Stephen Macedo
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691166483
- eISBN:
- 9781400865857
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691166483.003.0002
- Subject:
- Law, Family Law
This chapter considers the main arguments raised by conservatives against same-sex marriage and gay rights more generally. Defenders of same-sex marriage acknowledge the fact that marriage is in many ...
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This chapter considers the main arguments raised by conservatives against same-sex marriage and gay rights more generally. Defenders of same-sex marriage acknowledge the fact that marriage is in many ways a conservative institution. Libertarians, liberationists, and some liberals doubt that marriage is fair given the diversity of people's conceptions of meaning and value in life. Many adopt an unnecessarily critical posture toward civil marriage. This chapter offers a sympathetic account of marriage that recognizes the importance for many people of marital commitment while also honoring, and indeed helping to secure, the equal liberty and fairness prized by liberals. It shows that the debate over gay rights has been shaped by the repeated articulation of a demand for public reasons and evidence to justify the shape of the law touching on gay rights and marriage. The demand for reasons was laid down by the dissenters in Bowers v. Hardwick (1987).Less
This chapter considers the main arguments raised by conservatives against same-sex marriage and gay rights more generally. Defenders of same-sex marriage acknowledge the fact that marriage is in many ways a conservative institution. Libertarians, liberationists, and some liberals doubt that marriage is fair given the diversity of people's conceptions of meaning and value in life. Many adopt an unnecessarily critical posture toward civil marriage. This chapter offers a sympathetic account of marriage that recognizes the importance for many people of marital commitment while also honoring, and indeed helping to secure, the equal liberty and fairness prized by liberals. It shows that the debate over gay rights has been shaped by the repeated articulation of a demand for public reasons and evidence to justify the shape of the law touching on gay rights and marriage. The demand for reasons was laid down by the dissenters in Bowers v. Hardwick (1987).
Daniel K. Williams
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- September 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195340846
- eISBN:
- 9780199867141
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195340846.003.0007
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
Although Jimmy Carter was a Southern Baptist, evangelicals came into conflict with his administration because of their opposition to his stances on the Equal Rights Amendment, abortion, and gay ...
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Although Jimmy Carter was a Southern Baptist, evangelicals came into conflict with his administration because of their opposition to his stances on the Equal Rights Amendment, abortion, and gay rights. Inspired by Francis Schaeffer, an American evangelical writer living in Switzerland, they began speaking out against “secular humanism,” which they claimed was destroying the nation. They turned to politics to save the country. Christian singer Anita Bryant organized a successful campaign against a gay rights ordinance in Miami, Florida, and launched a national campaign against gay rights that brought several evangelical pastors, including Jerry Falwell, into national politics. Cultural conservatives in the Southern Baptist Convention used the issue of abortion to take control of their denomination and enlist it in the culture wars. By 1980, evangelicals had developed a coherent political program to reclaim the nation.Less
Although Jimmy Carter was a Southern Baptist, evangelicals came into conflict with his administration because of their opposition to his stances on the Equal Rights Amendment, abortion, and gay rights. Inspired by Francis Schaeffer, an American evangelical writer living in Switzerland, they began speaking out against “secular humanism,” which they claimed was destroying the nation. They turned to politics to save the country. Christian singer Anita Bryant organized a successful campaign against a gay rights ordinance in Miami, Florida, and launched a national campaign against gay rights that brought several evangelical pastors, including Jerry Falwell, into national politics. Cultural conservatives in the Southern Baptist Convention used the issue of abortion to take control of their denomination and enlist it in the culture wars. By 1980, evangelicals had developed a coherent political program to reclaim the nation.
Stephen Brooke
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199562541
- eISBN:
- 9780191731167
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199562541.003.0009
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History, Cultural History
In the thirty years that followed the Sexual Offences Act of 1967, a struggle ensued within the Labour movement to accommodate gay rights. This struggle remained open and incomplete. The present ...
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In the thirty years that followed the Sexual Offences Act of 1967, a struggle ensued within the Labour movement to accommodate gay rights. This struggle remained open and incomplete. The present chapter begins with a discussion of the Gay Liberation Front, the Campaign for Homosexual Equality, and the Marxist gay Left. It then looks at the contributions made by the Greater London Council under Ken Livingstone to develop gay rights at the local level and the efforts by the Gay Labour Group to secure Labour Party commitments to gay rights. It considers the Bermondsey by-election of 1983 and Peter Tatchell’s role in that campaign and concludes with the effect of Section 28 and the modernization of the Labour Party after 1987.Less
In the thirty years that followed the Sexual Offences Act of 1967, a struggle ensued within the Labour movement to accommodate gay rights. This struggle remained open and incomplete. The present chapter begins with a discussion of the Gay Liberation Front, the Campaign for Homosexual Equality, and the Marxist gay Left. It then looks at the contributions made by the Greater London Council under Ken Livingstone to develop gay rights at the local level and the efforts by the Gay Labour Group to secure Labour Party commitments to gay rights. It considers the Bermondsey by-election of 1983 and Peter Tatchell’s role in that campaign and concludes with the effect of Section 28 and the modernization of the Labour Party after 1987.
