Jun 17 2014
The Tolerance Trap – Part 2
Northeastern University Sociology Professor Suzanna Walters writes that she has problem with the notion that homosexuality is something that gay people just can’t help. While liberal allies of the LGBT movement preach that gays should be accepted because they’re “born this way,” Walters has a problem with this perspective. She maintains that using the “born-this-way” approach to gay liberation reduces the LGBT movement to one that will be happy with “tolerance” or “acceptance” by mainstream American society. But is tolerance something worth fighting for? In asking to be tolerated, aren’t gay rights advocates simply asking society to tolerate the LGBT community like one tolerates anything that is uncomfortable or undesirable?
In her ground breaking book, The Tolerance Trap: How God, Genes, and Good Intentions Are Sabotaging Gay Equality, Suzanna Walters demands liberation over acceptance and warns against declaring victory for gay rights too soon. Analyzing pop culture’s depictions of gay characters, the marriage equality movement, scientific research into homosexuality, and religious approaches, she makes the case that nothing less than full equality and a societal transformation is worth fighting for. This is part 2 of the interview.
Click here to listen to Part 1.
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