Beyond Queer: Challenging Gay Left Orthodoxy

"Beyond Queer" is a collection of various authors' articles and essays written in the mid-1990s, claiming the ultra-left orthodoxy of gay activists have not achieved the goals they set out to ascertain. Ten years later, all but a few articles are still engaging. All of the authors take a "contrarian" point of view from the "normative" neo-Marxist, ultra-far-left, and counterculture stereotype of gays and lesbians. Some authors are conservatives, others libertarian, and still others Republicans and Democrats. Among them are Jonathan Rauch, Paul Vernell, Andrew Sullivan, and Bruce Brawer. They all malign the Left's hegemony of the unsuccessful efforts to secure equal, not "special," rights for all Americans. They also question the "queer" counterculture that dares not assimilate. They also traduce the unfettered stereotypes often used to label all gays and lesbians by the Left's ultra-orthodoxy. These contributions overcome the myth that all gays and lesbians are of a monolithic kind or type -- e.g., in your face activists, drag queens, or leather-outfitted. Yes, the MSM, and even the gay press, like to flout the counterculture's flamboyance, but these authors argue that a significant portion of the gay and lesbian masses want nothing more than to live honest, fulfilling, and happy lives in much the same way that heterosexuals do. Essays include arguments against political correctness, for assimilation, and for inclusive marriage. There is much to cavil over, but the issues are more pressing today than ever. Both gays and straights can benefit from these reasoned, articulate, and intelligent essays.

There is nothing more frustrating than being fully misrepresented in the sweep of fierce political debate, demonstrations, and dogmatic activism from both sides of an issue. As a gay man who neither abuses children nor devotes all his time to "eating, sleeping, and drinking GAY," I am overlooked by both the Religious Right and the lockstep ideology of the more vocal gay activists. Finally, voices are being heard (and published!) which speak a truth that a silent majority has wanted to convey for so long: most gay people are individuals first. Despite what the higher-ups among the left-wing gay activists claim, being gay does not imply supporting a disparate array of trendy leftist ideals -- in other words, "gay Marxist" should not be assumed redundant. Paradoxically, this left-wing orthodoxy resists and opposes some of the most crucial and potentially benefitial goals gays and lesbians might work for: the right to recognized marriages or honest military service, for instance. We who support such issues, or who are not die- hard statists, are lampooned as the gay equivilant of an "Uncle Tom" by many liberals, gay or straight. Meanwhile, a vocal group on the right continues its religiously-tinged bigotry. Where to turn? Bruce Bawer's new reader is a worthy place to start. Like his earlier monograph, A PLACE AT THE TABLE, BEYOND QUEER offers a diverse selection of essays on many issues related to being gay in today's society, all unified by the idea that for most, being gay is secondary to being an individual -- and this is as it should be. That Bawer's book has been written, published, and is being read, is a heartening sign that this new focus is being noticed, and, hopefully acted upon. Anyone concerned with the dignity of the individual will find this book compelling and valuable.