Chapter 19: Queer Politics

The goal of homosexual politics has fought to move heterosexuality from its status as obviously natural, good, and superior and to change homosexuality from its status as abnormal to legitimate. Nineteenth-century scientific discrimination and classification spurred homosexuals to speak out against these incrementing sciences and fight for homosexuality to be seen as natural. The author complains that many homosexual advocators continue to use the terms and ideas that perpetuates discrimination against homosexuals, accepting the terms and ideas that there is a natural state of sexuality for example. They accept that there is a natural sexuality they just want to move homosexual into the category of natural sexuality.


He argues that the homosexual political movement is not however just reflexive, trying to fit into the accepted norms already present in society, but it is also creative and dynamic as a unique and valuable alternative view and perception of society. They are working not just to stop discrimination and homophobia making homosexuality acceptable but still a definite other but to find a real and valued place for homosexuality in our culture. He says that you are either homosexual or not, but there is a “queer culture” that is more intentionally developed. Homosexuals have to work on and develop into this culture.
He also states that the homosexual lifestyle for the culture to be accepting of homosexual lifestyles is more important than it is to pass laws which legalize homosexual behaviors and give rights to homosexual couples. This is not to down play the importance of legal rights of couples but to stress the importance that the importance of a culture which has accepting attitudes of the homosexual couples and their lifestyles is just as important, and possibly even more so to those living as homosexuals in society. Homosexual relationships require norms and social formulas just like heterosexual couples. The difference being that there are no larger societal norms governing homosexual relationship the way there are for heterosexual couples. The creation of these norms within homosexual couples are part of creating the homosexual culture.
He suggests that these new homosexual relationship forms should maximize pleasure and stay away from simply recreating the forms already available. The form which he discusses as an example is S/M. S/M is very much outside the “normal” and institutionalized forms of relationships. He says that in S/M there are roles but it is know to be a game and not actually the institutionalized and ridged power structures that are present in heterosexual relationships. In heterosexual relationships the power play is in the courting before sex and outside of sex, where as in S/M the power play is seen to be fluid, a game in which roles are interchangeable. He states that S/M allows sexual pleasure to take president over sexuality and other outside and institutionalized norms.
He says that S/M is a creative thing that has been developed, not deep desires that people are just now able to express. He say that S/M is part of a movement and realization that pleasure doesn’t have to come form the traditional forms of sexual pleasure that have been normalized by our society but that “we can produce pleasure with very odd things, very strange parts of our bodies, in very unusual situations and so on.”
He explains that queer culture can really explore pleasure because it is already outside the norms set but society on what is normal and good in sexual pleasure and thus can use this freedom to explore more what can be enjoyable.