay men to the pleasures of a gay lifestyle
  A collaboration between Dr Charles Silverstein (1935-2023) and novelist Edmund White (1940-), “by gays, for gays”. Structured as an A-to-Z guide to gay life, from Androgyny to Wrestling, plus a short bibliography, it is illustrated throughout by Michael Leonard, Ian Beck and Julian Graddon. Riding high on the popularity of ‘The Joy of Sex’ (1972), it sold out its first print run of 75,000 copies. Some commentators, however, were critical of this apparent mainstreaming. “If we have reached a point where cultural interests include the marketing of our sex lives, it would be nice for some basic civil rights to come along with that,” wrote Michael Bronski in ‘Gay Community News’ in November 1977. “You can still get arrested for having a good time.” The book was later used in healthcare during the AIDS crisis, and ‘The New Joy of Gay Sex’ (1993) was substantially updated with safe sex information.