Patrick J. Egan, Nathaniel Persily, and Kevin Wallsten
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195329414
- eISBN:
- 9780199851720
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195329414.003.0011
- Subject:
- Political Science, American Politics
The controversy surrounding gay rights represents the most recent part in the long story of often unpopular attempts by courts to protect minorities from discrimination and to broaden the ...
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The controversy surrounding gay rights represents the most recent part in the long story of often unpopular attempts by courts to protect minorities from discrimination and to broaden the constitutional guarantees concerning freedom of intimate associations. This chapter traces the remarkable rise in attitudes favorable toward gay people and gay rights over the past thirty years. It then explores the relationship between court decisions on gay rights and public opinion, with a close examination of the trajectory of opinion before and after two critical Supreme Court decisions regarding gay sex: Bowers v. Hardwick (1986) and Lawrence v. Texas (2003). In particular, it focuses on how Lawrence—although nominally about sodomy laws—instead catalyzed a highly salient debate over gay marriage, a debate that intensified after the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court issued a landmark decision granting gays and lesbians marriage rights in that state.Less
The controversy surrounding gay rights represents the most recent part in the long story of often unpopular attempts by courts to protect minorities from discrimination and to broaden the constitutional guarantees concerning freedom of intimate associations. This chapter traces the remarkable rise in attitudes favorable toward gay people and gay rights over the past thirty years. It then explores the relationship between court decisions on gay rights and public opinion, with a close examination of the trajectory of opinion before and after two critical Supreme Court decisions regarding gay sex: Bowers v. Hardwick (1986) and Lawrence v. Texas (2003). In particular, it focuses on how Lawrence—although nominally about sodomy laws—instead catalyzed a highly salient debate over gay marriage, a debate that intensified after the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court issued a landmark decision granting gays and lesbians marriage rights in that state.
Ronan Mccrea
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- January 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199595358
- eISBN:
- 9780191595776
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199595358.003.0006
- Subject:
- Law, EU Law
This chapter analyses how the limitations on the political influence of religion inherent in the vision of balance pursued by the Union have been highlighted in its dealings with outsiders whose ...
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This chapter analyses how the limitations on the political influence of religion inherent in the vision of balance pursued by the Union have been highlighted in its dealings with outsiders whose religions cannot readily be accommodated under the rubric of national cultural identity. It assesses the EU's approach to enlargement and the integration of immigrants to demonstrate failures on the part of religion to respect both the autonomy of the political and legal arenas from religious domination, and the principles of private autonomy are viewed as inconsistent with a European identity. In defending this identity, the Union has been willing to interfere with individual autonomy itself by seeking to regulate private religious viewpoints of migrants and in doing so the Union has at times appeared, at least implicitly, to regard some forms of religion, most notably Islam, as inherently less compatible with Europe's religious inheritance and identity than others.Less
This chapter analyses how the limitations on the political influence of religion inherent in the vision of balance pursued by the Union have been highlighted in its dealings with outsiders whose religions cannot readily be accommodated under the rubric of national cultural identity. It assesses the EU's approach to enlargement and the integration of immigrants to demonstrate failures on the part of religion to respect both the autonomy of the political and legal arenas from religious domination, and the principles of private autonomy are viewed as inconsistent with a European identity. In defending this identity, the Union has been willing to interfere with individual autonomy itself by seeking to regulate private religious viewpoints of migrants and in doing so the Union has at times appeared, at least implicitly, to regard some forms of religion, most notably Islam, as inherently less compatible with Europe's religious inheritance and identity than others.
Benjamin Shepard
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- September 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195326789
- eISBN:
- 9780199870356
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195326789.003.0002
- Subject:
- Psychology, Social Psychology
This chapter reviews competing narratives of queer sexuality during the postwar years. It begins with the intermingling Cold War red and lavender scares over communism and sexual perversion, ...
