Subjects:  1. Corporations    2. Employment    3. Gay Studies    4. Gay rights    5. Gays    6. Gender Studies    7. Social Science    8. Sociology    9. United States    10. Gay & Lesbian studies    11. Labour economics    12. USA   

Subjects:  1. Australia    2. Gay Studies    3. Gay activists    4. Gay rights    5. Indonesia    6. Political Science    7. Politics/International Relations    8. Public Policy - Social Policy    9. Singapore    10. Sociology    11. Sociology - General    12. Human rights   

Editorial Review

Based on close study of the abolitionist movement and expanding on the author's previous books on American revolutionary constitutionalism, Read more

Subjects:  1. Constitutional    2. Feminism    3. Gay Studies    4. Gay/Lesbian Nonfiction    5. Gays    6. Gender & the Law    7. Law    8. Legal Reference / Law Profession    9. Legal status, laws, etc    10. Legal status, laws, etc.    11. Sex and law    12. United States    13. Women's Studies - General    14. Constitution: government & the state    15. Gay & Lesbian studies    16. Human rights    17. Social Science / Women's Studies   

Editorial Review

Few academics write as crisply as the sociologist Alan Wolfe, and even fewer are capable of making the penetrating insights that sprinkle the pages of this engaging study of suburban psychology. Based on 200 extensive interviews with middle-class Americans, Wolfe's study uncovers a striking tolerance. Americans, according to the author, can be quite harsh when judging their own behavior, but they exhibit a hands-off approach with others. (Wolfe also cites an exception to this rule: homosexuality.) Americans are not torn apart by any kind of cultural war, contrary to the claims of intellectuals on both the right and left. Instead, writes Wolfe, they are a practical people willing to accept social change. Forget the shallow opinion polls that appear every few days in the news. Read more

Reviews (7)

Alternative alternative views
Though I have not read this book, the last review begs for a response... if you are interested in accounts that go beyond the red and blue divisions and explore similarities, I recommend "Culture War? The Myth of a Polarized America" by Morris Fiorina, a Stanford political scientist.
Thorough insight into middle class america
I had to read this book for my introductory Sociology class, and did so purely out of requirement. However, what I found was that I actually liked the book. It was excellently written and the research behind it was sound. It offers a glimpse into the American middle class that is both interesting and important. I look forward to reading more books by Alan Wolfe.

Hard to Read? Yes...but worth it
I agree with Denise's review that this book offers hope more than anything else. It is rather academic, and does make you want to put it down.Read more

Subjects:  1. Attitudes    2. Middle class    3. Moral conditions    4. Political Science    5. Politics/International Relations    6. Public Policy - Social Policy    7. Social values    8. Sociology    9. Sociology - General    10. United States    11. Central government policies    12. History / United States / 21st Century    13. Social welfare & social services   

Reviews (1)

A philosopher's take on the emergence of Queer Rights
This book was written by a philosopher, not a lawyer or an activist, and has an entirely different approach to the issues he discussses. The writing is lucid, the reasoning is meticulous and the book provides a fascinating perspective on the role of Queer rights in American Society.Well worth reading. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Discrimination & Racism    2. Gay Studies    3. Gay rights    4. Gays    5. Government - U.S. Government    6. Political Freedom & Security - Civil Rights    7. Politics - Current Events    8. Politics / Current Events    9. Same-sex marriage    10. Social Science    11. Sociology    12. Sociology - Marriage & Family    13. United States    14. Gay & Lesbian studies   

Reviews (6)

Excellent Book
This is an excellent, well-researched and well-arguedinformative book. It is presented in a useful question and answer format and I suppose the strength of the truth it contains and the accessibility of its common sense assertions must really annoy its closed-minded detractors. The information it contains deserves to be widely read.

