The Moral Minority: Identifying, Analyzing, and Exposing Homophobes

Ian C. Nelson, Librarian Emeritus, former Assistant Director of
Libraries (University of Saskatchewan) and dramaturge (Festival de la
Dramaturgie des Prairies).

Stuart Chambers, a social scientist from the University of Ottawa, here
marshals together an impressive set of intellectually tight
counter-arguments to a host of polemics opposing gay rights and same-sex
marriage. Wanting to make sure that no one is left speechless in front
of a homophobe, this self-declared straight educator brings into the
fray the formidable weapons of debate and logical consistency.

His book appears to be carefully systematized, with a chapter each
devoted to homophobic clichés, walking clichés (10 people and their
pet arguments), books, propaganda groups, and finally a balancing
chapter listing 10 inspired pro-gay writers. His screed saliently
rebuffs all the murky rhetoric and illogical thinking that make up the
undisguised fulminations of the likes of Pastor Fred Phelps, Dr. James
Dobson, and Dr. Laura Schlessinger and groups such as Moral Majority,
Exodus International, and Focus on the Family.

The author’s strength in logical debate also shows up more covert
appeals by politicians and journalists to procreation, the declining
traditional family, children’s rights, and the word “marriage”
itself for the red herrings they are. He notes that age is turning the
tide (“demographically speaking those born after the mid-1960s are far
more likely to support … gay rights”), while still justifying his
book with the statement that history is cyclical and “what a democracy
permits today can be taken away tomorrow.” At the same time, one of
his most salient arguments for progress is that of a linear “trial and
error” evolution of social and liberal thinking.

With logic and reason so firmly on his side (he carefully separates
justice and equal rights issues from religious moral tenets), it is
distressing to see Chambers resort to strident ad hominem
characterizations such as this clincher about David Frum: “think
sandbox, toys and a spoiled child.” Repetitive points and
conversationally offhand remarks (“Just a suggestion”) lend an
overall tone that is redolent of a prolonged Rex Murphy rant. A final
“Homophobe’s Dictionary,” while entertaining, seriously undermines
the purpose of a book that will be cheered in some corners.