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This chapter reviews competing narratives of queer sexuality during the postwar years. It begins with the intermingling Cold War red and lavender scares over communism and sexual perversion, juxtaposed with calls for civil tolerance of homosexuals by the Mattachine Society and other early homophile groups in the 1950s. By the 1960s, narratives had shifted from treatment of homosexuals as second-class citizens—based on criminal and mental illness models—toward civil rights discourses centered on citizenship. By the 1970s, narratives had shifted toward a more assertive call for personal and sexual freedom. With the dawn of the acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) pandemic in the 1980s, narratives of gay life shifted once again, as homosexuality was again linked with images of illness. By the 1990s, panic narratives had become part of the ongoing debates about AIDS, sex, and pleasure as conservative and radical camps debated the contemporary meanings of queer sexuality.Less
This chapter reviews competing narratives of queer sexuality during the postwar years. It begins with the intermingling Cold War red and lavender scares over communism and sexual perversion, juxtaposed with calls for civil tolerance of homosexuals by the Mattachine Society and other early homophile groups in the 1950s. By the 1960s, narratives had shifted from treatment of homosexuals as second-class citizens—based on criminal and mental illness models—toward civil rights discourses centered on citizenship. By the 1970s, narratives had shifted toward a more assertive call for personal and sexual freedom. With the dawn of the acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) pandemic in the 1980s, narratives of gay life shifted once again, as homosexuality was again linked with images of illness. By the 1990s, panic narratives had become part of the ongoing debates about AIDS, sex, and pleasure as conservative and radical camps debated the contemporary meanings of queer sexuality.
Erin A. O'Hara and Larry E. Ribstein
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195312898
- eISBN:
- 9780199871025
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195312898.003.0008
- Subject:
- Political Science, American Politics
This chapter discusses the market for law relating to marriage and other family relationships. Marriage can be viewed as a kind of “standard form contract,” much like a corporation, where the parties ...
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This chapter discusses the market for law relating to marriage and other family relationships. Marriage can be viewed as a kind of “standard form contract,” much like a corporation, where the parties also contemplate a very long-term open-ended relationship. In many ways, however, marriage is quite different from corporate law because it relates to social policies that help shape the fabric of society. This chapter provides a brief history of choice of marriage law and describes how the contentious issue of same-sex marriage has compromised the place of celebration rule. It then discusses the supply and demand of state marriage law. On the demand side, couples seek new types of marriage rules. On the supply side, legislatures have been urged to accommodate same-sex relationships not only by would-be spouses, gay rights groups, and social liberals, but also by businesses wanting to attract these clients or customers to their states. This chapter also discusses the potential trend toward federal marriage rules. The chapter concludes by presenting a law market approach to divorce, as well as to other important social policy issues, including surrogacy contracts and living wills.Less
This chapter discusses the market for law relating to marriage and other family relationships. Marriage can be viewed as a kind of “standard form contract,” much like a corporation, where the parties also contemplate a very long-term open-ended relationship. In many ways, however, marriage is quite different from corporate law because it relates to social policies that help shape the fabric of society. This chapter provides a brief history of choice of marriage law and describes how the contentious issue of same-sex marriage has compromised the place of celebration rule. It then discusses the supply and demand of state marriage law. On the demand side, couples seek new types of marriage rules. On the supply side, legislatures have been urged to accommodate same-sex relationships not only by would-be spouses, gay rights groups, and social liberals, but also by businesses wanting to attract these clients or customers to their states. This chapter also discusses the potential trend toward federal marriage rules. The chapter concludes by presenting a law market approach to divorce, as well as to other important social policy issues, including surrogacy contracts and living wills.
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- March 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226544083
- eISBN:
- 9780226544106
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226544106.003.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, American Politics
This study examines the dramatically different levels of success that gay rights advocates have experienced on six key issues: the legalization of homosexual conduct, military service, adoption, ...
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This study examines the dramatically different levels of success that gay rights advocates have experienced on six key issues: the legalization of homosexual conduct, military service, adoption, marriage and partner recognition, hate crimes, and civil rights. Although it does not cover every issue of concern to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights advocates, it includes most of the movement's major goals—goals that also receive the lion's share of media coverage, the movement's resources, and policymakers' attention. The book's central argument is that two basic conditions shape the level of political success that gay rights advocates encounter: whether Americans perceive their demands as threatening and how political institutions mediate the resistance that arises from those perceptions. An overview of the subsequent chapters is also presented.Less
This study examines the dramatically different levels of success that gay rights advocates have experienced on six key issues: the legalization of homosexual conduct, military service, adoption, marriage and partner recognition, hate crimes, and civil rights. Although it does not cover every issue of concern to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights advocates, it includes most of the movement's major goals—goals that also receive the lion's share of media coverage, the movement's resources, and policymakers' attention. The book's central argument is that two basic conditions shape the level of political success that gay rights advocates encounter: whether Americans perceive their demands as threatening and how political institutions mediate the resistance that arises from those perceptions. An overview of the subsequent chapters is also presented.
Joanna L. Grossman and Lawrence M. Friedman
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691149820
- eISBN:
- 9781400839773
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691149820.001.0001
- Subject:
- Law, Family Law
This book is a comprehensive social history of twentieth-century family law in the United States. The book shows how vast, oceanic changes in society have reshaped and reconstituted the American ...
