Review by Choice Review
Some might describe the US Supreme Court as an agent of sexual liberation during the 1960s and 1970s, as the justices issued numerous rulings striking down laws prohibiting interracial marriage, the sale of contraceptives, abortion, and sexually suggestive books and movies. Yet Stein (York Univ., Canada) challenges this sexually libertarian image, contending that the sexual rights championed by the Court were "heteronormative." By that he means that the Court protected sexual activity so long as it was heterosexual, monogamous, private, and within the context of procreation. Stein highlights this definition of sexual normalcy by examining generally forgotten gay rights cases prior to the 1986 Bowers v. Hardwick, specifically the 1967 Boutilier v. INS case, which upheld the deportation of an individual because he had a psychopathic personality--he was gay. The book provides an outstanding account of the Court's heteronormative jurisprudence, placing many of its major cases in contrast to its gay-rights decisions. Stein concludes by arguing that it was not until 2003 in Lawrence v. Texas that the Court abandoned it heteronormativity and adopted a more inclusive conception of sexual freedom. Outstanding for collections on gay rights and the law. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All readership levels. D. Schultz Hamline University
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
