The Tolerance Trap: How God, Genes, and Good Intentions are Sabotaging Gay Equality

345 Pages·2014·2.94 MB·English

by  Suzanna Danuta Walters

THE T OL ER A NCE T R A P
S U Z A N N A D A N U T A W A L T E R S
T H E
T O L E R A N C E
T R A P
How God, Genes, and Good Intentions
Are Sabotaging Gay Equality
a
NEW YORK UNIVERSITY PRESS
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NEW YORK UNIVERSITY PRESS
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Walters, Suzanna Danuta.
The tolerance trap : how God, genes, and good intentions are sabotaging
gay equality / Suzanna Danuta Walters.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8147-7057-3 (hardback)
1. Gay rights. 2. Tolerance. 3. Equality. I. Title.
HQ76.5.W35 2014
323.3'264 — dc23 2013045557
New York University Press books are printed on acid-free paper,
and their binding materials are chosen for strength and durability.
We strive to use environmentally responsible suppliers and materials
to the greatest extent possible in publishing our books.
Manufactured in the United States of America
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Also available as an ebook
For my fabulous daughter, Emma
and in memory of my equally fabulous mother, Marianne
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I’m not willing to just be tolerated. That wounds my love
of love and of liberty.
—Jean Cocteau
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CONTENTS
Introduction: That’s So Gay! (Or Is It?) 1
PART I: THE END OF COMING OUT?
1. Once upon a Time 19
2. Coming Out Is So Last Year 36
3. The Closet 2.0 63
PART II: DO THESE GENES MAKE ME LOOK GAY?
4. The Medical Gayz 81
5. Dangerous Liaisons 97
6. You Say Nature, I Say Nurture . . .
Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off 115
PART III: CITIZEN GAY
7. Homeland Insecurities 145
8. Better Put a Ring on It 173
9. In the Family Way 206
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