First published at Between the Lines News on April 2, 2009 March 31 is Transgender Day of Visibility. I’m supposed to participate in a panel that day. I’m a bit apprehensive. Like many gay people, I tend to tiptoe around transgender issues. This surprises some straight people I know. They say, “But as a GLBT […]
Transgender Day of Visibility Read More »
First published at 365gay.com on March 23, 2009 Recent discussions of various civil-union proposals have revived some familiar questions, including “Why limit such recognition to couples, as opposed to larger groups?” and “Why limit it to romantic/sexual couples, as opposed to other interdependent relationships?” Such questions come from various quarters, including both friends and foes
Why Not Plural Marriage? Read More »
First published at 365gay.com on March 13, 2009 Sometimes we gay writers do such a good job cutting down one another that we scarcely need our enemies. Consider a recent column [http://www.baywindows.com/index.php?ch=columnists&sc=realitycheck&sc2=&sc3=&id=88032] in Bay Windows, a New England GLBT newspaper, where Jeff Epperly identifies me as a “gay conservative” who’s a “a bit touched in
Sex and Distortion Read More »
First published at Between The Lines News on March 12, 2009 Recently I wrote about a proposed compromise by David Blankenhorn, who opposes gay marriage, and Jonathan Rauch, who supports it. On the Blankenhorn/Rauch proposal, the federal government would recognize individual states’ same-sex marriages or civil unions (under the name “civil unions”) and grant them
Strange Bedfellows Read More »
First published at 365gay.com on February 28, 2009 There is something very satisfying about ideological purity and the righteous indignation that often accompanies it. It can be fun to paint one’s opponents as crazy and stupid (and sometimes they make it all too easy to do so). Less fun, yet potentially more productive, are attempts
Can We Find Common Ground on Gay Marriage? Read More »
First published at Between The Lines News on February 26, 2009 I’ve been a member of the American Philosophical Association (APA) for about fifteen years. I go to the annual meetings, I get the publications, and I peruse the frightfully scarce listings in “Jobs for Philosophers.” Last week a colleague sent me a petition addressed
Diversity and Discrimination Read More »
First published at 365gay.com on February 13, 2009 Two decades ago, when I first came out of the closet, my mother had an irritating habit of referring to my boyfriend as my “friend.” You could almost hear the scare-quotes around the word as she would speak it. “This is John’s, um, ‘friend.’” When I complained
The Power of Words Read More »
First published at 365gay.com on February 6, 2009 I’ve written in this column of my friendship with Glenn Stanton [http://www.365gay.com/opinion/corvino-friends-with-the-enemy/], a Focus on the Family employee whom I regularly debate on same-sex marriage. There are different kinds of friendship, of course, not to mention different levels and layers. We’re not “best buds,” but we’re not
Hospitality, not Homosexuality Read More »
First published at 365gay.com on January 30, 2009 I don’t have children, I don’t want children, and I don’t “get” children. Some of my friends have children. I like their children best at two stages of their lives: (1) When they’re small enough that they come in their own special carrying cases and stay put
What’s Best for Children Read More »
First published at 365gay.com on January 23, 2009 When Episcopal Bishop Gene Robinson was invited to deliver the invocation at the inaugural kickoff event, I expected some conservative evangelicals to complain. And they did. Forget the fact that Robinson’s invitation seemed like a token gesture after the controversial choice of evangelical pastor (and Prop-8 supporter)
Gene Robinson’s Scary Prayer Read More »