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This book is a comprehensive social history of twentieth-century family law in the United States. The book shows how vast, oceanic changes in society have reshaped and reconstituted the American family. Women and children have gained rights and powers, and novel forms of family life have emerged. The family has more or less dissolved into a collection of independent individuals with their own wants, desires, and goals. Modern family law, as always, reflects the brute social and cultural facts of family life. The story of family law in the twentieth century is complex. This was the century that said goodbye to common-law marriage and breach-of-promise lawsuits. This was the century, too, of the sexual revolution and women's liberation, of gay rights and cohabitation. Marriage lost its powerful monopoly over legitimate sexual behavior. Couples who lived together without marriage now had certain rights. Gay marriage became legal in a handful of jurisdictions. By the end of the century, no state still prohibited same-sex behavior. Children in many states could legally have two mothers or two fathers. No-fault divorce became cheap and easy. And illegitimacy lost most of its social and legal stigma. These changes were not smooth or linear—all met with resistance and provoked a certain amount of backlash. Families took many forms, some of them new and different, and though buffeted by the winds of change, the family persisted as a central institution in society. This book tells the story of that institution, exploring the ways in which law tried to penetrate and control this most mysterious realm of personal life.Less
This book is a comprehensive social history of twentieth-century family law in the United States. The book shows how vast, oceanic changes in society have reshaped and reconstituted the American family. Women and children have gained rights and powers, and novel forms of family life have emerged. The family has more or less dissolved into a collection of independent individuals with their own wants, desires, and goals. Modern family law, as always, reflects the brute social and cultural facts of family life. The story of family law in the twentieth century is complex. This was the century that said goodbye to common-law marriage and breach-of-promise lawsuits. This was the century, too, of the sexual revolution and women's liberation, of gay rights and cohabitation. Marriage lost its powerful monopoly over legitimate sexual behavior. Couples who lived together without marriage now had certain rights. Gay marriage became legal in a handful of jurisdictions. By the end of the century, no state still prohibited same-sex behavior. Children in many states could legally have two mothers or two fathers. No-fault divorce became cheap and easy. And illegitimacy lost most of its social and legal stigma. These changes were not smooth or linear—all met with resistance and provoked a certain amount of backlash. Families took many forms, some of them new and different, and though buffeted by the winds of change, the family persisted as a central institution in society. This book tells the story of that institution, exploring the ways in which law tried to penetrate and control this most mysterious realm of personal life.
Mark McCormack
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199778249
- eISBN:
- 9780199933051
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199778249.003.0020
- Subject:
- Psychology, Social Psychology, Developmental Psychology
This chapter uses both survey data and qualitative research to examine the shifting nature of homophobia over the past thirty years. It argues that homophobia reached its apex in the 1980s, as a ...
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This chapter uses both survey data and qualitative research to examine the shifting nature of homophobia over the past thirty years. It argues that homophobia reached its apex in the 1980s, as a result of three factors: 1) the AIDS crisis; 2) a resurgence of conservative politics; 3) the rise of the religious right. However, recent evidence shows that there has been a dramatic cultural decline in homophobia since the 1990s, particularly among male youth. Highlighting that declining homophobia is an uneven social process, it is argued that rather than being the result of economic changes, declining homophobia is primarily attributable to the success of the gay rights movement and the democratizing power of the Internet.Less
This chapter uses both survey data and qualitative research to examine the shifting nature of homophobia over the past thirty years. It argues that homophobia reached its apex in the 1980s, as a result of three factors: 1) the AIDS crisis; 2) a resurgence of conservative politics; 3) the rise of the religious right. However, recent evidence shows that there has been a dramatic cultural decline in homophobia since the 1990s, particularly among male youth. Highlighting that declining homophobia is an uneven social process, it is argued that rather than being the result of economic changes, declining homophobia is primarily attributable to the success of the gay rights movement and the democratizing power of the Internet.
Kent Roach
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199213290
- eISBN:
- 9780191707551
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199213290.003.0003
- Subject:
- Law, Public International Law, EU Law
This chapter begins with an examination of the political dimensions of Canada's debate about judicial activism, focusing on the criticisms of judicial activism that have come from both the ...
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This chapter begins with an examination of the political dimensions of Canada's debate about judicial activism, focusing on the criticisms of judicial activism that have come from both the conservative right and the progressive left. Judicial activism is discussed against the backdrop of various subject matters including criminal justice, national security, gay rights, Aboriginal and treaty rights, and various aspects of political, social, and economic policy. Such an approach facilitates a contextual discussion of judicial activism that includes the role of the courts not only in constitutional adjudication, but also with respect to statutory interpretation and the development of the common law.Less
This chapter begins with an examination of the political dimensions of Canada's debate about judicial activism, focusing on the criticisms of judicial activism that have come from both the conservative right and the progressive left. Judicial activism is discussed against the backdrop of various subject matters including criminal justice, national security, gay rights, Aboriginal and treaty rights, and various aspects of political, social, and economic policy. Such an approach facilitates a contextual discussion of judicial activism that includes the role of the courts not only in constitutional adjudication, but also with respect to statutory interpretation and the development of the common law.