0 stars
Nice to read about how the religious right thinks people who are different than they are shouldn't have rights ... Tasteless
It takes an experienced lawyer to piece together sketchy outdated information, common folk-myths and prejudices regarding the gay community to create a fantastic piece of propoganda for the Christian Right. Magnuson does just that, perpetuating every myth from "homosexualslobby for pedophilia" to "gay men sleep with hundreds of othermen each year."Read more

Subjects:  1. Christianity    2. Gay Studies    3. Gay rights    4. General    5. Homophobia    6. Homosexuality    7. Religion - Contemporary Issues    8. Religious aspects    9. Sociology - General    10. United States   

Reviews (2)

From fear to action
This scholarly work, dedicated to the memory of Matthew Shepard, whose brutal homophobic killing mobilized a nation to cry out in anger and shame, is an important contributor to the understanding of the basis of crimes of violence against minority groups targeted by a shameful segment of the majority. As a research project with multiple contributors, the legal definition of a hate crime is provided as the basis of explaining the reasons that acts of violence against minorities qualify as hate crimes, the origins of various prejudices that fuel and "justify" acts of violence and how many states have failed or ignored the cry to enhance the legal sanctions for acts of violence based solely on prejudice, racism, homophobia and other dynamics that figure into the equation. In addition to addressing prejudice as it applies to the individual, the research here also addresses the prejudice that is inherent in society and some of its institutions and how their discrimination against certain minorities constitute a form of violence (societal vs. individual). It is somewhat disgraceful how many are the states which have not even acknowledged the existence of institutional hate crimes much less provided equal redress. One cannot help but be moved by either anger or shame at the violence perpetrated on people solely on the basis of their sexual orientation, religion, gender, race and national origin, among others. But as other public figures through U.S. history turned their anger and shame into action for equality, this project issues a call to action that empowers the targets of hate crimes with judicial and societal equality. That action alone may well be the optimal expression to the memory of a young, young man whose ultimate death began tied to a fence on a cold, wind-swept Wyoming prairie.

Full of Information
I am a grad student in psychology doing a thesis on gay/lesbian hate crimes. This volume is moving and insightful. I wish the editors had included info from Gregory Herek, who is a leader in the field. All in all a good read with good info. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Crimes against    2. Gay Studies    3. Gay rights    4. Gay/Lesbian Nonfiction    5. Gays    6. Gender Studies    7. Hate crimes    8. Lesbian Studies    9. Political Freedom & Security - Human Rights    10. Social Science    11. Violence in Society   

Reviews (2)

Important History
The editors, Devon Carbado and Donald Weise, have done the important work of bringing to us the writings of the central, but neglected, civil rights- and human rights- activist, Bayard Rustin.Their well-written Introduction does a superb job of properly placing Rustin within his times and sharing the story of this complex and important historical figure.The Rustin writings relating to his life as a gay man in America in the middle part of the 20th century are often as insightful as Rustin's writings on the movement.An important work.

The gay brotha speaks!
The person who organized the 1963 March on Washington for Civil Rights was a black gay man!Two eminent scholars, Carbado and Weise, who have done much to open space for black gay studies continue that tradition by compiling some of Bayard Rustin's most famous speeches.The book starts with a well-done biography of the leader.The next sections are speeches on a range of issues which show how thoroughly ahead of his time this brotha was.Read more

Subjects:  1. 20th century    2. African Americans    3. Blacks In The U.S.    4. Civil rights    5. Civil rights movements    6. Ethnic Studies - African American Studies - General    7. Ethnic Studies - African American Studies - Histor    8. Gay Studies    9. History    10. History - U.S.    11. Multicultural Nonfiction    12. Nonviolence    13. Political Freedom & Security - Civil Rights    14. Social Movements    15. Social Science    16. United States    17. United States - 20th Century    18. Black studies    19. Civil rights & citizenship    20. Gay studies (Gay men)    21. USA   

Reviews (5)

