
Straightforward
How to Mobilize Heterosexual Support for Gay Rights
Princeton University Press
Published on 8. May 2005
Book
Hardback
264 pages
978-0-691-12134-5 (ISBN)
Description
What can straight people do to support gay rights? How much work or sacrifice must allies take on to do their share? Ian Ayres and Jennifer Brown - law professors, activists, husband and wife - propose practical strategies for helping straight men and women advocate for and with the gay community. Straightforward advances a thesis that is at once simple and groundbreaking: to make real progress at the central flashpoints of controversy - marriage rights, employment discrimination, gays in the military, exclusion from the Boy Scouts, and religious controversies over homosexuality - straight as well as gay people need to speak up and act for equality.Ayres and Brown take aim at both the hearts and minds of the general public, focusing on strategies that can change the incentives and therefore the behavior of the recalcitrant. The book is peppered with stories about real people and the decisions they have faced at home, in church, at work, in school, and in politics. It is also filled with creative legal and economic strategies for influencing public and corporate decision-making.For example, Ayres and Brown propose the development of a "fair employment mark" to help companies advertise inclusive employment policies.
They also show how a simple pledge to vacation in states that legalize gay marriage can create powerful incentives for legislatures to amend their marriage laws. Engagingly written and sure to spark debate, "Straightforward" promises to change the way America thinks about - and participates in - the gay rights movement.
They also show how a simple pledge to vacation in states that legalize gay marriage can create powerful incentives for legislatures to amend their marriage laws. Engagingly written and sure to spark debate, "Straightforward" promises to change the way America thinks about - and participates in - the gay rights movement.
Reviews / Votes
Honorable Mention for the 2006 Myers Outstanding Book Award "Ayres and Brown approach the subject of advocacy ... by positing the notion of heterosexual privilege and its concomitant responsibility to make society more inclusive to its gay citizens."--Library Journal "Accessible and consistently engaging, the book is certain to stimulate both casual and classroom discussion... Straght-forward ultimately delivers in its promise to provide a practical guide to action by offering innovative economic and legal tactics for influencing public and corporate policy."--Tony Peregrin, The Gay and Lesbian Review WorldwideMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
New Jersey
United States
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Trade binding
Illustrations
12 tables.
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Weight
482 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-691-12134-5 (9780691121345)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

Ian Ayres | Jennifer Gerarda Brown
Straightforward
How to Mobilize Heterosexual Support for Gay Rights
E-Book
06/2011
1st Edition
Princeton University Press
from
€89.95
Available for download
Persons
Ian Ayres is the William K. Townsend Professor of Law at Yale Law School. He is a columnist for "Forbes" magazine and radio commentator on Marketplace. He is the coauthor of "Why Not? How to Use Everyday Ingenuity to Solve Problems Big and Small" and "Pervasive Prejudice? Non-Traditional Evidence of Race and Gender Discrimination". Jennifer Gerarda Brown is Professor of Law at Quinnipiac University School of Law, and a Visiting Lecturer and Senior Research Scholar at Yale Law School.
Content
Preface ix Chapter 1: Heterosexual Allies and the Gay Rights Movement 1 Part I. Exercising Privilege Chapter 2: Parenting, Parishes, PTAs, and Places of Employment 17 Chapter 3: The Vacation Pledge for Equal Marriage Rights 60 Chapter 4: The Fair Employment Mark 79 Part II. Disabling Privilege Chapter 5: Ambiguation 97 Chapter 6: The Inclusive Command: Voluntary Integration of the U.S. Military 116 Part III. Renouncing Privilege Chapter 7: Boy Scouts of America The Informed Association Statute 145 Chapter 8: Renounce or Share? 162 Chapter 9: Working with Advocating Gay Rights Organizations 178 Notes 195 Index 237