The End Of The Gay Rights Revolution (how Hubris And Overreach Threaten Gay Freedom)

Ronan McCrea’s important book argues that this is no blip. Forces favourable to gay rights – such as the wider cultural shift towards greater sexual freedom – are weakening, while political developments, cultural changes and migration patterns mean that sources of opposition, both old and new, are gaining strength. The gay rights movement is ill-equipped to meet this challenge. Convinced that history is on its side, the movement has expanded its aims and made new enemies while refusing to consider whether elements of the sexual freedoms it fought for have had unforeseen downsides, including for gay people themselves.

For the gay rights revolution to endure, a fundamental reconsideration of its goals, its history and its limits is required. Anyone wanting to understand the challenges faced by gay rights and the wider liberal project needs to read this timely warning.

Acknowledgements

I Deliverance?

II An Incidental Revolution

III Sexual Freedom and the End of History: The Post-Liberal Moment

IV The Illusion of the Universal Appeal of the Sexual Revolution

V Hubris: The Gay Movement Over-Reaches

VI The King Is Dead! Now What? Radical and Moderate Versions of Gay Freedom

VII The Downside of Anything Goes

VIII The Truth Will Set You Free? The Challenges of Honesty in a Hostile World

IX A Dose of Modesty

X Conclusion: Reform from Revolution

"What a fabulously timely, well-researched and argued book. The gay world has to be ready for the coming fight. It is hard to doubt that much of what has been achieved in a lifetime (mine for example!) is threatened by a new tsunami of authoritarian rightists. McCrea lays out a highly convincing wake-up call for the whole LGBTQI community. Queer or ally, I urge you to read it."
Stephen Fry

"I hope this important book sparks a conversation rather than a cancellation. While many of the book’s ideas are controversial, it is high time the LGBT community holds an open discussion about its core values and political strategies"
Yuval Noah Harari, author of Sapiens

"Ronan McCrea poses questions from the heart, urgent questions designed to help secure a safe and egalitarian future for all gay people; for though there has been welcome progress there is visible, audible push back. The stomach-churning awfulness of the opening story of his savage public humiliation at age thirteen will never leave you. Nor should it. The future has to be homophobia-free and this book will play a significant role in ensuring it is."
Mary McAleese, former President of Ireland

"A thoughtful and timely reckoning with the triumphs and vulnerabilities of the gay rights revolution. Lucid and provocative, Ronan McCrea shows how far we’ve come – and how easily it could all unravel."
Yascha Mounk, author of The Identity Trap: A Story of Ideas and Power in Our Time

"Did the movement for gay equality overreach by embracing freedom without responsibility? Did it induce a backlash by mortgaging itself to an alphabet soup of radical causes? Ronan McCrea''s manifesto for moderation is sure to be controversial – and, for just that reason, deserves attention and debate."
Jonathan Rauch, Senior Fellow at the Brookings Institution, author of Gay Marriage: Why It Is Good for Gays, Good for Straights and Good for America

"Ronan McCrea has written a brilliantly argued book that mixes pragmatism and principle seamlessly. He shows that standing up for unlimited personal freedom is perilous in practice and unwise in principle, and that such a stance does not even serve the well-being of those who