Gays/Justice: A Study of Ethics, Society, and Law

Mohr writes an engaging and intellectually stimulating work that examines the ethical and philosophical imperatives behind equality for homosexuals in America. His sound "compare/contrast" methodology of ethical reflection exposes the selective and arbitrary nature of the efforts by certain forces in America to resist gay rights. He lays out compelling suggestions for the direction that gay activism must move to continue to be relevent and empowered in modern America. He neither caters to the powerful gay left paradigm nor walks the safe path of gradualism. His ideas, for the most part, make sense in a way that the reader will find him/herself exclaiming at various points, "Of course! That is exactly what needs to happen." His work suffers in two areas. He is a member of the academic elite in the purest sense of the word. His expressed disdain for the very students he is responsible to teach leaves a bad taste in this reviewer's mouth, at least. More critical to the substance of his work is the manner in which he allows his personal religious views to affect his arguments. His own distaste for organized religion leads him to conclude that religious gays should step aside and not participate in the struggle for gay rights, their best intentions not withstanding. This is an incredibly weak argument and stands out drastically when compared to the rest of his argument which is sound and balanced. He argues that gay Christian activism only invites the Religious Right into the debate in an arena where they have the upper hand. He could not be more wrong, but his lack of understanding of the religious issues leaves him unable to see the incredible importance of maintaining a strong religious argument that challenges the religious rhetoric of the Right using shared values and language. Overall, however, I have yet to read a more powerful look into the future of a successful gay rights movement.