Beyond Queer: Challenging Gay Left Orthodoxy (Hardcover)

by Bruce Bawer (Editor)

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist
More than Bruce Bawer's Place at the Table (1993) and Andrew Sullivan's Virtually Normal , Beyond Queer marks the end of radical dominance in gay politics and culture, the beginning of a pragmatic and democratic approach to gay issues. Bawer, Sullivan, and 15 others contribute to the anthology, which Bawer assembled. In each of six sections, three or more essays address aspects of a single topic. Those in "Rage, Rage" consider the failures of and the alternatives to the tactics of gay liberation since the 1969 Stonewall riot started the modern gay movement. Subsequent sections take up gay relations with the Right, whether and how gays continue to be socially oppressed, the inadequacies of counterculturally defined gay identity, gays and religion, and "Family Values" (especially gay marriage), respectively. The writing throughout--especially that of gay newspaper columnist Paul Varnell--is lucid, cogent, respectful of both readers and subjects; here is none of the name-calling, ranting, and truculent defensiveness of most gay political "discourse" --which is part of the whole effort's point, after all. Ray Olson

From Kirkus Reviews
Continuing in the vein of his last book, Bawer (A Place at the Table, 1993, etc.) here marshalls 38 recent articles from writers who attack the ``queer establishment'' and argues for a more moderate approach to lesbian and gay rights. This volume thus provides the next salvo in internal debate over strategies for improving gay life--legislation vs. liberation, integration vs. transformation, etc. ``Queer'' ideology, writes Bawer, is ``selfish and immature . . . devot[ed] to the margin.'' It thus harms lesbians' and gays' chances of gaining greater social acceptance, and above all misrepresents gay life, because ``most gays live in [the] mainstream.'' And the more that heterosexuals are made aware of the similarities between their lives and the lives of gays and lesbians, the more accepting he thinks they're likely to be. Though not all of the 16 other contributors agree entirely with Bawer (Andrew Sullivan argues against seeing gay freedom as largely dependent on straight enlightenment), taken together, they flesh out a portrait of gay men (and a woman or two) who just want the right to fully participate in such conventional American institutions as marriage, the military, and the church (or, in the case of one anonymous essayist who's an Orthodox rabbi, the synagogue). The collection's narrow focus, while forceful, also makes it feel constrained at times. For instance, contributors have the unfortunate habit of quoting from one another's essays. And one finds oneself wishing that there were more voices here in general (two or three writers, including Bawer, seem to hog the stage). Still, there is plenty of solid reasoning and interesting contradictions. One such contradiction is Bawer's, who seems to undermine his own argument when he writes that ``it's not ghetto- bound nonconformist gays . . . but ordinary gays next door that many people find threatening.'' Bawer is sure to rankle his detractors in the ``gay establishment'' with this tightly bound collection of opposition papers. -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Free Press (June 3, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0684827662
• ISBN-13: 978-0684827667
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,547,994 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A hymn to individuality -- gay or straight, January 8, 1997

By A Customer

There is nothing more frustrating than being fully misrepresented in the sweep of fierce political debate, demonstrations, and dogmatic activism from both sides of an issue. As a gay man who neither abuses children nor devotes all his time to "eating, sleeping, and drinking GAY," I am overlooked by both the Religious Right and the lockstep ideology of the more vocal gay activists. Finally, voices are being heard (and published!) which speak a truth that a silent majority has wanted to convey for so long: most gay people are individuals first. Despite what the higher-ups among the left-wing gay activists claim, being gay does not imply supporting a disparate array of trendy leftist ideals -- in other words, "gay Marxist" should not be assumed redundant. Paradoxically, this left-wing orthodoxy resists and opposes some of the most crucial and potentially benefitial goals gays and lesbians might work for: the right to recognized marriages or honest military service, for instance. We who support such issues, or who are not die- hard statists, are lampooned as the gay equivilant of an "Uncle Tom" by many liberals, gay or straight. Meanwhile, a vocal group on the right continues its religiously-tinged bigotry. Where to turn? Bruce Bawer's new reader is a worthy place to start. Like his earlier monograph, A PLACE AT THE TABLE, BEYOND QUEER offers a diverse selection of essays on many issues related to being gay in today's society, all unified by the idea that for most, being gay is secondary to being an individual -- and this is as it should be. That Bawer's book has been written, published, and is being read, is a heartening sign that this new focus is being noticed, and, hopefully acted upon. Anyone concerned with the dignity of the individual will find this book compelling and valuable.

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The "Other" Sides, August 21, 2005

By	D. S. Heersink "D. Stephen Heersink" (San Francisco) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

"Beyond Queer" is a collection of various authors' articles and essays written in the mid-1990s, claiming the ultra-left orthodoxy of gay activists have not achieved the goals they set out to ascertain. Ten years later, all but a few articles are still engaging. All of the authors take a "contrarian" point of view from the "normative" neo-Marxist, ultra-far-left, and counterculture stereotype of gays and lesbians. Some authors are conservatives, others libertarian, and still others Republicans and Democrats. Among them are Jonathan Rauch, Paul Vernell, Andrew Sullivan, and Bruce Brawer.

They all malign the Left's hegemony of the unsuccessful efforts to secure equal, not "special," rights for all Americans. They also question the "queer" counterculture that dares not assimilate. They also traduce the unfettered stereotypes often used to label all gays and lesbians by the Left's ultra-orthodoxy. These contributions overcome the myth that all gays and lesbians are of a monolithic kind or type -- e.g., in your face activists, drag queens, or leather-outfitted. Yes, the MSM, and even the gay press, like to flout the counterculture's flamboyance, but these authors argue that a significant portion of the gay and lesbian masses want nothing more than to live honest, fulfilling, and happy lives in much the same way that heterosexuals do.

Essays include arguments against political correctness, for assimilation, and for inclusive marriage. There is much to cavil over, but the issues are more pressing today than ever. Both gays and straights can benefit from these reasoned, articulate, and intelligent essays.