Gaylaw : challenging the apartheid of the closet / William N. Eskridge, Jr.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Eskridge, William N., Jr., 1951-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Homosexuality--Law and legislation--United States.

Homosexuality.

Gay people--Legal status, laws, etc--United States.

Gay people.

Lesbians--Legal status, laws, etc--United States.

Lesbians.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (ix,470p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Other Title:

Gay law

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. : Harvard University Press, 1999.

Summary:

This text provides a comprehensive analysis of the legal issues concerning gender and sexual nonconformity in the United States. The text is split into three parts covering the post-Civil war period to the 1980's, contemporary issues and legal arguments.

This text provides a comprehensive analysis of the legal issues concerning gender and sexual nonconformity in the United States. Part one, which covers the years from the post-Civil War to the 1980's, is a history of state efforts to discipline and punish the behaviour of homosexuals and other people considered to be deviant. during this period such people could get by only at the cost of suppressing their most basic feelings and emotions. Part two addresses contemporary issues. although it is no longer illegal to be openly gay in America, homosexuals still suffer from state discrimination in the military and in other realms, and private discrimination and violence against gays is prevalent. The author presents a rigorously argued case for the "sexualization" of the First Amendment, showing why, for example, same-sex ceremonies and intimacy should be considered "expressive conduct" deserving the protection of the courts.; He draws on legal reasoning, sociological studies, and history to develop an effective response to the arguments made in defense of the military ban. The concluding part of the book locales the author's legal arguments within the larger currents of liberal theory and integrates them into a general stance toward freedom, gender equality, and religious pluralism.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Part one The Apartheid of the Closet

1. Masquerade and the Law, 1880–1946

2. Kulturkampf and the Threatening Closet, 1946–1961

3. Coming Out and Challenging the Closet, 1961–1981

Part two Remnants of the Closet (Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell)

4. Hardwick and Historiography

5. The Sexualized First Amendment

6. Multivocal Prejudices and Homo Equality

Part Three After the Closet: Queer Theory and the Sexual State

7. Sexual Consent Paradoxes

8. Beyond Families We Choose

9. Religion and Homosexuality: Equality Practice

Appendixes: Regulating Sexual and Gender Variation in the United States

A Early Municipal and State Regulation

B Modern State and Municipal Regulation

C Statistics

Notes

Index

Notes:

Includes index.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [385]-461) and index.

ISBN:

9780674036581

0674036581

OCLC:

923112134