Created Equal: Why Gay Rights Matter to America [Paperback]

Michael Nava (Author), Robert Dawidoff (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 15, 1995

Why should Americans who are not gay care about gay rights? In Created Equal, Michael Nava and Robert Dawidoff argue that the movement for gay equality is central to the continuing defense of individual liberty in America. Beginning with an examination of the determined assault on gay issues by the religious right, the authors show how this sectarian movement to legislate private religious morality into law undermines the purpose of American constitutional government: the protection of the individual's right to determine how best to live his or her life. The book starts from the premise that gay and lesbians are, first and foremost, American citizens, and then looks to what rights belong to every individual American citizen, arguing from the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. Addressing their argument to the great majority of their fellow Americans, Dawidoff and Nava emphasize that what is at stake is not the fate of the gay community, but the future of constitutional principle and the rights of free individuals in American society.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This succinct, cogent manifesto emphasizes that gay men and women are not seeking new or special privileges, but the ordinary rights of individual liberty and equal protection that Americans enjoy under the Constitution. The authors call for an end to discriminatory practices, anti-gay laws, vicious stereotyping, and the near-invisibility of lesbians and gay men. Resisting the fundamentalist religious right's attack on gays, they argue, constitutes a defense of real religious liberty which is predicated on tolerance and personal freedom in a pluralistic society. Moreover, they insist, the struggle for gay rights is important to everyone: "What gays and lesbians have to teach other Americans is that morality is how you live and how you conduct yourself, not what you happen to be." Nava, a lawyer and writer of mystery novels, and Dawidoff, a history professor at the Claremont Graduate School in Southern California, have produced an eloquent, closely argued benchmark document.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Lawyer and author Nava and historian Dawidoff have here succeeded in writing the most comprehensive, readable, and persuasive primer on gay rights to date. According to the authors, the issue is fundamentally a question of privacy rights implicitly granted with precedent to all by the Consitution but denied to homosexuals by the illogically decided 1986 Supreme Court ruling, Bowers v. Hardwick. The authors have revitalized that most organic of political documents, the U.S. Constitution, by arguing that basic human and civil rights are being denied to gays and lesbians based on arguments not constitutionally applicable, namely, the sectarian beliefs of one particular segment of society. Among the topics discussed are gay rights within the context of the Constitution, gay rights and proscriptive biblical interpretation, double standards in the strategies of anti-gay rights advocates, and much more. Similar in tone and outlook to Richard Mohr's A More Perfect Union (LJ 3/1/94), Nava and Dawidoff's book is more encompassing in scope and more thoroughly researched. An intellectually brisk and persuasive book that is highly recommended for all collections.
Jeffery Ingram, Newport P.L., Ore.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 167 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin (January 15, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312117647
• ISBN-13: 978-0312117641
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,723,185 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Michael Nava is a lawyer and novelist. His Henry Rios novels, published between 1988 and 2000, followed the life and cases of a gay criminal defense lawyer in Los Angeles during the tumultous period of the AIDS epidemic and the movement for gay rights. In 2000, he was awarded the Whitehead Award for Lifetime Achievement in LGBT literature. Previously he was awarded six Lambda literary prizes. He is at work on an historical novel set before and during the Mexican Revolution.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Outstanding Book, January 12, 2000

By 

Michael Demmons (Atlanta, GA United States) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Created Equal: Why Gay Rights Matter to America (Paperback)

This is one of the most thought-provoking books on any "morality" subject that I have ever read. The authors are very clear in explaining the difference between 'special' vs. 'equal' rights. It is unfortunate that the audience for this book will be almost exclusively gay. It is one that EVERYONE should read.

If you buy it, pass it on to a friend. If you have straight friends, buy them a copy, ask them to read it, and tell you what they think. After all, it's not that expensive, and maybe they'll even understand you better!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Still a great introduction to Gay Rights, March 7, 2007

By 

Robert Andrews (Austin, TX USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Created Equal: Why Gay Rights Matter to America (Paperback)

This remains one of the best books on Gay Civil Rights, even though it was written over a decade ago - and much indeed has transpired since. The authors place the question of equal rights for GLBT persons in the broader spectrum of American Civil Rights. Consequently, the book and the arguments set forth so cogently therein retain vitality, even though it was written well before Lawrence v. Texas was decided.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very Informative/Useful Information, April 30, 2000

By 

M. Mercer Smith (United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Created Equal: Why Gay Rights Matter to America (Paperback)

I think that this book is a must for anyone writing a paper on Homosexuality, Homophobia, or Gay Rights. The authors do an excellent job at debuking many stereotypes found it America. They are obviously extremely emotionally involved in the struggle for gay rights and they display their emotion excessively in this book. Maybe even to a point of indulgence, but it still is greatly helpful, so 4 Stars.