Customer Reviews

Sexual Strangers: Gays, Lesbians, and Dilemmas of Citizenship (Queer Politics Queer Theories)

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This is an excellent book. Gay and lesbian issues are always best understood from a cool, level-headed social science approach. The question of whether or not gay people are citizens is very compelling. Clearly in America, gays cannot be considered real or full citizens because this is a country dominated ideologically by heterosexuals who demand that all people be heterosexual (or else!). Gays have the least amount of civil rights than any other group in America. What's more, if you are gay and black, you have to deal with racism and homophobia. If you are a woman, too; then you have sexism to also worry about. That's why it's silly to say that gay rights are not civil rights or that gay rights somehow dishonors the civil rights movement. First of all, there are gay black people, so how can gay rights dishonor the civil rights movement? It doesn't make sense. To say that calling gay rights civil rights dishonors the civil rights movement would, in effect, be saying that all black people are straight, which is simply not true. Gay people (of all races and ethnicities) have the least amount of rights in this country, and that should be enough to make us all seriously question just how free America really is.