Excellent biography
Rustin's story is a curious one -- how is it that a militant Quaker pacifist, a man who chose to go to prison during World War II, is found defending Lyndon Johnson's Presidency in 1968? The answer lies in the various tragedies of the '60's: the vestiges of the Cold War that shaped American policies; Johnson's ability to commit to progressive domestic policies but inability to shake free of the worst of the Cold War mentality; the triumphs and the tragic splintering of the American Civil Rights movement; and perhaps in Rustin's personal tragedy, that of a gay, black pacifist whose biggest political obstacle was not found in the radicalism of his ideas but in his attempt to live his personal life as a gay man.
Anything ahead of the times has a hard time in its own time
Like many other people, I had not learned that 1963 March on Washington organizer Bayard Rustin was also homosexual. Because Rustin lived in a time when homosexuality was stigmatized (and march organizers had believed public recognition of his homosexuality was not 'respectable' Rustin had to keep this portion of his life hidden in order to have impact at this event.
A name restored
This biography is dedicated to the notion that Bayard Rustin deserves to be rememebered. John D'Emilio is persuasive in that regard. This is a scholarly work and it's well-written. The author does an excellent job of placing Rustin's life in context, showing where he fits in as a 20th century organizer and civil rights activist. It's a satisfying work. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 1912-1987    2. African American civil rights    3. African American civil rights workers    4. African American pacifists    5. African Americans    6. Biography    7. Biography & Autobiography    8. Biography / Autobiography    9. Biography/Autobiography    10. Ethnic Studies - African American Studies - Histor    11. General    12. People of Color    13. Political Freedom & Security - Civil Rights    14. Rustin, Bayard,    15. Black studies    16. Civil rights & citizenship    17. Gay studies (Gay men)    18. History / United States / General    19. USA   

Reviews (3)

Great Book for Supporters Looking to Help
I just bought this book for my mom, as she's been trying to be more supportive in the gay community but is sometimes unsure of how to help or how to get involved (beyond her monthly PFLAG meetings).I read through this book before giving it to her, and I really liked the variety of views in the 50+ essays.From my experienced gay perspective, there was nothing really new, although a lot of the passages were reassuring and reminded me of the reasons we have to fight.However, I think this book is a great guide for someone who's not as confident about how to respond to homophobia at work, what to call your child's same-sex romantic partner, knowing the difference between the terms transgender and transvestite, correct pronoun usage, reconciling religion and tolerance, writing to politicians about gay rights, etc.I also liked the box at the end of each essay that lists concrete things that gays and straights alike can do to support the cause that the essay focuses on.Great, timely book!

Great Resource
Like the previous reviewer, I am also a contributor to this anthology. This being said, I found this to be a helpful resource with a lot of potential. It's not overly dense with gayisms so it makes for a very practical gift for friends and relatives of GLBT folks. It would also be a useful tool in any school/church library.

Great collection of essys
Disclosure: I'm one of the authors.However, I honestly believe this is a very interesting and worthwhile book. It provides a perspective on 50 of the most important aspects of the LGBT movement from the movement's most important leaders in each of these areas.There's a lot of substance here since each author only had a couple of pages to make their point. A good overview of the movement, with a practical what-you-can-do-to-help focus, and suitable for both LGBT people, their friends, family and supporters, and anyone else who just wants to understand the the LGBT movement better. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Gay Studies    2. Gender Studies    3. Homosexuality    4. Lesbian Studies    5. Political Freedom & Security - Civil Rights    6. Public Policy    7. Public Policy - General    8. Social Science    9. Sociology   

Editorial Review

Dan Woog's inspiring and in some cases astonishing stories of heterosexual activists will banish for a few hours those images of homophobes closing in with pitchforks that television coverage of gay issues so often conjures. Most of the friendly crusaders in Read more

Reviews (3)

Uplifting
As a long time activist, I was heartened to read this book (Strongly reccomended by various literary reviews). Inspiring
I just got done reading this book, and cannot adequately praise the depth and scope of the essays. Some of the contributors are already infamous, others are starting out, but they are connected by an unyielding spirit ofequality and justice. Hope in a world of bigotry
At a time when equality and social justice are at a premium in Hawaii, this book gives me a much needed boost.I wish I would have thought to send a copy to each Hawaii Supreme Court Judge before they choose on theside of hatred and injustice.Being a pollyanna, I keep thinking that suchnarrow mindedness is just a lack of information. Thank you Dan forreminding us of hope for tomorrow. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Biography    2. Biography & Autobiography    3. Biography/Autobiography    4. Gay Studies    5. Gay liberation movement    6. General    7. Heterosexuals    8. Lesbian Studies    9. Social reformers    10. United States    11. Gay & Lesbian studies    12. Human rights   

Reviews (1)

The next level
This wonderful book brings it all together on the thinking of a "politics of friendship", taking from Derrida, Nancy, Blanchot and others and moving forward, reawakening angles on our thinking of community, the promise of utopian thought... the kind of "immature" radical re-thinking of ethics and the political that those who would prefer generic identities and allegiances have always sought to push aside.
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Subjects:  1. 19th century    2. 20th century    3. Anti-imperialist movements    4. England    5. Gay Studies    6. History    7. History & Theory - Radical Thought    8. History: World    9. Modern - 20th Century    10. Politics / Current Events    11. Radicalism    12. Semiotics & Theory    13. Gay & Lesbian Studies/Queer Th    14. Human rights    15. Postcolonial Studies    16. South Asian Studies   

Reviews (2)

Queering the movementfor global justice!
This is one amazing, fabulous book, rich with people's history and political analysis, thoroughly debunking the myth that the anti-globalization movement is strictly a middle-class white, male, heterosexual phenomenon. As a young radical queer male living with AIDS, I especially enjoyed how the authors interlinked the struggle for economic justice with the fight for sexual freedom. From community gardens to ACT UP to the Battle of Seattle, this book brilliantly documents the social imagination of this movement of movements. Without a doubt, this is one of the best books on the global justice movement around, a definitive activist masterpiece!

is there a link?
Some of the essays in this book are excellent, providing real life evidence of efforts to build community power through documenting struggles on a local level. Still on a whole this book represents an assemblage of popular kitch.Shepard and Hayduk don't seem to provide any unifying theme other than the fact that various groups are organizing.Does the ACT-UP struggle resemble community labor coalition organizing?What are the differences between the so called "Urban Protest and Community Building."The derivative nature of the collection is clear to this reader since I found much of the work widely available elsewhere.The editors effort is commendable but a better project would have linked the movements in a coherent fashion.I certainly think that each of the sundry efforts are interesting, but they do not add up to any trend.The authors mix and match organizing that does not help me in understanding the various trajectories presented in the essays that are on the whole fairly interesting but taken together do not show any semblance of coherence.
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Subjects:  1. Gay Studies    2. History & Theory - Radical Thought    3. International - Economics    4. Political Science    5. Politics / Current Events    6. Politics/International Relations    7. Public Policy - Economic Policy    8. Public Policy - General    9. Civil rights & citizenship    10. Demonstrations & protest movements   

Reviews (1)

Be sure to get the current year
My partner and I were super excited to get this book, only to realize when we got it that last year's edition wouldn't help at all.With the laws changing, or threatening or promising to, all the time,state-by-state,if you don't get the current year your not getting what you need, so used copies of this book really aren't a deal. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Constitutional    2. Domestic Relations - General    3. Domestic Relations Law    4. Gay Studies    5. Gay couples    6. Gender & the Law    7. Homosexuality    8. Human Rights    9. Law    10. Law and legislation    11. Legal Reference / Law Profession    12. Legal status, laws, etc    13. Legal status, laws, etc.    14. Lesbian couples    15. Same-sex marriage    16. United States   

Subjects:  1. Canada    2. Constitutional    3. Gay Studies    4. Gay rights    5. Gender Studies    6. Homosexuality    7. Law and legislation    8. Public Policy - Social Policy    9. Social Science    10. Sociology    11. United States    12. Family & relationships    13. Gay & Lesbian studies    14. Laws of Other Jurisdictions & General Law    15. Social Science / Gay Studies    16. USA   