Julie Coleman
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- January 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199567256
- eISBN:
- 9780191595073
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199567256.001.0001
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Sociolinguistics / Anthropological Linguistics, Lexicography
Although there are continuities with earlier slang lexicography, particularly in the work of Eric Partridge, the period covered by this volume sees a number of marked social and lexicographical ...
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Although there are continuities with earlier slang lexicography, particularly in the work of Eric Partridge, the period covered by this volume sees a number of marked social and lexicographical changes. The post-war cultural dominance of the United States is evident throughout, as is the influence of African‐American music and language. Slang dictionaries also document attempts by Britain and its colonies to (re)define their sense of national identity. Musical and cultural trends each produced their own characteristic slang, which was manipulated by commercial interests to target the youth market. Homosexual slang was documented first as a diagnostic tool for psychiatrists, but later became an expression of gay pride. Attempts to associate homosexuality with communism label gay rights as a significant threat to the structure of society. Drugs were another threat that became dominant in this period, and the punitive response saw a rapidly increasing prison population. Dictionaries of crime during this period tend to concentrate on the language used inside prisons rather than by criminals at large. But slang is not just for left-wingers. British dictionaries of rhyming slang and dictionaries of Australian slang both express anxieties about immigration through their attempts to construct a working‐class national identity. Right-wing pressure groups in the United States produced dictionaries of slang to reveal the threat represented by homosexuality and rock music. The biggest backlash is found in the numerous dictionaries of CB radio, which allowed blue‐collar white southerners to reconstruct themselves as freedom‐fighting urban cowboys.Less
Although there are continuities with earlier slang lexicography, particularly in the work of Eric Partridge, the period covered by this volume sees a number of marked social and lexicographical changes. The post-war cultural dominance of the United States is evident throughout, as is the influence of African‐American music and language. Slang dictionaries also document attempts by Britain and its colonies to (re)define their sense of national identity. Musical and cultural trends each produced their own characteristic slang, which was manipulated by commercial interests to target the youth market. Homosexual slang was documented first as a diagnostic tool for psychiatrists, but later became an expression of gay pride. Attempts to associate homosexuality with communism label gay rights as a significant threat to the structure of society. Drugs were another threat that became dominant in this period, and the punitive response saw a rapidly increasing prison population. Dictionaries of crime during this period tend to concentrate on the language used inside prisons rather than by criminals at large. But slang is not just for left-wingers. British dictionaries of rhyming slang and dictionaries of Australian slang both express anxieties about immigration through their attempts to construct a working‐class national identity. Right-wing pressure groups in the United States produced dictionaries of slang to reveal the threat represented by homosexuality and rock music. The biggest backlash is found in the numerous dictionaries of CB radio, which allowed blue‐collar white southerners to reconstruct themselves as freedom‐fighting urban cowboys.
Heather Rachelle White
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9781469624112
- eISBN:
- 9781469624792
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of North Carolina Press
- DOI:
- 10.5149/northcarolina/9781469624112.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Religious Studies
With a focus on mainline Protestants and gay rights activists in the twentieth century, this book challenges the usual picture of perennial adversaries with a new narrative about America's religious ...
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With a focus on mainline Protestants and gay rights activists in the twentieth century, this book challenges the usual picture of perennial adversaries with a new narrative about America's religious and sexual past. The book argues that today's antigay Christian traditions originated in the 1920s when a group of liberal Protestants began to incorporate psychiatry and psychotherapy into Christian teaching. A new therapeutic orthodoxy, influenced by modern medicine, celebrated heterosexuality as God-given and advocated a compassionate “cure” for homosexuality. The book traces the unanticipated consequences as the therapeutic model, gaining popularity after World War II, spurred mainline church leaders to take a critical stance toward rampant anti-homosexual discrimination. By the 1960s, a vanguard of clergy began to advocate for homosexual rights. The text highlights the continued importance of this religious support to the consolidating gay and lesbian movement. However, the ultimate irony of the therapeutic orthodoxy's legacy was its adoption, beginning in the 1970s, by the Christian Right, which embraced it as an age-old tradition to which Americans should return. On a broader level, the text challenges the assumed secularization narrative in LGBT progress by recovering the forgotten history of liberal Protestants' role on both sides of the debates over orthodoxy and sexual identity.Less
With a focus on mainline Protestants and gay rights activists in the twentieth century, this book challenges the usual picture of perennial adversaries with a new narrative about America's religious and sexual past. The book argues that today's antigay Christian traditions originated in the 1920s when a group of liberal Protestants began to incorporate psychiatry and psychotherapy into Christian teaching. A new therapeutic orthodoxy, influenced by modern medicine, celebrated heterosexuality as God-given and advocated a compassionate “cure” for homosexuality. The book traces the unanticipated consequences as the therapeutic model, gaining popularity after World War II, spurred mainline church leaders to take a critical stance toward rampant anti-homosexual discrimination. By the 1960s, a vanguard of clergy began to advocate for homosexual rights. The text highlights the continued importance of this religious support to the consolidating gay and lesbian movement. However, the ultimate irony of the therapeutic orthodoxy's legacy was its adoption, beginning in the 1970s, by the Christian Right, which embraced it as an age-old tradition to which Americans should return. On a broader level, the text challenges the assumed secularization narrative in LGBT progress by recovering the forgotten history of liberal Protestants' role on both sides of the debates over orthodoxy and sexual identity.
