Sign in with Facebook
Loading...
2nd out of 50 books
—
15 voters
Against Equality: Queer Critiques of Gay Marriage (Against Equality)
by
Ryan Conrad (Goodreads Author) ,
Yasmin Nair , Martha Jane Kaufman , Katie Miles , Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore (Goodreads Author) , Kate Bornstein , Eric Stanley , Dean Spade
,
more…
While what feels like the entirety of the gay and lesbian movement is marching in unison towards some vague notion of equality, the Against Equality collective has been quietly assembling a digital archive to document the critical resistance to the politics of inclusion. This pocket-sized book of archival texts lays out some of the historical foundations of queer resistanc...more
Paperback, 96 pages
Published
October 1st 2010
by Against Equality Press
(first published September 1st 2010)
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
626)
view all 5 comments
Life is far too short than to waste time reading allegedly intellectual garbage like this...
2 likes · like · see review
this was so easy to power through!! a whole bunch of righteous and unapologetically brutal critiques of gaystream marriage campaigns.
it was refreshing to read succinct and accessible rants that progress (relatively) logically to condemn the reformist, civil-rights appropriative and privilege-consolidating arguments for gay marriage. these are campaigns that have cost the GLBTQ community and its allies A LOT over the past decade in the U.S. - in terms of time, money and also in terms of the seve...more
it was refreshing to read succinct and accessible rants that progress (relatively) logically to condemn the reformist, civil-rights appropriative and privilege-consolidating arguments for gay marriage. these are campaigns that have cost the GLBTQ community and its allies A LOT over the past decade in the U.S. - in terms of time, money and also in terms of the seve...more
I feel like the writers in this book misunderstand a lot. There's this common "either/or" argument running throughout all these essays that if you're for gay marriage you're against everything else worth fighting for...and therefore you're a classist, racist, transphobic a-hole. I think you can be for gay marriage and still give a shit about poor people and poly people and people of color and genderqueers and everyone else.
And let me clarify that I have no intention to ever get married and I hav...more
And let me clarify that I have no intention to ever get married and I hav...more
Man, what a refreshing read. I have a lot of thoughts about it, and will probably blog about it in length later, but there were some seriously bold and brave (and correct!) essays in here.
The short version of my reaction to this book is this:
Marriage has always made me feel weird. Realizing that I'm gay hasn't changed that, and I haven't been entirely behind the gay marriage movement as a result. But it's been hard for me to articulate why that is, exactly-- probably because all the liberals in...more
The short version of my reaction to this book is this:
Marriage has always made me feel weird. Realizing that I'm gay hasn't changed that, and I haven't been entirely behind the gay marriage movement as a result. But it's been hard for me to articulate why that is, exactly-- probably because all the liberals in...more
This book is fantastic and extremely accessible. Most of the essays were originally published on blogs.
The essays discuss the authors' very practical objections to same-sex marriage. Generally, they argue that marriage is a historically fucked up institution that shouldn't have legal privileges attached to it. Because most of the privileges marriage confers tend to benefit (or are only accessible to) middle class queers, the authors don't see same-sex marriage as being a benefit to a majority o...more
The essays discuss the authors' very practical objections to same-sex marriage. Generally, they argue that marriage is a historically fucked up institution that shouldn't have legal privileges attached to it. Because most of the privileges marriage confers tend to benefit (or are only accessible to) middle class queers, the authors don't see same-sex marriage as being a benefit to a majority o...more
This book is pretty good. I've read most, but not all of the essays in it. It offers a number of essays by a handful of authors critiquing gay marriage as a priority for the queer/lgbtq... movements. it deconstructs the common reasoning behind gay marriage as THE goal of queer communities and how that goal reinforces state recognition, state intervention in our relationships, heteronormativity, the nuclear family (and therefore capitalism), as well as marginalizing trans people, non-mongogamous...more
I don't....get it. So, LGBT people should not support gay marriage because by doing so they are promoting a conservative cause....wait, what? What the hell does marriage and equal rights under the laws of this land have to do with Republicans?
I'd be much more impressed if this book addressed the issue this way: Gay marriage, straight marriage, none of it matters. Why should the government be involved in ANY of our relationships? Why should it be the government's business who ANY of us want to ma...more
I'd be much more impressed if this book addressed the issue this way: Gay marriage, straight marriage, none of it matters. Why should the government be involved in ANY of our relationships? Why should it be the government's business who ANY of us want to ma...more
Two stars = it was okay.
The essays within range in quality to an astonishing degree and push this from 3.5-ish to 2 stars. Several essays are poorly reasoned but have some excellent thoughts; two essays are very well executed and deserve your thoughtful attention.
