The Attack Queers: Liberal Society and the Gay Right [Hardcover]

Richard Goldstein (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 17, 2002

Charts and critiques the rise of the gay right.

For most of its history, the American gay movement has been part of the democratic Left. Gay liberation's founders were Communists, and its activist core is still overwhelmingly progressive. But in recent years, a more affluent group of gay men has begun to make its mark. Though they are a minority in the queer community (which includes people of all races, classes and genders), conservatives have become the loudest gay voices in the mainstream media. With their withering contempt for feminism and radical politics, these 'gayocons' are changing the movement's public image. Unless their rise is met by a persuasive critique, they may also alter its heart and soul.

The Attack Queers offers such a critique. It describes how the gay Right agenda differs from the one the queer community has long embraced. Never abandoning its analysis of the complex relationship between homosexuals and liberal society, the book examines the conflict between liberationists and assimilationists that has raged since the Stonewall era, and explores how political success tipped the balance and facilitated the rise of the gay Right. Finally this book offers an alternative to gay conservatism grounded in queer humanism, a distinct sensibility that has been a major force in progressive thought for more than a century.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

"The gay right is on the march," warns Village Voice executive editor Richard Goldstein (Reporting the Counterculture) in his slim new primer on the rise of conservatism among gays and lesbians. The Attack Queers: Liberal Society and the Gay Right looks at the work and the public personas of prominent "homocons" like Andrew Sullivan, Camille Paglia and Norah Vincent, and at the political implications of gay conservatism and Republican alliances for the gay and lesbian population at large. For Goldstein, the rise of the gay right points to some weaknesses in liberal gay activism, and he exhorts bourgeois "strivers" not to abandon their more radical counterparts.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Village Voice veteran Goldstein trumpets the countercharge against the gay right, who are not homosexual Republicans but "attack queers" Andrew Sullivan, Norah Vincent, and Camille Paglia. That wicked trio wants gays to merge with the mainstream by adopting traditional gender behavior, and they are using advocacy of same-sex marriage as their stalking-horse. To the objection that the terrible three are all professed liberal Democrats, Goldstein replies that their adoption by the media as preferred gay spokespersons betokens antigay liberal backlash. Goldstein's quotations from and characterizations of his three targets merit his calling them heartless, yet the egalitarianism he advocates, which includes approving public sex and infidelity (disapproval would be forcing one's morals on others), seems unrealistic and just as heartless. Still, though he overuses gay slang and indulges in too many dubious factoids (e.g., "Nearly a fifth of all women have been raped") and biases ("Jews could never be real Christians"), Goldstein writes, even if he doesn't think, coherently. Ray Olson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 112 pages
• Publisher: Verso (June 17, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1859846785
• ISBN-13: 978-1859846780
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,381,530 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great send-up of the hypocritical gay right, June 6, 2002

By 

Michael D. Silverman (Lawrence, KS USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Attack Queers: Liberal Society and the Gay Right (Hardcover)

This book is a must-read by anyone concerned with the direction of the gay equal rights movement. Goldstein uses this book to take to task the small number of right-wing gay and lesbian "public intellectuals" who are given a platform far out of proportion to their numbers (after all, a solid 75% of gay men and lesbians have liberal political inclinations and vote Democratic or Green)

The usual subjects are roasted -- the pustulant Andrew Sullivan, shrill Norah Vincent, clueless Tammy Bruce, George Bush apologist Rich Taefel and stuffy Bruce Bawer...but this book is more then shooting fish in a barrel. Goldstein also analyzes the reason that the "powers that be" have given these conservative gays louspeakers to bleat out their criticism of liberal politics -- which ironically are the only politics which coupld have advanced equality and social acceptance to the point where conservative gays can even speak out!

If you have any interest in gay politics or progressive issues in America, this book is a must-read.

7 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Critical reading for all concerned about fairness, January 5, 2003

By 

Robin Orlowski "political activist" (United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Attack Queers: Liberal Society and the Gay Right (Hardcover)

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.

What little mobility and 'freedom' these talking heads exist is only allowed under the precise circumstances dictated by their homophobic 'handlers' (although given the authoritarian pull of the right, 'owners'--and all of the resulting connotations---might be a better descriptor term) thus making their attacks a misdirected outburst of frustration and stress.

Like the female anti-feminists of the 1970's, they secretly realize their 'crazy liberal' counterparts are infact completely correct with assessment of existing social structure, but are honestly torn between publicly vocalizing this click and the realization they REALLY will not be able to claim membership in the status quo upon this afformentioned disclosure.

For years, I used to feel sorry for conservative 'out group' members, whom I tended to write off as confused or dim, but now I really feel for them having learned just how vunerable and frightened they actually are. This empathy remains tempered by realization their unchecked version of 'good' public policy is a world nobody should live in.

4 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Yawn...., June 25, 2002

By 

"high_windows2" (Wellington, New Zealand) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Attack Queers: Liberal Society and the Gay Right (Hardcover)

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.

Sadly, there's a lot of bitchy personal attacks and parlour psychologising (which will guarantee plenty of attention in the gay press), but little serious engagement with ideas. More disturbingly, there are also frequent mis-quotations, dubious paraphrases, and assertions that are just not supported by actually reading the people he assails for badthink.

The only "attack queer"on offer in this book is Goldstein himself. This is another volume (one among many) for people looking to have their existing prejudices confirmed, but it adds nothing to rational debate.