Stephen Brooke
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199562541
- eISBN:
- 9780191731167
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199562541.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History, Cultural History
Sexual Politics explores the complex relationship between sexuality and socialist politics in Britain between the 1880s and the present day. Looking at birth control, abortion law ...
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Sexual Politics explores the complex relationship between sexuality and socialist politics in Britain between the 1880s and the present day. Looking at birth control, abortion law reform, and gay rights, this book is a timely examination of the relationship between the personal and the political over the last century and a half. It tells the stories of individuals such as Edward Carpenter, Dora Russell, Sheila Rowbotham, Ken Livingstone, Peter Tatchell, and Tony Blair and organizations like the Workers' Birth Control Group, the Abortion Law Reform Association, the National Abortion Campaign, and the Labour Campaign for Lesbian and Gay Rights. Sexual radicalism, first and second wave feminism, and gay liberation all feature in the book's portrait of the progress of sexual politics from the late nineteenth century to the early twenty-first century. Sexual Politics also offers an analysis of the Labour Party's long and sometimes ambiguous link to issues of sexuality, ending with the considerable contribution made to sex reform by the New Labour governments of 1997 to 2010. Sexual issues were always under the surface of Labour politics in the twentieth century, emerging forcefully in the 1970s and 1980s in a way that brought both division and unity to the party. The book stresses the importance of class and gender identity to the fate of sexual issues in British politics, the dynamic nature of British socialism, and the impact of sexual radicalism, feminism, and gay liberation upon socialist and working-class politics. Sexual Politics argues that the shifting relationship between the personal and the political is a central element of twentieth-century British history, a relationship that helped define the character of political modernity.Less
Sexual Politics explores the complex relationship between sexuality and socialist politics in Britain between the 1880s and the present day. Looking at birth control, abortion law reform, and gay rights, this book is a timely examination of the relationship between the personal and the political over the last century and a half. It tells the stories of individuals such as Edward Carpenter, Dora Russell, Sheila Rowbotham, Ken Livingstone, Peter Tatchell, and Tony Blair and organizations like the Workers' Birth Control Group, the Abortion Law Reform Association, the National Abortion Campaign, and the Labour Campaign for Lesbian and Gay Rights. Sexual radicalism, first and second wave feminism, and gay liberation all feature in the book's portrait of the progress of sexual politics from the late nineteenth century to the early twenty-first century. Sexual Politics also offers an analysis of the Labour Party's long and sometimes ambiguous link to issues of sexuality, ending with the considerable contribution made to sex reform by the New Labour governments of 1997 to 2010. Sexual issues were always under the surface of Labour politics in the twentieth century, emerging forcefully in the 1970s and 1980s in a way that brought both division and unity to the party. The book stresses the importance of class and gender identity to the fate of sexual issues in British politics, the dynamic nature of British socialism, and the impact of sexual radicalism, feminism, and gay liberation upon socialist and working-class politics. Sexual Politics argues that the shifting relationship between the personal and the political is a central element of twentieth-century British history, a relationship that helped define the character of political modernity.
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- March 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226544083
- eISBN:
- 9780226544106
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226544106.003.0008
- Subject:
- Political Science, American Politics
This chapter returns to the central research question—why have gays and lesbians succeeded in reaching some of their goals more than others? After summarizing the book's main findings and integrating ...
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This chapter returns to the central research question—why have gays and lesbians succeeded in reaching some of their goals more than others? After summarizing the book's main findings and integrating them into a typology of social movement success and failure, it assesses their broader implications. First, it considers the findings on the role of the courts in gay rights in light of recent skepticism about the judiciary's contribution to protecting minority rights. Second, it shows that the issue-based perspective on social movement success helps us to build empirical generalizations across social movements. Finally, the chapter speculates about the gay rights movement's future prospects, suggests changes in the movement's strategies that might help gay rights advocates improve their chances for success, and assesses the feasibility and effectiveness of several options.Less
This chapter returns to the central research question—why have gays and lesbians succeeded in reaching some of their goals more than others? After summarizing the book's main findings and integrating them into a typology of social movement success and failure, it assesses their broader implications. First, it considers the findings on the role of the courts in gay rights in light of recent skepticism about the judiciary's contribution to protecting minority rights. Second, it shows that the issue-based perspective on social movement success helps us to build empirical generalizations across social movements. Finally, the chapter speculates about the gay rights movement's future prospects, suggests changes in the movement's strategies that might help gay rights advocates improve their chances for success, and assesses the feasibility and effectiveness of several options.
