GLR May June

Annual Pride Issue: “The Radical Critique” FROM THE EDITOR

I T WAS ALWAYS INEVITABLE that the GLBT rights movement would become more moderate over time. Such is the fate of all civil rights movements if they’re successful, because free- dom from discrimination by definition brings the oppressed mi- nority closer in to the social fold, diminishing the magnitude of its oppression. Also, as Max Weber showed, the trajectory of all social enterprise is to grow more bureaucratic and risk-averse over time, as witness the mainstream GLBT rights organizations that occupy large suites in Washington, D.C. There’s also the historical fact that the movement arose dur- ing very unusual times. While its organizational model was the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s, gay liberation was very much a creature of the ’60s and thus bore elements of New Left politics, antiwar activism, and hippie culture. When it first ex- ploded onto the scene after the Stonewall Riots—bolstered by the Sexual Revolution that was already in full swing—the goal was not just equal rights but sweeping social change: a radical rethinking of marriage and the family, a whole new attitude to- ward sexuality, a redefinition of gender roles. Of course, it couldn’t last. Yet the collapse of these utopian ideals was not a failure of gay liberation. Barely a decade after Stonewall, the country had turned to Reagan, and the revolution was over. The gay rights movement actually outlasted the New Left, survived the AIDS epidemic (or was energized by it), and went on to achieve some remarkable things, most recently the

widespread adoption of marriage equality. Gays can now serve in the military, too—certainly not something that was envi- sioned in the early days of “Gay Lib.” That the gay rights movement has lowered its sights to mar- riage, military service, and freedom from overt discrimination, there is disappointment on the part of those who remember the original goals—and even some who weren’t born yet. Sure, we can get married, live in the suburbs, and tend to our portfolios. But the price of assimilation is that we’ve given up any hope of changing society as a whole. Or so say the critics of today’s gay movement, some of whom are featured in this issue. One such critic is Ryan Conrad, a young activist who’s in- terviewed here. Conrad heads a group called Against Equality whose argument is that “equality” isn’t meaningful in the con- text of crushing in equality in society at large. One who remem- bers the “liberation” era is Dolores Klaich, who ponders the cost of success in various spheres of life. Martin Duberman, himself a leftist historian, discusses the life and work of the late Doug Ireland, who began his firebrand career in the ’60s and never gave in to the lure of assimilation. Andrew Holleran reflects on that old gadfly of American politics, Gore Vidal; while Lewis Gannett considers another famous revisionist, Larry Kramer, whose epic novel The American People takes on all of U.S. his- tory but whose sharpest barbs over the years have been aimed at the gay rights movement itself. R ICHARD S CHNEIDER J R . “Marsh shares his affection for Walt Whitman in this gentle, thoughtful consideration of the poet’s relevance to 21st-century America.... Marsh confesses his love for the legendary poet, and by the end of this insight- ful homage, readers are likely to feel the same.” — Kirkus Reviews “One of the most engaged and engaging books on Whitman that I’ve read in many years.... Once every generation or so, we need a book like this one to remind us why, in the twenty-first century, it is still so essen- tial to keep Whitman close at hand.” —Ed Folsom , University of Iowa; editor, Walt Whitman Quarterly Review ; co-director, Walt Whitman Archive IN WALT WE TRUST how a queer socialist poet can save america from itself

by John Marsh

“Whitman’s radical journey is our radical journey, and John Marsh captures the very essence of Whitman, and America, in this brilliant book.” — John Nichols , Washington correspondent for The Nation

About love, jealousy, bigotry, and courage in a small Texas town as two men struggle for their right to dignity, family, and love. www. Amazon.com www.Barnes and Noble.com

256 pages | $25 | hardcover

available from MONTHLY REVIEW PRESS www.monthlyreview.org 800.670.9499

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