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Upcoming Events
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John Corvino on Tour

Catch IGF contributor John Corvino as he travels the country to speak
and debate on gays, marriage, and God. Check school websites for time
and room information.

¶ Mar. 2: Missouri State University (Springfield), debate with Glenn
Stanton on the existence of God
¶ Mar. 4: DePauw University, "Homosexuality and Morality"
¶ Mar. 9: St. Olaf College, marriage debate with Glenn Stanton
¶ Mar. 10: University of Lethbridge (AB, Canada), "Homosexuality and
Morality"
¶ Mar. 30: Millersville University (PA), marriage debate with Glenn
Stanton
¶ Mar. 31: University of Detroit-Mercy Law School, marriage debate
with Jeffrey Ventrella of the Alliance Defense Fund
¶ Apr. 6: Drake University (IA), "Homosexuality and Morality"
¶ Apr. 8: NE Pennsylvania Diversity Education Consortium
(Wilkes-Barre), workshop
¶ Apr. 9: Delaware County Community College (PA), "Homosexuality and
Morality"
¶ Apr. 13: Univ. of WI-Platteville, debate with Glenn Stanton on the
existence of God
¶ Apr. 20: Wright State University (OH), "Homosexuality and Morality"
¶ Apr. 22: University of Dayton, "Homosexuality and Morality"

Worth Watching...

For a logical, funny, and compassionate demolition of the anti-gay
agenda, check out IGF contributor John Corvino's new DVD, "What's
Morally Wrong with Homosexuality?"

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The Lessons of Viagra

by David Link

First appeared May 11, 1998, in the Los Angeles Times.

WHO GETS VIAGRA? Should doctors refuse to prescribe the new virility
pill to a man whose wife uses birth control? Should unmarried men be
prohibited from taking the drug? What about gay men?

For decades now, gay men have been lectured to by heterosexuals that
the purpose of sex is procreation. The possibility of creating life,
it is said, stands as the moral foundation of sexuality. Since
same-sex couples cannot hope to conceive a child, their sexuality
lacks any chance of being moral. And it goes without saying that this
sort of moral sexuality can only occur within a valid marriage, which,
given the current rules of marriage is yet another reason same-sex
couples are supposed to be excluded from having moral sexual
relationships.

This tissue of an argument has been the thin flag of gay-rights
opponents for a long time, but now it may stand or fall on the wild
popularity of Viagra. That drug has caused a sensation across the
country as men have flooded doctors and pharmacists with requests. It
reportedly works for up to 70 percent of impotent men, a home run for
the drug's manufacturer and a boon for the sex lives of couples across
the nation.

But how many of those couples will be using Viagra with the intention
of having children? From front-page stories, it appears to be very
few. Common sense explains that men in their prime reproductive years
tend not to be the ones who have impotence problems.

The question of reproduction, however, is all but absent from the rush
of attention Viagra is getting. What heterosexuals are interested in,
of course, is the drug's ability to enhance physical intimacy, not the
possibility of children. And there is nothing wrong with that. Sexual
intimacy is one of the most important parts of any relationship, and
it is a factor independent of fertility. The importance of sexual
intimacy detached from fertility was also the driving force when birth
control pills for women became widely available in the 1960s.

These two pills -- one for women and one for men -- reveal the paradox
that lesbians and gay men have to negotiate every day. Heterosexual
couples, who can biologically have children, don't have an obligation
to, while homosexual couples are criticized for not living up to the
biological norm that heterosexuals don't have to live up to. More
pointedly, heterosexuals are permitted to celebrate their
nonprocreative sexuality on magazine covers and prime-time TV shows,
while homosexuals are expected to apologize for theirs.

Viagra's popularity isn't such a long step from the tolerance that
President Clinton's alleged sex life has garnered among Americans. If
anything, the constant drumbeat of reporting on this story reveals how
little most Americans actually think about reproduction as a moral
argument. The list of moral grievances surrounding Clinton's alleged
sexual escapades is a long one, but no one has yet argued that our
famously heterosexual president is immoral because he lacked
procreative intent.

Would heterosexuals be willing to live by the moral rules that they
apply to lesbians and gay men? Should Viagra be limited to legally
married couples who want to have children but cannot because of the
husband's impotence? Or is sexual intimacy such an important part of
an adult relationship that impotence should be viewed as a problem
that should and now can be cured?

In this, as in all things, there should be one rule for heterosexuals
and homosexuals alike. Whichever one heterosexuals think they can live
with, homosexuals will live with, too.

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