John Corvino on Kim Davis: "Willingness to Impose a Standard of Marriage on Gays That She Does Not Apply to Others, Herself Included" Reveals Her True Intent: Singling Out Gays for Discrimination

John Corvino on Kim Davis:

Droppings from the Catholic Birdcage: John Corvino on Real Agenda of Social Conservatives — Dismantling the "Very Vocabulary by Which We Express and Realize Our Inchoate Longings for Intimacy"

At Commonweal, John Corvino responds to Michael Hannon's essay "Against Heterosexuality" in First Things. As he notes, it employs (a little bit of) queer theory to try to dismantle the entire enterprise of gay rights (my words and summary of Corvino's premise, not his), as it argues that the concept of sexual orientation is a social construct — and there's therefore no such thing as a "gay" person (or a straight one, either, for that matter, though the latter definition continues to stick as the default definition in this deconstructive argument, which is all about reiterating the normativity of heterosexuality in new, "queer" terms).

A Concluding Look at John Corvino's What's Wrong with Homosexuality?: The Fork in the Road to Social Transformation

I promised you all a final overview statement about John Corvino's outstanding book What's Wrong with Homosexuality? (Oxford: Oxford UP, 2013) after I'd finished offering excerpts from it. And here it is--not a review per se, but something closer to a reaction, and a reaction to a very specific aspect of the book at that.

John Corvino, What's Wrong with Homosexuality?: "Man on Man, Man on Dog, or Whatever the Case May Be" (2)

In the midst of my continued nursing duties (and with warm gratitude to the many of you who left expressions of concern after I posted about Steve's illness yesterday): here's one final excerpt from John Corvino's book What's Wrong with Homosexuality? (Oxford: Oxford UP, 2013). As with my last posting from the book, this is from the chapter entitled "Man on Man, Man on Dog, or Whatever the Case May Be":

John Corvino, What's Wrong with Homosexuality?: "Man on Man, Man on Dog, or Whatever the Case May Be"

I was reminded of John Corvino's book What's Wrong with Homosexuality? (NY: Oxford UP, 2013) as I read Erik Eckholm's report this past weekend in the New York Times about the ongoing efforts of the religious right to depict tolerance of gay folks as the first step onto a slippery slope that will lead God knows where. Corvino takes the cue for his chapter discussing this slippery-slope argument from Rick Santorum's infamous statements to an AP reporter in 2003 that tolerance for homosexual people will lead everywhere--everywhere bad--in any society that extends such tolerance to gays. Corvino entitles the chapter "Man on Man, Man on Dog, or Whatever the Case May Be."

John Corvino, What's Wrong with Homosexuality?: "It's Not Natural" (2)

Here are two more excerpts from John Corvino's book What’s Wrong with Homosexuality? (NY: Oxford UP, 2013). As with the last two I've posted here, these are from the chapter dealing with natural-law objections to homosexuality.

John Corvino, What's Wrong with Homosexuality?: "It's Not Natural"

Some more sharp observations from John Corvino's book What’s Wrong with Homosexuality? (NY: Oxford UP, 2013)--these from his chapter on natural-law arguments against homosexuality: as Corvino notes, the term "unnatural" is frequently used in an exceptionally loose way as a rhetorical tag for all sorts of practices and behaviors to which one objects. The very looseness of the term as it's usually applied is part of its rhetorical power, as the term evokes a visceral reaction of repulsion its users hope to evoke, while also precluding the kind of careful thought that might make people think twice about the easy tagging of something as "unnatural": 

John Corvino, What's Wrong with Homosexuality?: "A Risky Lifestyle" (3)

Another eye-catching statement from John Corvino's book What's Wrong with Homosexuality? (Oxford: Oxford UP, 2013)--again, from his chapter entitled "A Risky Lifestyle," which considers the argument that homosexuality should be beyond the pale since it poses a threat to the health of society:

John Corvino, What's Wrong with Homosexuality?: "A Risky Lifestyle" (2)

Another excerpt from John Corvino's book What's Wrong with Homosexuality? (Oxford: Oxford UP, 2013)--as with yesterday's quotation about the use of Paul Cameron's anti-gay junk science by esteemed scholars, this one is from Corvino's chapter dealing with the notion that homosexuality should be beyond the pale because it yields a risky lifestyle:

John Corvino, What's Wrong with Homosexuality?: "A Risky Lifestyle"

Another nugget from John Corvino's book What's Wrong with Homosexuality? (Oxford: Oxford UP, 2013) that stands out for me in the chapter discussing proposals to keep discrimination against gay folks alive because they are carriers of a risky lifestyle:

John Corvino, What's Wrong with Homosexuality?: "God Said It, I Believe It, That Settles It"

Last July, I mentioned that I had gotten a copy of John Corvino's book What’s Wrong with Homosexuality? (Oxford: Oxford UP, 2013), and would perhaps share some thoughts about the book once I had read it. I've now found a stint of uninterrupted time to focus on reading the book, and thought I'd share my response to it by highlighting passages that grabbed my attention. And then I'll share some concluding reflections on the book as a whole.

A Valuable Teaching-Learning Resource: John Corvino Lecture, "What's Morally Wrong with Homosexuality?"

John Corvino on What's Wrong with Homosexuality?