The political representation and involvement of sexual minorities in the United States has been highly contested and fiercely debated. As recent legislative and judicial victories create inroads towards equality for this growing population, members and advocates of these minorities navigate evolving political and legal systems while continuing to fight against societal and institutional resistance. Sexual Minorities and Politics is the first textbook to provide students with an up-to-date, thorough, and comprehensive overview of the historical, political, and legal status of sexual and gender minorities. Skillfully synthesizing the research of political scientists, political theorists, and historians, Jason Pierceson describes the history of the LGBT rights movement, chronicles the building of political and legal movements and the responses to them, examines philosophical debates within and about the movement, and assesses the current state of the politics and policies concerning sexual minorities. In addition to carefully structured analyses and contextual explanations, the text provides lists of key terms and discussion questions in each chapter to aid student comprehension and fuel classroom debate.

Product Description: Same-sex marriage has become one of the defining social issues in contemporary U.S. politics. State court decisions finding in favor of same-sex relationship equality claims have been central to the issue’s ascent from nowhere to near the top of the national political agenda...read more

Product Description: The diverse expert contributors to this volume from the fields of politics and law use moral argumentation with respect to same-sex marriage, gay rights in general, and California's Prop 8. The arguments are advanced in terms of the nation's foundational political and legal principles, extending ethical argumentation to important contemporary public policy areas such as marriage, the separation of church and state, and the rearing of children...read more

Product Description: Philosophy matters. In the courts the best hope for an expansion of rights comes from judges who view liberalism as grounded in an expansion of rights rather than the constraint of government activity. Courts, Liberalism, and Rights begins with the premise that the courts offer the best chance for achieving a broad set of rights for gays and lesbians, particularly those courts whose judges draw on the expansive interpretation of liberalism...read more