Stephen Brooke
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199562541
- eISBN:
- 9780191731167
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199562541.003.0010
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History, Cultural History
Beginning in 1998, there were a series of parliamentary initiatives that reshaped the place of gay men and lesbian women in British society. In 2000, after a two-year struggle between the Commons and ...
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Beginning in 1998, there were a series of parliamentary initiatives that reshaped the place of gay men and lesbian women in British society. In 2000, after a two-year struggle between the Commons and the Lords, the age of consent was equalized at 16 between homosexuals and heterosexuals. The ban on gays and lesbians in the armed forces was also ended that year. In a new Sexual Offences Act, gross indecency was abolished as an offence. The year 2003 also witnessed the repeal of Section 28. This chapter concludes the book by examining the legislative record of the New Labour governments of 1997 to 2010 on sexual questions, notably gay and lesbian rights, but also with relationship to reproductive politics. It argues that this record is a significant and substantial one in reshaping personal and political life in Britain.Less
Beginning in 1998, there were a series of parliamentary initiatives that reshaped the place of gay men and lesbian women in British society. In 2000, after a two-year struggle between the Commons and the Lords, the age of consent was equalized at 16 between homosexuals and heterosexuals. The ban on gays and lesbians in the armed forces was also ended that year. In a new Sexual Offences Act, gross indecency was abolished as an offence. The year 2003 also witnessed the repeal of Section 28. This chapter concludes the book by examining the legislative record of the New Labour governments of 1997 to 2010 on sexual questions, notably gay and lesbian rights, but also with relationship to reproductive politics. It argues that this record is a significant and substantial one in reshaping personal and political life in Britain.
Gary Mucciaroni
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- March 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226544083
- eISBN:
- 9780226544106
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226544106.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, American Politics
Why is it so much harder for American same-sex couples to get married than it is for them to adopt children? And why does the United States military prevent gays from serving openly even though ...
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Why is it so much harder for American same-sex couples to get married than it is for them to adopt children? And why does the United States military prevent gays from serving openly even though jurisdictions nationwide continue to render such discrimination illegal? Illuminating the conditions that engender these contradictory policies, this book explains why gay rights advocates have achieved dramatically different levels of success from one policy area to another. The first book to compare results across a wide range of gay rights struggles, this volume explores debates over laws governing military service, homosexual conduct, adoption, marriage and partner recognition, hate crimes, and civil rights. It reveals that in each area, the gay rights movement's achievements depend both on Americans' perceptions of its demands and on the political venue in which the conflict plays out. Adoption policy, for example, generally takes shape in a decentralized system of courts that enables couples to target sympathetic judges, while fights for gay marriage generally culminate in legislation or ballot referenda against which it is easier to mount opposition. Brilliantly synthesizing all the factors that contribute to each kind of outcome, this book establishes a new framework for understanding the trajectory of a movement.Less
Why is it so much harder for American same-sex couples to get married than it is for them to adopt children? And why does the United States military prevent gays from serving openly even though jurisdictions nationwide continue to render such discrimination illegal? Illuminating the conditions that engender these contradictory policies, this book explains why gay rights advocates have achieved dramatically different levels of success from one policy area to another. The first book to compare results across a wide range of gay rights struggles, this volume explores debates over laws governing military service, homosexual conduct, adoption, marriage and partner recognition, hate crimes, and civil rights. It reveals that in each area, the gay rights movement's achievements depend both on Americans' perceptions of its demands and on the political venue in which the conflict plays out. Adoption policy, for example, generally takes shape in a decentralized system of courts that enables couples to target sympathetic judges, while fights for gay marriage generally culminate in legislation or ballot referenda against which it is easier to mount opposition. Brilliantly synthesizing all the factors that contribute to each kind of outcome, this book establishes a new framework for understanding the trajectory of a movement.
Heather R. White
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9781469624112
- eISBN:
- 9781469624792
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of North Carolina Press
- DOI:
- 10.5149/northcarolina/9781469624112.003.0007
- Subject:
- Religion, Religious Studies
This epilogue argues that the support of liberal Protestants for the gay rights movement had been eclipsed by the Christian Right. Activists of this movement presented religion as a sui generis ...
