Bruce Bawer

The time is past, says Bawer, when denominational labels provided an accurate reflection of Christian America's religious beliefs and practices. The meaningful distinction today is not between Protestant and Catholic, or Baptist and Episcopalian, but rather between "legalistic" and "nonlegalistic" religion. On one side is the fundamentalist right, which draws a sharp distinction between "saved" and "unsaved" and worships a God of wrath and judgment; on the other are more mainstream Christians who view all humankind as children of a loving God who calls them to break down barriers of hate, prejudice, and distrust. Pointing out that the beliefs of American fundamentalism are in fact of relatively recent origin, are distinctively American in many ways, and are dramatically at odds with the values that Jesus actually spread, Bawer demonstrates the way in which these beliefs have increasingly come to supplant genuinely fundamental Christian tenets in the American church and to become synonymous with Christianity in the minds of many people.--From publisher description.

Any serious consideration of gay life from now on will have to reckon with the mature and extraordinary writers whose work has been brought together for the first time in Beyond Queer. Edited and introduced by critic Bruce Bawer, this important collection serves as the clarion call of a new gay intelligentsia who are unbound by the lockstep formulas and hollow rhetoric of the past, and who are determined to think honestly and independently about the moral, political, and social questions raised by sexual orientation. Most but not all of them gay, these writers disagree about many things, but they share a common frustration with ideologically out-of-touch gay-activist leaders and "queer studies" theorists, and a dismay with a puerile and counterproductive "queer" image that represents neither the lives nor the goals of most gay people. Although these essays convey the individual reflections and highly distinctive sensibilities of each writer, this vibrant assemblage achieves a powerfully unified sense of purpose when taken as a whole. Together, they provide an intellectually rich demonstration that in the midst of today's increasingly polarized debates there exists an oasis of reason, determination, and maturity that bids to finally overcome years of culture-war strife.

This conservative Christian homosexual takes a middle-of-the road view in supporting gay civil rights, while criticizing both antigays and the gay subculture.

Thirteen-year-old Birch encourages her grandfather to fulfill his dream of flying his old Piper Cub plane from South Carolina to California and then informs him that she is coming along.