CREATED EQUAL: Why Gay Rights Matter to...

CREATED EQUAL: Why Gay Rights Matter to America by Michael Nava and Robert Dawidoff (St. Martin’s Press: $8.95; 176 pp.). In clear, straightforward prose, Nava and Dawidoff dismiss as irrelevant the Biblical citations of their Conservative Christian opponents. The U.S. Constitution guarantees equal protection under the law to all citizens: Individual rights do not require the approval of any group--or even a majority of the American people. The authors note “ . . . the price you must pay for the enjoyment of your own liberty is the recognition that other people, especially people with whom you may not like to identify, have an equal claim to the same liberty.” Their common-sense approach to this hotly debated issue is unlikely to sway right wing ideologues, but Nava and Dawidoff challenge rational citizens to re-examine their beliefs, as they did when African Americans and women began claiming their civil rights. The message is simple: If the rights of any group, however unpopular, can be restricted, the rights of all Americans are in danger.