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This epilogue argues that the support of liberal Protestants for the gay rights movement had been eclipsed by the Christian Right. Activists of this movement presented religion as a sui generis source for a politics led by the convictions of true believers, and they cast the gains of gay rights, feminism, and abortion as the antireligious encroachment of secular movements. In the late 1970s, the Christian Right gained grassroots support and political influence for a socially conservative politics of “moral values.” Their intervention in public policy discussions of gender and sexuality worked to effectively define religion as social conservatism. The shift toward conservative religious political influence was not a return but a consolidation. The rhetoric of moral values skirted important dynamics of race, class, and geography, which were important to the formation of a particular alliance between socially conservative white voters and the Republican Party.Less
This epilogue argues that the support of liberal Protestants for the gay rights movement had been eclipsed by the Christian Right. Activists of this movement presented religion as a sui generis source for a politics led by the convictions of true believers, and they cast the gains of gay rights, feminism, and abortion as the antireligious encroachment of secular movements. In the late 1970s, the Christian Right gained grassroots support and political influence for a socially conservative politics of “moral values.” Their intervention in public policy discussions of gender and sexuality worked to effectively define religion as social conservatism. The shift toward conservative religious political influence was not a return but a consolidation. The rhetoric of moral values skirted important dynamics of race, class, and geography, which were important to the formation of a particular alliance between socially conservative white voters and the Republican Party.
Ashbee Edward
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- July 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780719072765
- eISBN:
- 9781781701294
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719072765.003.0004
- Subject:
- Political Science, American Politics
This chapter examines the views and policies of George W. Bush on the issues of same-sex marriage, AIDS and gay rights, discussing the support of gay rights campaigners to the structure and style of ...
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This chapter examines the views and policies of George W. Bush on the issues of same-sex marriage, AIDS and gay rights, discussing the support of gay rights campaigners to the structure and style of the Bush 2000 presidential campaign and highlighting the role of the Log Cabin Republicans in his election victory. It comments on Bush's views about the Federal Marriage Amendment. The chapter argues that Bush's endorsement of civil unions may well be representative of a developing trend, and that the momentum and pace of same-sex marriage as an issue may depend upon the courts and the process of judicial adjudication rather than on the course of popular opinion or the actions of campaigning organizations.Less
This chapter examines the views and policies of George W. Bush on the issues of same-sex marriage, AIDS and gay rights, discussing the support of gay rights campaigners to the structure and style of the Bush 2000 presidential campaign and highlighting the role of the Log Cabin Republicans in his election victory. It comments on Bush's views about the Federal Marriage Amendment. The chapter argues that Bush's endorsement of civil unions may well be representative of a developing trend, and that the momentum and pace of same-sex marriage as an issue may depend upon the courts and the process of judicial adjudication rather than on the course of popular opinion or the actions of campaigning organizations.
Eric Heinze
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- May 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780199548781
- eISBN:
- 9780191720673
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199548781.003.0015
- Subject:
- Law, Human Rights and Immigration
Non-discrimination norms in human rights instruments generally enumerate specified categories for protection, such as race, ethnicity, sex, or religion, etc. They often omit express reference to ...
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Non-discrimination norms in human rights instruments generally enumerate specified categories for protection, such as race, ethnicity, sex, or religion, etc. They often omit express reference to sexual minorities. Through open-ended interpretation, however, sexual minorities subsequently become incorporated. That ‘cumulative jurisprudence’ yields protections for sexual minorities through norms governing privacy, employment, age of consent, or freedoms of speech and association. Hate speech bans, too, are often formulated with reference to traditionally recognised categories, particularly race and religion. It might be expected that the same cumulative jurisprudence should therefore be applied to include sexual minorities. This chapter challenges that approach. Hate speech bans suffer from inherent flaws. They either promote discrimination by limiting the number of protected categories, or, by including all meritorious categories, would dramatically limit free speech. Sexual minorities within longstanding, stable, and prosperous democracies should generally enjoy all human rights, but should not necessarily seek the protections of hate speech bans.Less
Non-discrimination norms in human rights instruments generally enumerate specified categories for protection, such as race, ethnicity, sex, or religion, etc. They often omit express reference to sexual minorities. Through open-ended interpretation, however, sexual minorities subsequently become incorporated. That ‘cumulative jurisprudence’ yields protections for sexual minorities through norms governing privacy, employment, age of consent, or freedoms of speech and association. Hate speech bans, too, are often formulated with reference to traditionally recognised categories, particularly race and religion. It might be expected that the same cumulative jurisprudence should therefore be applied to include sexual minorities. This chapter challenges that approach. Hate speech bans suffer from inherent flaws. They either promote discrimination by limiting the number of protected categories, or, by including all meritorious categories, would dramatically limit free speech. Sexual minorities within longstanding, stable, and prosperous democracies should generally enjoy all human rights, but should not necessarily seek the protections of hate speech bans.
