Queer Questions, Clear Answers

The Contemporary Debates on Sexual Orientation

Thomas S. Serwatka

• Publisher: Praeger
• Year: 2010
• Print ISBN: 9780313386121
• eBook ISBN: 9780313386138
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Medicine
• Subtopic: LGBT Studies

This provocative book examines the important issues in contemporary debates on sexual orientation—from our various religious beliefs to our stereotypes about homosexuals, from questions about the origin of sexual orientation to the lessons we can learn from history. Queer Questions, Clear Answers: The Contemporary Debates on Sexual Orientation offers an eye-opening conversation about questions, facts—and fears—relative to sexual orientation. The book is framed around a series of nine sets of "queer questions, " including, Who is queer and who is not? How do we interpret and use sacred scriptures to control behavior and set public policy? What lessons can we learn from history and psychology? and What is the homosexual agenda? The author, himself a gay man and prominent academic, combines cross-disciplinary research and personal anecdotes in his intriguing search for answers to questions that are central to ongoing cultural and political debates. In discussing each set of questions, he examines perspectives and arguments from across the political spectrum. The clear, articulate, and wholly candid answers he offers will help readers get beyond the headlines—and the sound bites—to better understand many important arguments about homosexuality and human rights.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Contents
• 1 Introduction
• 2 Who’s Queer and Who’s Not
• 3 The Origins of Sexual Orientation
• 4 Sacred Scriptures and Homosexuality
• 5 Reparative Therapy and the Ex-Gay Identity
• 6 The Downfall of Society
• 7 Pardon Me, But Do You Have Size 13 Toe Shoes in Stock?
• 8 Is It a Secret Agenda or a Civil Rights Movement?
• 9 Out of the School Closet
• 10 Straight Talk
• Appendix
• Bibliography
• Index