Gaylaw

by Eskridge, William N., Jr.

• ISBN13: 9780674008045
• ISBN10: 0674008049
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2002-04-30
• Publisher: Harvard Univ Pr

Summary

This book provides a comprehensive analysis of the legal issues concerning gender and sexual nonconformity in the United States. Part One, which covers the years from the post-Civil War period to the 1980s, is a history of state efforts to discipline and punish the behavior of homosexuals and other people considered to be deviant. During this period such people could get by only at the cost of suppressing their most basic feelings and emotions. Part Two addresses contemporary issues. Although it is no longer illegal to be openly gay in America, homosexuals still suffer from state discrimination in the military and in other realms, and private discrimination and violence against gays is prevalent. William Eskridge presents a rigorously argued case for the "sexualization" of the First Amendment, showing why, for example, same-sex ceremonies and intimacy should be considered "expressive conduct" deserving the protection of the courts. The author draws on legal reasoning, sociological studies, and history to develop an effective response to the arguments made in defense of the military ban. The concluding part of the book locates the author's legal arguments within the larger currents of liberal theory and integrates them into a general stance toward freedom, gender equality, and religious pluralism.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	vii
Introduction	1	(12)
part one The Apartheid of the Closet	13	(126)
Masquerade and the Law, 1880-1946	17	(40)
Kulturkampf and the Threatening Closet, 1946-1961	57	(41)
Coming Out and Challenging the Closet, 1961-1981	98	(41)
part two Remnants of the Closet (Don't Ask, Don't Tell)	139	(100)
Hardwick and Historiography	149	(25)
The Sexualized First Amendment	174	(31)
Multivocal Prejudices and Homo Equality	205	(34)
part three After the Closet: Queer Theory and the Sexual State	239	(146)
Sexual Consent Paradoxes	243	(28)
Beyond Families We Choose	271	(22)
Religion and Homosexuality: Equality Practice	293	(92)
appendixes Regulating Sexual and Gender Variation in the United States
A Early Municipal and State Regulation	327	(26)
A1 State Consensual Sodomy Laws, 1610-1998	328	(10)
A2 Municipal Sex Offense Ordinances, 1850-1950	338	(4)
A3 State Criminal Laws Protecting the Sexuality of Male as Well as Female Minors, 1870-1970	342	(11)
B Modern State and Municipal Regulation	353	(20)
B1 State Sexual Psychopath Laws, 1935-1961	354	(2)
B2 State and Municipal Laws against Sexual Orientation Discrimination, 1972-1998	356	(6)
B3 State and Federal Policies Discriminating on the Basis of Sexual or Gender Variation, 1998	362	(11)
C Statistics	373	(12)
C1 Sodomy Arrests, Twelve American Cities, 1875-1965	374	(1)
C2 Reported ``Sodomy'' Cases, 1880-1995	375	(1)
C3 ``Degenerates'' Arraigned in New York City's Magistrates' Courts, 1915-1962	376	(4)
C4 Sex Offense Arrests in St. Louis, 1874-1946	380	(1)
C5 Military Personnel Discharged on Grounds of Homosexuality, 1947-1998	381	(2)
C6 Sexual Outlaws Debarred from Entering the United States by Immigration Authorities, 1892-1956	383	(2)
Notes	385	(77)
Index	462