The idea behind this volume is great. There aren't enough voices involved in setting the national agenda and there are some decent arguments to be made for why gay marriage shouldn't be a part of that agenda at all or that it should be...more
The essays within range in quality to an astonishing degree and push this from 3.5-ish to 2 stars. Several essays are poorly reasoned but have some excellent thoughts; two essays are very well executed and deserve your thoughtful attention.
The idea behind this volume is great. There aren't enough voices involved in setting the national agenda and there are some decent arguments to be made for why gay marriage shouldn't be a part of that agenda at all or that it should be...more
Presents essential dissenting viewpoints on what is now an even bigger debate (if that was possible). Kenyon Farrow’s essay is particularly stand out in its analysis of the perceived divide between GLBTQ and African American communities. I have two dissenting points of my own: 1) if you frame your policy position with the language “against equality” you are not making it any easier on yourself; 2) perhaps a position against marriage is the minority one in both queer and hetero communities. If th...more
Jul 29, 2012
Liz
marked it as to-read
I am kind of hostile to this whole thing because being radically anti-marriage actually is the mainstream position in my social circles, and I guess I'm feeling a personal backlash to the backlash. I get frustrated because I kind of agree but think it's a bit of a misdirection of energy. why not spend your time actually working on the issues you think we should prioritise over marriage? working to dismantle the border or the prison industrial complex or get universal health care, rather than wri...more
Last night, in an attempt to finish all the books I've begun by the end of the year, I finished this thing called Against Equality: Queer Critiques of Gay Marriage. One essay was quite outstanding, a couple were good, many made some good points, and some were so fucking obnoxious that I not only want to kill the book by slow, painful, controlled fire, but also rip it into shreds and hear it scream, then throw it from a mountaintop into a raging river, only to have it reincarnate just so I can ki...more
Amazing - I never thought I was super brainwashed by conservative white gay agenda - but I was. I will never support HRC or gay marriage ever again. This totally 180ed my thinking and I think these essays will do the same for you. Reallly great - short to the point, and most importantly from a diverse pool of queers who are standing up and not just accepting status quo and what sounds right. So good! I recommend everyone read this - queer and queer allies
If you're misogynist, racist, classist, imperialist, and have no problem with killing brown people, putting black men in jail, and keeping out all of those immigrants (except the white ones!), you might support gay marriage.
An important book for anyone who thinks same-sex marriage is desirable, a plea for critical evaluation of the liberal gay agenda, and a call for a return to the radical tradition of queer politics.
An important book for anyone who thinks same-sex marriage is desirable, a plea for critical evaluation of the liberal gay agenda, and a call for a return to the radical tradition of queer politics.
One of the first collections I've come across from the perspective of the TRUE left - those asking the important questions like, "Why oh WHY are we pushing for the 'right' to be included in an inherently patriarchal, homophobic, capitalist institution [i.e. marriage] instead of working to change the damn institution itself?!" An AMAZING collection from some amazing writers, activists & thinkers.
It's so nice to hear queer voices bringing up logical arguments against gay marriage. This book is full of short vignettes featuring writings from different sources. Some of the vignettes are well researched, and some verge on the side of polemics. However, all the writings give thought provoking arguments of why gay marriage is not the fight that all queers are behind.
I liked it. It felt like a series of glancing blows at a titanic issue that reaches beyond queer politics. It's worth a look for anyone who cares about the issue, and it's designed for friendly (non-homophobic) people to understand the need to refocus their energy for supporting queer community.
Some great essays, and some blog posts I could have done without. Though I didn't agree with every argument, I agreed with many of them. And this little volume definitely offered some food for thought.
Definitely a must read. Brings so much to the table that isn't talked about within the mainstream "left."
This book is really more of a 4 star collection but because most of the material collected within is freely available online (even if the book is a pretty good deal at 8 bux, and a few pieces are slightly modified)which makes me err more towards "this is good but not great collection"
It wasn't so much the writing style that made me like this but the challenges to my thinking that happened. It is written from an American standpoint, so being Canadian I didn't find all of the arguments relevant.
I am still digesting this one.
May 16, 2013
aconcisehistory
marked it as to-read
May 16, 2013
Ralowe Ampu
marked it as to-read
May 15, 2013
Alex Rudolph
marked it as to-read
May 14, 2013
Brandon
marked it as to-read
May 14, 2013
Molly Moriarty
marked it as to-read
May 14, 2013
Miriasha Borsykowsky
marked it as to-read
There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one »
Conrad is a bordering jumping outlaw artist, terrorist academic, and petty thief from the northeastern corner of north america.
More about Ryan Conrad...
Share This Book
No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »
