(NOTE: I realize that "gay marriage" is not a synonym for "marriage equality," and since this book generally addresses gay marriage, I'll use that term in my review below.)

This book reproduces speeches or sections of speeches by US politicians, speeches that address (or touch on) the issue of gay marriage as a political issue. As the sub-title suggests, the political positions represented in this book support legalizing gay marriage, though the speakers offer a variety of reasons for their support, ranging from progressive stances ("marriage is a human right") to conservative ones (like the arguments against federal definition of marriage as "between one man and one woman" on the grounds that this is federal overreach that treads on states' rights). I was surprised to find some conservative politicians made progressive arguments and some liberal politicians made conservative arguments! The editors (Baumgardner and Kunin) offer a little context for each speech, but generally each speaker's words stand alone and are self-explanatory.

Although the speeches are presented in this book in chronological order, this book is not about tracing the history of political thought in the US concerning gay marriage. It is just a selection of political speeches from 1977 to 2013. The book is short (my copy is 196 pages). I was dismayed to find that the first speech in this collection doesn't address gay marriage; it is a speech by Harvey Milk addressing how important it is for gay people to get involved in politics. Tangentially relevant, I guess, but far enough off the specific topic of "gay marriage" that I put the book aside for a while. I'm glad I picked it up again, because the rest of the book involves exactly what I was looking for.

Readers will recognize most of the speaker's names. Here are words from former US presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton, from former US vice presidents Dick Cheney, Al Gore, and Joe Biden, and presidential candidates John Kerry, Hillary Clinton, and Cory Booker. Some of the speeches offered tentative, restricted support. The most emotionally touching speeches were by speakers who were themselves gay or had a gay son or daughter -- the issue was personal for them and I felt that their words came from the heart.

Definitely worth reading. A good resource for activists and politicians, or anyone researching issues of social justice. I recommend it.

~bint ( )

I received an advanced copy of We Do! through LibraryThing’s Early Reviewers program and very much enjoyed this chronicle of how gay rights have evolved in the U.S. This is a very quick read containing various essays, speeches, and interviews with politicians that highlight key moments in the fight for gay rights and gay marriage. While you may want to look elsewhere for a more comprehensive discussion of this history, We Do! provides a very good introduction and is definitely worth a read. ( )

A very quick read of essays highlighting politician's viewpoints on gay marriage over the past few years. I was surprised at how updated this was in light of the recent repeals of DOMA and prop 8. It's a hopeful book that ultimately makes you wonder why the US can't just get its act together and legalize it already. ( )

First off, let me put my cards on the table: I'm a member of the LBGTQ community, and I support equal rights for LGBTQ persons. Period.

We Do! doesn't offer the jazziest format or a comprehensive tour through queer history, but it's an excellent resource for speeches and essays relating to the LGBTQ-rights movement. As you might expect, Harvey Milk's "Hope" speech is the first to appear, and you'll also find testimony from well-known political figures, up to and including President Obama.

Glaring omissions on this front: Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Senator Mark Kirk (R-Illinois). Senator Murkowki's press release on her change of heart (June 2013) especially merits inclusion. (Senator Rob Portman [R-Ohio] made the cut.) Marriage equality is coming, and the longer Republicans hold out, the worse they'll look, and I'm sure Democrats will gleefully bash them for it. However, ending discrimination against LGBTQ persons should trump party hostility, and the more moderate (or even conservative; see Cheney, Dick) GOP politicians come forward to support LGBTQ rights, the better, especially since they face animus from the right flank of their own party.

But enough of politics (hasn't it been a great two weeks here . . . UGH) Some high points of the book:

Transcriptions of speeches by Virgina Apuzzo and David Mixner: rousing, tragic, fundamental.
Andrew Sullivan's prescience on the conservative case for gay marriage. He was way out front in 1989.
Personal testimony from LGBTQ legislators like Representative Bill Lippert.
I see this book as part of a growing awareness (in America) of LGBTQ history, which is *such* a positive development. Not everyone will run out to their bookstore to buy Stonewall: The Riots That Sparked a Revolution (though I wish it were so!), but a book like We Do! could be a gateway to more reading about the struggles the LGBTQ community has faced in this and past centuries.

Speaking of LGBT history, if you're looking for another way to learn more, I suggest trying the Quist (Queer History smushed together) app for your phone. Daily tidbits of LGBTQ history, and it's free. Full disclosure: My sister-in-law, Sarah Prager, created the app and owns it, and I (your humble blogger) edited it before its release.

We Do! American Leaders Who Believe in Marriage Equality will hit the shelves on Tuesday (October 15).

*I received this ARC through LibraryThing's Early Reviewer program in exchange for an honest review.

Co-edited by Jennifer Baumgarder, publisher and executive director of the Feminist Press; and Madeleine M. Kunin: first woman governor of Vermont, and Deputy Secretary of Education, and Ambassador to Switzerland under President Bill Clinton, the book, WE DO, is a compilation of 18 statements on the subject of Gay Marriage, a book of statements authored by prominent Americans, many, if not most of whom are politicians. Beginning with San Francisco Supervisor, Harvey Milk's "Hope" speech from 1977, and ending with former President Bill Clinton's 2013 apology for having signing the Defense Of Marriage Act in 1996, the book details a remarkable change in public attitudes toward Gay Rights in the USA over the past 36 years. Cory Booker, the young, progressive mayor of Newark, New Jersey, phrased the question most simply: ""No minority should have their rights subject to the passions and sentiments of the majority." Anyone living through the period understands how easy it was for politicians to use opposition to Gay Marriage to their advantage, and no one person illustrates that better than the case of President Clinton, who reached out to the Gay community during his first Presidential campaign, except that immediately after the election he kowtowed to conservative forces by agreeing to the Don't Ask, Don't Tell military policy toward Gay soldiers, a signal failure of intestinal fortitude, followed closely by the Defense of Marriage Act.. The bravery of politicians who spoke up in defense of the rights of Gay people during those years is here for all to see. And so it was fascinating to read the speech given in 2011 on Human Right's Day to a United Nations audience in Switzerland by non other than the then Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Her address was truly a sign of how quickly times have altered public perceptions over the question of equal rights for Gay people.