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Sweatin’ with Cong. Schock When Barney Frank came out as gay in his forties, he was relieved to discover that his constituents really didn’t care about the sex life of a middle-aged man, and the world moved on. The same cannot be said for a colleague of Frank’s in the U.S. House, the still serving Aaron Schock, an Illi- nois Republican who’s attracted lots of attention, not for coming out as gay, but for not doing so, persistent rumors notwithstand- ing. Also, if the shallow truth be told, for the fact that this is what

he looks like at poolside: But he also looks great in pressed plaid shirts or even in sweats, which he wears during (well-documented) workouts. Then, too, there was that shirtless photo on the cover of Men’s Health . Against this backdrop, it

turns out that Schock has one of the worst records on gay rights in Congress, so he’s been deemed fair game for “outing” by some journalists. And, inevitably, his denials have become the stuff of comedy. A twitter feed has opened up under @GayRepSchock called “I’m not gay, I’m FABULOUS .” A send-up at bentspud.com was titled, “Aaron Schock denies gay rumors, reveals engagement to Liza Minnelli.” Next thing you know, he’ll be launching a male- oriented fitness program and appearing shirtless to demonstrate its benefits! Oh, wait, he’s already doing that. The End Is Near It takes a lot for the Family Research Council to get our attention these days, and they must know this, because their president, Tony Perkins, keeps escalating the level of hyste- ria. Recently he prophesied the end of humanity if homosexuality comes to be widely accepted. “The human race would be extinct within time if [homosexuality were] normal ... if it were not for physical relationship, intimacy between a man and a woman.” Sure, the link between heterosexuality and procreation is pretty well-established, but is Perkins seriously suggesting that it’s only the taboo against homosexuality that has kept procreation afloat through all these centuries, that without it people would naturally gravitate to their own sex—exclusively!—thereby ending the human race? There must be something missing here—and it is Satan. Once society lowers its guard and gives the temptation of Sodom free rein, argues Perkins, everyone will be fair game, and it’s only a matter of time before the Prince of Darkness turns everyone gay. Here one has to be a bit surprised that heterosexu- ality can’t mount a stronger defense. Finally, one wonders: is this a policy statement on Perkins’ part, or is it a cri de coeur ? The End Is Near 2 “Conservative Protestants Destroy Traditional Marriage,” blared a blog headline about a study on the well-es- tablished fact that evangelical Protestants have higher divorce rates on average than the general population. The study, published in the respected American Journal of Sociology , offered a county- by-county analysis of divorce rates across the U.S.A. and found that, not only do evangelical Protestants have persistently higher

Are the Lips a Grave? A Queer Feminist on the Ethics of Sex LYNNE HUFFER

“Against the persistent rumor that feminism and queer theory can never be friends, Lynne Huffer recovers a wide—and at times wild—range of shared political and critical lineages. Provocative, impassioned, and at times deeply personal, Are the Lips a Grave? is the first full- length defense of ‘queer feminism.’ It is about time!” —Robyn Wiegman, Duke University

COMING IN SPRING 2014

The Homoerotics of Orientalism JOSEPH ALLEN BOONE

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