John’s column “The Gay Moralist” appeared bi-weekly in Michigan’s Between the Lines from 2002-2007, and then weekly at 365Gay.com from 2007-2011. His columns and op-eds have also appeared in other venues, including the Independent Gay Forum, The Advocate, the Los Angeles Times, The New Republic and the New York Times. Most of these columns are archived here.
At The New York Times, I urge caution on use of the race analogy and argue that the issues are more complex than they’re typically treated: The present debate is too often dominated by hasty generalizations and false inferences, on both sides. The left slides too easily from “similar” to “the same.” The right correctly […]
Gay Rights and the Race Analogy Read More »
John replies to Michael Hannon’s startling response to “Thinking Straight” at Commonweal: You don’t have to be a “libertine” to recognize that what the young boy is experiencing is not just a really, really, really strong desire for friendship. More important, you don’t have to be a libertine to acknowledge that willful blindness to what
Against Obsessive Celibacy Read More »
At Commonweal, John explains how a little queer theory (misunderstood and misapplied) can be a dangerous thing: What social conservatives want is nothing less than to dismantle the very vocabulary by which we express and realize our inchoate longings for intimacy. They want to push us back to a time when homosexuality was not merely
“Thinking Straight?” at Commonweal Read More »
In a New York Times “Room for Debate” discussion on plural marriage, John rebuts the slippery slope: Polygamy raises a number of public-policy concerns that same-sex marriage does not. That said, the gay-rights movement has bolstered the polygamist-rights movement in one key way: by insisting that finding a practice weird or icky or religiously anathema
John on Polygamy in NYT “Room for Debate” Read More »
At the New York Times “Room for Debate,” John argues that gay rights and transgender rights are related but distinct: Each group has distinctive needs and challenges. By jumbling them all together into one alphabet soup — L.G.B.T.Q.I.T.S.L.F.A.A., anyone? — we run the risk of covering or erasing people’s experiences, especially those who are
John at NYT “Room for Debate” on Gay/Trans Connection Read More »
In a recent issue of The Philosophers’ Magazine, John dismantles the “Definitional Objection” to same-sex marriage offered by Sherif Girgis, Robert P. George, and Ryan T. Anderson, among others. From the article: How did we end up in such a spot? Part of the problem is that ‘comprehensive union’ is a rather vague and slippery
John in The Philosophers’ Magazine Read More »
My first full-length op-ed at the New York Times. Here’s an excerpt: [When he says] “who am I to judge,” surely the pope is not relinquishing the church’s assertion of authority in matters of faith and morals. But he was adopting a tone of humility. And tone matters. Read the full piece here.
A Papal Surprise: Humility Read More »
My take on lessons from Paula Deen and DOMA, at HuffPost: Just as you don’t have to be throwing around the “n-word” to exhibit racism, you don’t have to be calling gays “faggots” in order to signal that they, and their love, and their families, are less worthy than others. Read the full column here.
Paula Deen and DOMA Read More »
May is masturbation month. I am not making this up. Read the full column at HuffPost.
Masturbation Month Read More »
The LGBT community is actually a collection of overlapping communities, each with distinctive experiences, needs, and challenges. While it makes sense to find common cause, it can also make sense to separate the various groups sometimes, in order to avoid obscuring our diversity. Read the full column at HuffPost.
Am I Gay, or LGBT? Read More »