A review by reasonpassion
Against Equality: Queer Critiques of Gay Marriage by Deeg, Eric A. Stanley, Martha Jane Kaufman, Katie Miles, John D'Emilio, Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore, Dean Spade, Kate Raphael, Kate Bornstein, Yasmin Nair, Craig Willse, Ryan Conrad, Kenyon Farrow

5.0

I actually didn't read this for a while simply because I knew my easy view of gay rights and the social change involved with it would be challenged. Once I started though, I couldn't stop. While at times amusing, particularly when reading an article that declares the push to legalize marriage equality is failing (it was written before the string of victories), the overall message is one of expanding a view of social justice and community involvement beyond isolated projects. This expansion means calling into question the institution of marriage itself and noting how it is both a conservative goal to achieve so-called equality of a traditional relationship dynamic but decidedly problematic to focus on government providing legitimacy to relationships that should be accepted on their own. None of this is to deny the work of the gay-rights activists. Rather, it is to remind people that the war on sexuality, which is essentially what the anti-gay is about, is the core issue and being so focused on derivative problems helps keep the underlying problem alive and well.