And Then I Danced: Traveling the Road to LGBT Equality

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In 1973 American activist Mark Segal disrupted a live broadcast of CBS Evening News to protest gay prejudice. He was wrestled to the floor on live television, thus ending LGBT invisibility. But this victory left many more battles to fight, and creativity was required to find a way to challenge stereotypes. Segal's felt his job was to show America who LGBT people are: sons, daughters, fathers, mothers. Because of activists like Mark Segal, whose work is dramatically detailed in this memoir, today openly gay LGBT people hold positions of power all over America.

Reviews

Segal's writing style is engrossing and never ponderous...And Then I Danced is highly recommended for all LGBT history collections and especially for readers with interest in Pennsylvania/Philadelphia politics.
--ALA's GLBT Round Table

Segal's book has been described as part autobiography, part history lesson. He grounds the history with a moving glimpse into the lives of his struggling but dignified, and, in their own modest way, heroic parents. The historical sections recount Segal's clever interventions to save America from its addiction to hate, and to empower straight and gay allies who were ready and eager to help but were just waiting for an opening...Time and again, Segal found a way to provide that opening in the vast wall of silence.
--Friends Journal

Fascinating and instructive...And Then I Danced is a flowing read across decades of incidents and strategies leading to today's remarkable degree of GBLTQ inclusion...Mark Segal takes 'Yes we can!' to the level of 'Yes we did!'
--Philadelphia Jewish Voice

With gentle humor and the slightest touch of sardonicism, Segal writes further about people he's known, his newspaper and a different kind of activism. That in-the-trenches stuff is great to read, partly because his narrative is indicative of the times in which it all happened...Segal lets readers into his personal life: his loves, losses, and (spoiler alert!) a very happy ending. Drama seems to follow me, he writes, and readers will be glad for it.
--Washington Blade

Mark Segal made national news on December 11, 1973 when he interrupted a live broadcast of the CBS Evening News by yelling 'Gays protest CBS prejudice!' at none other than Walter Cronkite. He was wrestled to the floor on live national television, an incident often credited as the beginning of the end of LGBTQ invisibility. In his new memoir, Segal looks back on that defining moment in history, as well as the many battles that followed.
--Queerty

Mark Segal is living proof that each and every one of us has the power to create tremendous change...He has made America a better place for everyone in the LGBT community.
--Curve Magazine

Mark Segal is one of the major actors in the struggle for LGBT equality in the U.S...A life as eventful as Segal's demands that a book be written about it.
--South Florida Gay News

One of the most involving, can't-put-it-down chronicles of the post-Stonewall LGBT movement yet penned.
--Gay City News

The book's title, And Then I Danced, suggests the closing of a circle. Forty years after he got kicked off Ed Hurst's Summertime on the Pier TV show for dancing with another guy, Segal and his newlywed husband, Jason Villemez, danced at President Obama's White House to the U.S. Marine Corps band. For insider Segal, it will not be the last dance.
--Philly.com

Segal's refreshing, optimistic prose reflects the author's worldview...His first-hand accounts are memorable, particularly his description of his teenage self, new to New York, inside the Stonewall bar during the 1969 riots. Historic; eminently readable.
--Lavender Magazine

One of the most well-respected voices in LGBT journalism and activism, Philadelphia Gay News' Mark Segal tells the story of his journey.
--Outlook Magazine

Philadelphia has become one of the most popular gay tourist destinations in the United States. Mark Segal, a key player in the city's LGBT community, and a powerful national influencer for over four decades, recounts his life as an advocate in a new memoir.
--Passport Magazine

Because of activists like Mark Segal, whose life work is dramatically detailed in this poignant and important memoir, today there are openly LGBT people working in the White House and throughout corporate America.
--Philly Chit Chat

The 320-page book takes readers from Segal's meager beginnings in a Philadelphia housing project to his pinnacle of dancing with his husband in the White House.
--The Bay Area Reporter

From his burgeoning coming out--beginning with a childhood pull to the Sears Roebuck male models--Segal's story is as much a commentary on the times as it is on his own experience.
--Erie Gay News

Like other nonviolent protesters before him, Mark wasn't content with sitting back and waiting for things to change. He knew people were suffering and the status quo needed to change quickly. The poor kid from Philadelphia became a hero to the LGBT community and to all of us who despise injustice.
--Philadelphia Business Journal

