Against Equality: Queer Revolution, Not Mere Inclusion

by Ryan Conrad (Editor)

Overview

When “rights” go wrong.

• Does gay marriage support the right-wing goal of linking access to basic human rights like health care and economic security to an inherently conservative tradition?
• Will the ability of queers to fight in wars of imperialism help liberate and empower LGBT people around the world?
• Does hate-crime legislation affirm and strengthen historically anti-queer institutions like the police and prisons rather than dismantling them?

 The Against Equality collective asks some hard questions. These queer thinkers, writers, and artists are committed to undermining a stunted conception of “equality.” In this powerful book, they challenge mainstream gay and lesbian struggles for inclusion in elitist and inhumane institutions. More than a critique, Against Equality seeks to reinvigorate the queer political imagination with fantastic possibility!

 "In an era when so much of the lesbian and gay movement seems to echo the rhetoric of the mainstream Establishment, the work of Against Equality is an important provocation and corrective.... I hope this book is read widely, particularly by the people who will most disagree with it; in the tradition of the great political pamphleteers, this collection should spark debate around some of the key issues for our movement." —Dennis Altman, author of Homosexual: Oppression & Liberation

 "Against Equality  issues a radical call for social transformation. Against and beyond the "holy trinity" of pragmatic gay politics—marriage, militarism, and prison—the queer and trans voices archived in this collection offer a radical left critique of neoliberalism, capitalism, and state oppression. In a format accessible and enlivening, equally at home in the classroom and on the street, this book keeps our political imaginations alive. Prepare to be challenged, educated, and inspired." —Margot Weiss, author of Techniques of Pleasure

In Oakland, California on March 24, 2015 a fire destroyed the AK Press warehouse along with several other businesses. Please consider visiting the AK Press website to learn more about the fundraiser to help them and their neighbors.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781849351843
Publisher:	AK Press
Publication date:	04/15/2014
Pages:	200
Sales rank:	529,806
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.40(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Ryan Conrad is an artist, activist, and scholar from central Maine. He co-founded Against Equality with Yasmin Nair in 2009, and he is currently pursuing an interdisciplinary PhD in Sexuality Studies at Concordia Universityin Montréal.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Queer Revolution, Not Mere Inclusion
Ryan Conrad, Karma Chávez, Yasmin Nair, & Deena Loeffler for Against Equality

Part 1 – Marriage
Against Equality, Against Marriage: An Introduction
Yasmin Nair
An Open Letter to LGBT Leaders Who Are Pushing Marriage Equality
Kate Bornstein
Marriage is Murder: On the Discursive Limits of Matrimony
Eric Stanley
I Still Think Marriage is the Wrong Goal
Dean Spade & Craig Willse
Is Gay Marriage Anti-Black???
Kenyon Farrow
Gay Marriage: Civil Right or Civil Wrong
Kate and Deeg, La Gai
The Marriage Fight is Setting Us Back
John D’Emilio
Against Equality, in Maine and Everywhere
Ryan Conrad
Who’s Illegal Now?: Immigration, Marriage, and the Violence of Inclusion
Yasmin Nair
Queer Kids of Queer Parents Against Gay Marriage
MJ Kaufman & Katie Miles
Why Gay Marriage IS the End of the World (or the queer world, at least)
Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore

Part 2 – Military
“Community Spirit”: The New Gay Patriot and the Right to Fight in Unjust Wars, An Introduction
Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore
A Military Job Is Not Economic Justice
Kenyon Farrow for QEJ’s Statement on DADT
Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, Don’t Serve
Cecilia Cissell Lucas
Rage, Or the Lack Thereof
Yasmin Nair
Queer eyes on what prize? Ending DADT
Erica Meiners & Therese Quinn
Why I Oppose Repealing DADT & the Passage of the DREAM Act
Tamara K. Nopper
Bradley Manning: Rich Man’s War, Poor (Gay) Man’s Fight
Larry Goldsmith
Why I Won’t Be Celebrating the Repeal of DADT: Queer Soldiers are Still Agents of Genocide
Jamal Rashad Jones
Pictures at an Execution
Bill Andriette
Illustrating Against Militarism
Mr. Fish

Part 3 – Prisons
Their Laws Will Never Make Us Safer
Dean Spade
A Compilation of Critiques on Hate Crime Legislation
Jason Lydon for Black & Pink
SRLP opposes the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act
Sylvia Rivera Law Project
Do Hate Crime Laws Do Any Good?
Liliana Segura
Sanesha Stewart, Lawrence King, and Why Hate Crime Legislation Won’t Help
Jack Aponte
Why Hate Crime Legislation Is Still Not a Solution
Yasmin Nair
Lesbians Sentenced for Self-Defense: All-White Jury Convicts Black Women
Imani Keith Henry
First Coffins, Now Prison?
Sébastien Barraud for PolitiQ-queers solidaires!
The Devil in Gay Inc.: How the Gay Establishment Ignored a Sex Panic Fueled by Homophobia
James D’Entremont
“Worst of the Worst”? Queer Investments in Challenging Sex Offender Registries
Erica Meiners, Liam Michaud, Josh Pavan, Bridget Simpson

Notes
About the Contributors