Rights of Passage by Didi Herman

Didi Herman offers a critical analysis of lesbian and gay struggles for legal equality in Canada. She traces the development of sexual orientation protection in human rights law and the strategies of lesbian and gay movements, politicians and judges, then places these campaigns within a framework that sees legal arenas as sites of struggle between opposing social movements. A major focus is the New Christian Right, the key force opposing lesbian and gay rights, drawing on original interviews with Christian activists. Herman argues that a liberal 'minority rights paradigm' has come to dominate these battles and can itself regulate sexuality in ways that are not fully liberating, even as traditional moralities have come under siege and social understanding has shifted.