Virtual Equality: The Mainstreaming of Gay and Lesbian LiberationSince the debacle 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? How should we accomplish our goals? In Virtual Equality, veteran activist Urvashi Vaid answers these questions with a unique combination of visionary politics and hard-earned pragmatism. Tracing the political and cultural developments since Stonewall, Vaid shows that despite significant gains in visibility, most gays and lesbians remain demoralized and persecuted, second-class citizens in their own country. Vaid defines the status of gay America as one of "virtual equality", a state of conditional equality based more on the appearance of acceptance by straight America, rather than on actual civil equality. In order to move beyond the current stalemate, Vaid challenges the gay community to wake up and face the forces that divide it and to consider what gays and lesbians stand for, as individuals and as a people. Guided by a moral vision yet grounded by realpolitik, Virtual Equality is a call to arms to the gay and lesbian community to begin the work necessary to achieve genuine equality with the rest of America. |
Contents
Virtual Equality | 1 |
Legitimation Liberation and History | 35 |
AIDS and Transformation | 69 |
Copyright | |
11 other sections not shown
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
action agenda American antigay argued behavior bill bisexual campaign Christian Coalition Christian Right civil rights Clinton closet Coalition color conservative cultural Democratic discrimination equality federal feminist fight Fund fundraising gay activists gay and lesbian gay community gay leaders gay movement gay or lesbian gay organizations gay political gay rights gender grassroots groups heterosexual homophobia homosexuality HRCF Ibid identity issues Lambda Legal large numbers Larry Kramer laws leadership legislative lesbian activists Lesbian and Gay lesbian community lesbian leaders lesbian movement lesbian organizations lesbian political lesbian rights liberation lives mainstream ment Michelangelo Signorile military moral national gay NGLTF nongay openly gay percent political movement projects queer racial Randy Shilts Republican rights movement sexual orientation Shilts social sodomy laws straight strategy Tim McFeeley tion Traditional Values Coalition violence visibility vote voters Washington Blade women York