Reviews (2)

Inspiring
As a gay man, this is the most inspiring book I have ever read.
The perfect guide for all stages of a gay man's relationship
This is a MUST for every gay man's library, despite their religious background.It covers how to meet guys, what types to avoid, how couple dynamics work, when to end a bad relationship, and how to deal with theloss of a beau.Read more

Subjects:  1. Homosexuality, Male    2. Psychological aspects    3. United States   

Reviews (1)

a marvelous, necessary book
The Gay Rights Movement edited by Vincent Samar is an essential, must-read book. Samar has collected the most important and often controversial NY Times articles on gay issues in this century. Samar's intelligent selection shows the evolution of an entire culture. In terms of human rights, we give a lot for granted. Reading Samar's book reminds us that nothing is a given. Highly recommended in particular for young readers. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Gay Studies    2. Gay liberation movement    3. Gay men    4. Gay rights    5. Gender Studies    6. History    7. Lesbian Studies    8. Political Freedom & Security - Civil Rights    9. Social Science    10. Sociology    11. Sociology - General    12. United States    13. Gay & Lesbian studies    14. Human rights    15. Postwar period, 1945 to c 2000    16. Reference / General    17. Social history   

Reviews (4)

Critical reading for all concerned about fairness
Initally appearing to defy all odds, GLBT conservatives have become the media darlings of the 21st century precisley because the far right can use them as 'cover' for their own bias and hatred. Yawn....
If you wanted to conpare this book to a feature in the Goldstein-edited Village Voice, it would have to be Michael Musto's gossip column rather than the more thoughful social/political analysis of people like Nat Hentoff. Yawn....
If you wanted to conpare this book to a feature in the Goldstein-edited Village Voice, it would have to be Michael Musto's gossip column rather than the more thoughful social/political analysis of people like Nat Hentoff.Read more

Subjects:  1. Gay Studies    2. History & Theory - General    3. Homosexuality    4. Lesbian Studies    5. Political Doctrines    6. Politics / Current Events    7. Social Science    8. Sociology   

Subjects:  1. Gay Studies    2. Gay liberation movement    3. Gay rights    4. Gender Studies    5. Lesbian Studies    6. Political Freedom & Security - Civil Rights    7. Politics and government    8. Public Policy - Social Policy    9. Social Science    10. Social policy    11. Sociology    12. United States    13. American studies    14. Cultural studies    15. Gay & Lesbian studies    16. Human rights    17. USA   

Editorial Review

If this meticulously documented and compellingly narrated chronicle of the gay-related cases before the nation's highest court over the past fifty-odd years were even half as good as it is--or, ideally, half as long--it would still be terrific. Lending heft to the notion that the couple that investigates together domesticates together, veteran D.C. journalists Joyce Murdoch and Deb Price, life partners since 1985, have composed the gay bookend to Bob Woodward's Read more

Reviews (10)

First rate and well worthyour time
I must admit that the amazon review above by Timothy Murphy is so on point that I won't attempt to write a general description, except to say that I agree in the main with the reviews below. A few points do bear making.
Fascinating and comprehensive
I picked up this book, and as an attorney I expected a dry legal analysis, instead I was happy to discover a more lively look at the history of gay rights.The authors have taken the time to track down many of the individuals who were involved in these cases going all the way back to the 1950s.It is fascinating to read about gay men and lesbians who stood up for themselves when there was really no hope, yet persisted at the cost of their jobs, personal freedom, and relationships.I was taken aback by some of the heroism and am inspired by the courage and unwillingness to compromise. In search of "Equal Justice Under Law"
"Courting Justice" is an authoritative account of gay men and lesbians who have petitioned the court for their civil rights.Read more

Subjects:  1. Gay Studies    2. General    3. Homosexuality    4. Legal Reference / Law Profession    5. Political And Civil Rights    6. Political Freedom & Security - Civil Rights    7. Social Science    8. Sociology    9. Law    10. Gay/Lesbian Nonfiction