Since the decade to lift the ban on gays in the military, the emergence of gay conservatives, and the onslaught of antigay initiatives across America, the gay and lesbian community has been asking itself tough questions: Where should the movement go? What do we want? In Virtual Equality, veteran activist Urvashi Vaid tackles these questions with a unique combination of visionary politics and hard-earned pragmatism.
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Virtual Equality: The Mainstreaming Of Gay And Lesbian Liberation is the amazing story of the gay and lesbian community's transformation from a hidden minority into a visible presence in the American mainstream. Urvashi Vaid has produced a powerful history of gay America's struggle for equality as well as an inspiring manifesto of visionary politics and hard-earned pragmatism. "Virtual equality" means gays enjoy access to power, but no real power; can pay taxes, but not expect the government to protect them; can be visible, but vulnerable to discrimination and violence. With insights from her years of activism, Vaid reasons that the struggle between assimilation and liberation has roadblocked the gay movement for years and that virtual equality represents the limits of mainstreaming. Guided by an inclusive moral vision , yet grounded by realpolitik, Vaid challenges the gay community to face the forces that divide it and begin the work necessary to achieve genuine equality with the rest of America. -- Midwest Book Review
From the Publisher
Since the decade to lift the ban on gays in the military, the emergence of gay conservatives, and the onslaught of antigay initiatives across America, the gay and lesbian community has been asking itself tough questions: Where should the movement go? What do we want? In Virtual Equality, veteran activist Urvashi Vaid tackles these questions with a unique combination of visionary politics and hard-earned pragmatism.
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14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Memoir, critique, manifesto,
By
This review is from: Virtual Equality: The Mainstreaming of Gay and Lesbian Liberation (Paperback)
Vaid, an activist, lawyer, and former head of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, provides an ambitious and richly detailed analysis that is equal parts memoir, critique, and manifesto. For Vaid, the "mainstreaming" of the gay rights movement hasn't been a good thing. She questions how much the prevailing paradigm of gay political activism -- the seeking of legal rights and protections by working within the traditional political and judicial systems -- has actually achieved. Vaid worries that the movement will be co-opted by money and a desire for "insider" access. She argues passionately that gays and lesbians, as well as other sexual minorities, must work in coalition with other progressive groups to "supplement the limited politics of civil rights with a broader and more inclusive commitment to cultural transformation." Vaid's style tends to be chatty and the chapters a little long-winded, though she is always sincere. Her book will resonate most with academic/queer/left types who are persuaded that gays and lesbians form a distinctive subculture in search of "liberation," a subculture united not merely by sexual expression but also by shared sensibilities, political outlook, and experience of oppression. It will be less impressive to those who believe gays should (or already do) exist largely in the mainstream, or to those who suspect that writers like Vaid talk the language of radical democracy while prescribing a specific political and cultural agenda. (Readers in search of lively debate can read Vaid as counterpoint or antidote to the work of Bruce Bawer and Andrew Sullivan, or vice versa.) While I find Vaid's perspective fundamentally limited because it's grounded in the sort of old-style, two-coasts, radical-chic queer politics that's rapidly being driven out of business by the burgeoning, sophisticated, upper-middle-class movement being built by the Human Rights Campaign (exactly, as it turns out, what Vaid feared; think of her as your pioneering little local bohemian co-op up against the Pottery Barn of gay politics), and while the content is getting somewhat dated, this remains a useful, thoughtful, and important book on its own terms.
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
virtual equality,
By amy tindal (seattle, wa) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Virtual Equality: The Mainstreaming of Gay and Lesbian Liberation (Paperback)
this book is the most honest, inspiring, bold detailing of the gay and lesbian movement's successes and failures. vaid never tiptoes around sensitive or controversial topics, even her own actions. not only does she offer her well-researched, expert critique, but she also provides challenging, intelligent alternative/revised suggestions to improve the current strategy/ies. she makes the crucial point that many people don't want to face: ACCESS DOES NOT EQUAL PROGRESS. gains within legal and political arenas are very beneficial, but if we stop here then the absurd socio-cultural construct deeming queers (and all marginalized groups) inferior, which is the very root of discrimination, goes unscathed. bottom line....for anyone believing in the inherent equality of human beings on every level--cultural, social, political, economic, etc., it is absolutely essential to diligently study this book. Urvashi Vaid is an amazing person who has immersed her life in the battle for the liberation of the disenfranchised. her brilliance, effort and honesty are undeniable within this unabashed, uncloseted book.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Valueable 1st Hand Account,
By A Customer
This review is from: Virtual Equality: The Mainstreaming of Gay and Lesbian Liberation (Paperback)
Vaid's account of her experiences in the gay movement is invaluable for the insights and lessons it offers. Should be required reading not only for activists and gays, but for everyone everywhere.
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