This fall, two of the most well-known writers and publishers in LGBT media have published books that look at some of the stories behind the story. And these two books are likely become required reading for anyone who is a student of history and anyone who just wants to know more about the road to equality...Mark Segal, founder and publisher of Philadelphia Gay News, has put pen to paper to chronicle his own life, from his childhood 'on the wrong side of the tracks' in Philadelphia, to his presence at the Stonewall Inn in New York that fateful night in June, 1969, to his current efforts in politics and activism.
--Dallas Voice

Truly amazing--a walk through gay history by an individual who delivers a first-hand account of events.
--Central Voice

I have read about Segal in other places but nothing is like reading about it as he tells it...Because of Segal and others we have openly LGBT people working in the White House and throughout corporate America. He has helped make it possible for an entire community of gay world citizens to finding the voice that they need to become visible.
--Reviews by Amos Lassen

In this memoir we see the inside story of how the battle of LGBT civil rights was played and won. It is a compelling story told by someone who is at the forefront of the fight and who deserves substantial credit for its victories.
--Governor Ed Rendell

Mark Segal's work for LGBT equality is historic and significant. The fact that he is still connecting our community is a testament to the passion which he shares in this memoir.
--Billie Jean King

Read Mark Segal's memoir and you'll get the inside story of how and why he interrupted a live broadcast of the CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite. What happened afterward will surprise you. It's one of many surprises in this must-read first-person account of LGBT history as it unfolded after Stonewall. Segal was a witness to that history, and he made some of it happen, changing our country and our lives for the better.
--Louis Wiley Jr., executive editor, Frontline (PBS)

Mark Segal's approach to his considerable accomplishments is a classic example of the best in American boosterism. His optimism, zeal, and perseverance have served our community well.
--Don Michaels, former publisher of the Washington Blade

And Then I Danced is a fascinating page-turner that prompted my tears, laughter, envy, and astonishment--but most of all left me feeling very proud of what our community has accomplished and grateful to Mark for sharing his intimate memoir. While there are many who have witnessed the extraordinary history of the LGBT community, few have played as major a role in creating it as has Mark. It is no exaggeration to say that there is no person alive today who has been a more central participant in as much of the contemporary LGBT rights struggle than Mark Segal.
--Sean Strub, author of Body Counts: A Memoir of Politics, Sex, AIDS, and Survival

Mark Segal has for decades been a pathfinder for LGBT journalists of all stripes. We're indebted to him for his years of radical activism, helping to foster a movement for change that has had a dramatic and positive impact for millions.
--Michelangelo Signorile, author of It's Not Over: Getting Beyond Tolerance, Defeating Homophobia, and Winning True Equality

Real change never comes without real guts and real vision and real leaders. Mark Segal is the real deal.
--Robert Moore, cofounder of Dallas Voice

Mark Segal's ideas run from the alpha to the omega. Sometimes I think there's got to be more than one Mark Segal: he has done way too much for one lifetime. I highly recommend this book. If you can't get to meet Mark in person, this is the next best thing!
--Michael Luongo, author of Gay Travels in the Muslim World

Before there was Ellen, Will, Grace, Rosie, Andy, and Anderson, Mark Segal was the squeaky gay wheel of American television, pulling stunts that forced the medium to open its closet door. If Walter Cronkite were still alive, he'd say: Not HIM again! And that's the way it is. And was. Read all about it.
--Bruce Vilanch, Six-Time Emmy Award Winner

Mark Segal has taken the LGBT aging world by storm, and in the process has made a remarkable difference for our community's courageous pioneers. We've all learned so much from him.
--Michael Adams, executive director, Services and Advocacy for GLBT Elders

Mark Segal has been a courageous and eloquent leader of the LGBT community and cause for longer than many lifetimes. His efforts have indisputably changed important elements of broad public importance--a permanent mark on the world. His

Author Bio

Mark Segal has established a reputation as the dean of American gay journalism over the past five decades. From the Stonewall demonstrations in 1969 to founding the Philadelphia Gay News in 1975, along with his more recent forays into TV and politics, his proven commitment as a tireless LGBT advocate has made him a force to be reckoned with. Respected by his peers for pioneering the idea of local LGBT newspapers, he is one of the founders and former president of both the National Gay Press Association and the National Gay Newspaper Guild. Segal was recently inducted into the National Lesbian & Gay Journalist Association's Hall of Fame and was appointed a member of the Comcast/NBCUniversal Joint Diversity Board, where he advises the entertainment giant on LGBT issues. He is also president of the dmhFund, though which he builds affordable LGBT-friendly housing for seniors. He lives in Philadelphia.