Ayn Rand, Homosexuality, and Human Liberation

REVIEWS

ARI ARMSTRONG, BOULDER WEEKLY XI, no. 18 (18-23 DECEMBER 2003): 9.

LibertyBeat:  Queers for Capitalism

Also:  Letters to Boulder Weekly, 1 January 2004

Armstrong writes that "[t]he release of Sciabarra's newest work is perfectly timed with the debate over gay marriage.  While he deals with the struggle of homosexuals to find acceptance within one particular intellectual community, surely the stories he describes mirror the wider movement.

"Both left and right would benefit from reading the monograph, because it helps break down stereotypes of homosexuals fostered by both left and right.  As Sciabarra describes, many gays have come to appreciate Objectivism---the philosophical system founded by Ayn Rand---because it encourages independent thinking and personal happiness."

Armstrong appreciates how "the very assertion of individual authenticity remains an expression of core Objectivist principles," and he praises Sciabarra's "good answers [as] to why a substantial number of homosexuals take an interest in Rand's ideas even as they dismiss her homophobia."

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Various letters in response to Armstrong's review were published in Boulder Weekly.  Mike Granger (Longmont) writes (in "Rand is Wrong," 1/1/04) that gays should "stop wasting their time with trying to find out who John Galt was," and embrace a "Divinely guided" religious "core foundation" if they are to find "general and lasting acceptance in our society."  Peter F. Johnson (Longmont), a "registered Libertarian," also criticizes "Sciabarra's aplogetics regarding Ayn Rand's avowed repugnance of homosexuality," and decries the attempt "to embrace all things Randian in order to be considered Party faithful."  He rejects Rand and Aristotle as "demonstrably wrong" and repudiates "Objectivist iconography."  Stanley Paluch (Boulder) also laments (in "A Rand-y World," 1/15/04) that "the world would be a grayer place if everybody tried to be a Randian."

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