Leaving the Confederate Closet: A Southern Lesbian's Journey is a story of survival and persistence. It's a story of a woman, born in the South during the Great Depression to a poor family with deep Confederate roots and how she instinctively knew that an education and hard work would lift her from the muck of the "Redneck Riviera" to prestigious positions in the administrations of two major universities, including one in the heart of New England where cold, frigid winters were easier to get used to than some Yankee traditions.

In Leaving the Confederate Closet: A Southern Lesbian's Journey, Bonnie Strickland also tells the story of how she came to terms with her sexuality during a time in our country's history when homosexuality was considered a mental disorder that threatened one's health and livelihood if discovered. Strickland describes her tomboy youth and how much she loved playing football and softball, and finally tennis in which she found considerable success.

She tells us why she turned her undergraduate degree in physical education into a PhD in psychology and how she used her position in the American Psychological Association to advocate and win LGBTQ rights inside and outside the APA.

Readers will feel and understand Strickland's every emotion - from a playful, carefree youth to feeling different and not understanding why; from the pain of lost loves to discovering the joy of loving and living with her soulmate. Readers will laugh, cry and cheer as they travel Strickland's journey.