The Long Arc of Justice: Lesbian and Gay Marriage, Equality, and Rights

by Richard Mohr

Overview

Engaging the whole spectrum of public-policy issues affecting gays and lesbians from a humanistic and philosophical approach, Richard Mohr uses the tools of his trade to assess the logic and ethics of gay rights. Focusing on ideas and values, Mohr's nuanced case for legal and social acceptance applies widely held ethical principles to various issues, including same-sex marriage, AIDS, and gays in the military. By drawing on cultural-, legal-, and ethical-based arguments, Mohr moves away from tired political rhetoric and reveals the important ways in which the struggle for gay rights and acceptance relates to mainstream American society, history, and political life.
Mohr forcefully counters moralistic and religious arguments regularly invoked to keep gay men and women from achieving the same rights as heterosexuals. He examines the nature of prejudices and other cultural forces that work against lesbian and gay causes and considers the role that sexuality plays in the national rituals by which Americans define themselves. In his support of same-sex marriage, Mohr defines matrimony as the development and maintenance of intimacy through the means by which people meet their basic needs and carry out their everyday living. Mohr contends that this definition, in both its legal and moral sense, applies equally to homosexual and heterosexual couples.
Mohr also considers gays and lesbians as community members as he explores the prospect for greater legal and social inclusion. He concludes by suggesting that recent progress in addressing civil rights for gays and lesbians and the nation's symbolic use of gay issues on both sides of the political spectrum calls for a culturally focused gay politics.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780231509442
Publisher:	Columbia University Press
Publication date:	04/05/2005
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	160
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Richard D. Mohr is professor of philosophy at the University of Illinois-Urbana. He is the author of The Platonic Cosmology; Gays/Justice: A Study of Ethics, Society, and Law; Gay Ideas: Outing and Other Controversies; A More Perfect Union: Why Straight America Must Stand Up for Gay Rights; and Pottery, Politics, Art: George Ohr and the Brothers Kirkpatrick. A public intellectual, he has also written for The Nation, The Advocate, the Chronicle of Higher Education, the Boston Globe, and the Chicago Tribune.

Read an Excerpt

Mohr on morality:
"Sometimes 'morality' just means the values generally held by members of a society, its mores, norms, and customs. On this understanding, gays are probably not moral: lots of people hate them, and social customs are designed to register widespread disapproval of gays. The problem here is that this sense of morality is merely a descriptive one. On this understanding, every society has a morality, even Nazi society."

Mohr on marriage:
"'Gay marriage.' It used to sound to the American ear not just like an oxymoron (say 'a cruel kindness' or 'an honest thief'), but a flat-out self-contradiction (say, 'a round square' or a 'female bachelor'), something that is a logical impossibility, a phrase that was false by the very meaning of its terms, quite independently of any reference to facts. But with all the talk of 'gay marriage' generated by the Right, the phrase now sounds about as unshocking as the phrase 'gay couples.'"

Mohr on the future of gay rights:
"The trajectory of gays in America, after legal justice, will probably be more like that of Jews after the Civil Rights era than that of blacks. Jews were both a major constituency and major force in getting the 1964 Civil Rights Act passed. At the time, it was thought that Jews would be major beneficiaries of its provision, but in fact there are almost no Civil Rights Act cases with Jewish plaintiffs. Blatant discrimination against Jews trailed off just as legal protections against such discrimination were coming into play."

Table of Contents

Introduction: A Taboo's End
1. Lesbian and Gay Basics: Some Questions, Facts, and Values
2. Sexual Privacy
3. The Case for Lesbian and Gay Marriage
4. Equality
5. Civil Rights
6. Understanding Lesbians and Gay Men in the Military
Conclusion: America's Promise and the Lesbian and Gay Future
Notes
Acknowledgments

What People are Saying About This

Carlos A. Ball

The Long Arc of Justice is a vital book for our times. It is eloquent in its articulation of the dignity with which lesbians and gay men lead their lives. It also thoughtful in its exploration of concepts, such as liberty and equality, that serve as the moral and legal foundations for gay rights positions.

Andrew Koppelman

Richard Mohr was a courageous advocate of gay rights at a time when there were real dangers in holding that view, and this book, which tightly summarizes his extensive writings in this area, is a classic overview of the case for gay equality. Mohr is a first-class philosopher, but his work is accessible and fun to read. The Long Arc of Justice will be valuable to both beginners and specialists. Even those who disagree with Mohr will have to concede the care and power of his arguments.

Editorial Reviews

A clever and insightful explanation...Throughout the book, Mohr makes his points well.

Washington Blade - Johanna Lunglhofer

Eloquent articulation of what gays deserve from American society.

gsyndicate.com - Richard Labonte

The Long Arc of Justice is a powerful little book of applied ethics in which Richard Mohr devotes his characteristic analytic rigor to a broad range of important gay and lesbian issues.

Gay & Lesbian Review - James S. Stramel

The book redefines and elevates contemporary discussions regarding rights for gays and lesbians.

Inside Illinois - Sarah Scalia

The result is a book that is a readable and relevant as its predecessor was over a decade ago.

TWN - South Florida's Gay Community Newspaper - Jesse Monteagudo

An excellent book... Definitely worth reading and is refreshing in its creativity, clarity, and conviction that justice is slowly moving.

Hypatia - Patrick D. Hopkins

The Long Arc of Justice is a powerful little book of applied ethics in which Richard Mohr applies his characteristic analytical rigor and penetrating cultural analysis to the broad range of important gay and lesbian issues... I expect this book will become the industry standard.

APA Newsletter - James S> Stramel

A clever and insightful explanation...Throughout the book, Mohr makes his points well.

— Johanna Lunglhofer

Washington Blade

This eloquent articulation of what gays deserve from American society.

— Richard Labonte

gsyndicate.com

An engaging and challenging blend of politics, ethics and philosophical discourse, Arc is a must-read for anyone who's even remotely interested in where the queer rights movement is going and where it has been.

Just Out

The Long Arc of Justice is a powerful little book of applied ethics in which Richard Mohr devotes his characteristic analytic rigor to a broad range of important gay and lesbian issues.

— James S. Stramel

Gay & Lesbian Review

The book redefines and elevates contemporary discussions regarding rights for gays and lesbians.

— Sarah Scalia

Inside Illinois

The Long Arc of Justice is a powerful little book of applied ethics in which Richard Mohr applies his characteristic analytical rigor and penetrating cultural analysis to the broad range of important gay and lesbian issues... I expect this book will become the industry standard.

APA Newsletter

The result is a book that is a readable and relevant as its predecessor was over a decade ago.

— Jesse Monteagudo

TWN - South Florida's Gay Community Newspaper

Eloquent articulation of what gays deserve from American society.

— Richard Labonte

Between the Lines Newspaper

An excellent book... Definitely worth reading and is refreshing in its creativity, clarity, and conviction that justice is slowly moving.

— Patrick D. Hopkins

Hypatia

An excellent book... Definitely worth reading and is refreshing in its creativity, clarity, and conviction that justice is slowly moving.

— Patrick D. Hopkins

Hypatia: A Journal of Feminist Philosophy