Homosexuality: Debating the Issues (Contemporary Issues) [Paperback]

Robert M. Baird (Editor), M. Katherine Baird (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1995 | ISBN-10: 1573920037 | ISBN-13: 978-1573920032 | Edition: 1

This could be the most controversial book yet. Its balanced approach could risk the wrath of advocates and critics alike, offering powerful essays on four key issues: the causes of homosexuality, disputes about the role the courts should play, gays and the military, and religious attitudes toward homosexuality.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This, the latest in Prometheus's Contemporary Issues series, provides a balanced approach to a provocative topic through journalistic articles and original documents. Addressing philosophy, psychology/science, law, the military, and religion, these previously published writings come from sources as diverse as the New York Times and Parameters: U.S. Army College Quarterly and, predictably, represent an equally wide range of thinking. While sections on the philosophy and psychology of homosexuality are all too brief, those on the legal and religious issues have great breadth. Any citizen should read the Supreme Court's Bowers v. Hardwick decision upholding Georgia's sodomy laws and Commonwealth v. Wasson, in which Kentucky's state supreme court found that its Constitution granted more protection than the federal Constitution. On the religious front, both Margaret Susan Thompson and Paul Duke offer moving testimonies to some Catholics' accommodation of homosexuality, while a closeted rabbi makes a pseudonymous plea for greater understanding from Orthodox Judaism. Even hard science can be co-opted by politics with pro/opponents of homosexuality putting their own spin on the emerging work of Simon Levay on the hypothalamus as the site of male-typical sexual behavior and Dean Hamer on a chromosomal basis for homosexuality. As embryonic as the studies may be, readers will benefit from the original scholarship as opposed to processed reportage. Aside from the absence of writing from the gay media itself, this is an excellent reference book for those that wish to explore opposing points of view; it is timely, considered, and generally representative.

Copyright 1995 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Providing a "balanced" review of homosexuality, this anthology features essays from both camps on such issues as gay life, genetics vs. environmental causes, gay rights, gays in the military, and gays and religion. While this is indeed a "balanced" text?it is not just a liberal-vs.-conservative issue: gays themselves debate genetics vs. environment?it is unfortunate that this topic and volume are part of the publisher's "Contemporary Issues" series, which also covers animal experimentation, euthanasia, and gun control. Why are there not titles in this series on Lithuanians, Presbyterians, and Hispanics? Because these groups simply are; there is nothing to debate. It is sad when bigotry gets passed off as "balance." It will be a good day when people realize that gays and lesbians simply exist. Recommended with reservations.?Lee Arnold,
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 282 pages
• Publisher: Prometheus Books; 1 edition (November 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1573920037
• ISBN-13: 978-1573920032
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #809,405 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

0 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars ok book, May 19, 2007

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Nadya D. Turner (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Homosexuality: Debating the Issues (Contemporary Issues) (Paperback)

only used it for last few weeks of class, didn't really get into it much.