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IGF, Inc., is registered in the State of Florida. As such, to meet their legislative reguirements, we wish to inform you that our registration number with the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services is SC-10945, that no percentage of your income is retained by any professional solicitor, and that 100% of your contribution goes to the work of IGF. A COPY OF THE OFFICIAL REGISTRATION AND FINANCIAL INFORMATION MAY BE OBTAIINED FROM THE DIVISION OF CONSUMER SERVICES BY CALLING TOLL-FREE WITHIN THE STATE (800-435-7352). REGISTRATION DOES NOT IMPLY ENDORSEMENT, APPROVAL, OR RECOMMENDATION OF THE STATE.

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Writing a news article on deadline?

Need a speaker for a panel discussion, talk show or local event?

The range of informed opinion out there is a whole lot more diverse and interesting than you'd guess from the "official" debate between entrenched pro- and anti-gay factions. At IGF, we've heard every possible variation on the theme: "I didn't know gays were allowed to believe that!" Or its flip side: "I didn't people who believed in [X, Y, Z] were allowed to be pro-gay too."

IGF's Press and Speakers Service can serve as a matchmaker for reporters and community groups in search of unexpected quotes and non-obvious takes on current events.

Need someone to talk intelligently about the "gay angle" in GOP politics or the turmoil in American religion? Sodomy-law repeal or the Second Amendment? Hate-crime laws or school choice? Trends in academia or censorship of the Internet? We can put you in touch with IGF contributing writers with appropriate expertise and other experts and authorities you'll find worth listening to. We can also point you toward some of the ever-growing list of straight conservative commentators who think it's past time for their colleagues to lay off the anti-gay demagoguery already.

For community and academic groups arranging speaker events and roundtables, IGF can put you in touch with a growing network of experienced public speakers based in several cities, as well as peripatetic authors (sometimes on book tour, sometimes not).

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Forging a Gay Mainstream

The Independent Gay Forum has been created by a group of gay writers, academics, attorneys, and activists who feel dissatisfied with the current level of discussion of gay-related issues.

• We support the full inclusion of gays and lesbians in civil society with legal equality and equal social respect. We argue that gays and lesbians, in turn, contribute to the creativity, robustness, and decency of our national life.
• We share a belief in the fundamental virtues of the American system and its traditions of individual liberty, personal moral autonomy and responsibility, and equality before the law. We believe those traditions depend on the institutions of a market economy, free discussion, and limited government.
• We deny "conservative" claims that gays and lesbians pose any threat to social morality or the political order.
• We equally oppose "progressive" claims that gays should support radical social change or restructuring of society.
• We share an approach, but we disagree on many particulars. We include libertarians, limited-government conservatives, moderates, and classical liberals. We hold differing views on the role of government, personal morality, religious faith, and personal relationships. We share these disagreements openly: we hope that readers will find them interesting and thought-provoking.

IGF is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation. It serves as a forum for debate and discussion and does not take positions on matters of politics or policy. The views expressed are those of the authors alone.

If you have an article that you think belongs here, we'd like to hear from you. But please bear in mind that, because we lack editorial and legal staff, articles must have been previously published in an edited journal, whether print or online. All articles published here are reprinted by permission, with copyright retained by author or original publisher.

The Editors

Staff

Meet our staff and contributing writers.

Media

Learn about our media coordinator and speakers bureau.

July 29, 1999

WASHINGTON -- The Independent Gay Forum, a new association of writers and thinkers seeking to broaden the debate about homosexuality by giving voice to centrist, conservative and libertarian ideas, has unveiled its new website at http://www.indegayforum.org.

"This new site brings together some of the most challenging and articulate voices in gay and lesbian America -- representing viewpoints that too often go unheard or underrepresented," said Jonathan Rauch, an openly gay writer who serves as the IGF's vice president. "We think a lot of gays and lesbians who don't buy into the dogmas of either the left or the right will find a worldview they can relate to. We're trying to create a smart, safe home for them."

The site -- recently referenced in the Wall Street Journal's "Washington Wire" column (July 16) and a Slate Magazine debate on homosexuality ("Book Club," June 30) -- includes published articles by a rich variety of gay writers and thinkers. Among the subjects discussed are guns, anti-discrimination laws, marriage, religion, capitalism, books and culture. New articles are posted regularly, and the IGF offers a newsletter and can make its authors available for speeches and public engagements.

"This site is a discussion, not an orthodoxy," said Paul Varnell, a Windy City Times columnist who edits the site. "Above all, we look for essays and ideas of absolutely top quality -- the best writing and thinking out there.

"Our writers all support full legal equality and social respect for gays and lesbians, and they also embrace the American traditions of market economics, unfettered debate and limited government. Within those boundaries, though, there's a lot of disagreement. What unites us is the feeling that the old debate between gay leftists and anti-gay rightists is exhausted. We think the ideas we're exploring will be the basis for the next stage of the debate."

Among the writers and topics at indegayforum.org:

• Stephen H. Miller shows how gay leaders' quest for race and gender "parity" -- and "parity-plus" -- elevates group identity over individual merit, with "profoundly divisive" results.
• Richard E. Sincere, Jr., and Rob Blanchard argue that "hate-crime laws" are not only ineffective, but also distract gays from more pressing issues of equal rights.
• Miller and Jonathan Rauch discuss how carrying concealed weapons can be part of the solution to gay-bashing -- even though, writes Miller, "The fact that gay people could possibly be on the same side of an issue as the National Rifle Association" breaks precedent.
• Norah Vincent, exploring how lesbians may create "confining roles for themselves in the name of misguided community membership," argues that individualism and self-acceptance are the only ways to obtain truly equal rights and equal treatment.
• Walter Olson dismantles misguided theocrats -- including "Christian Reconstructionists" who advocate death for homosexuals and pseudo-researchers whose claims about gay men's life expectancy are based on startlingly shoddy methods.
• Paul Varnell, looking beyond this year's 30th anniversary of the Stonewall riots in New York, notes that gay activism didn't begin with Stonewall and wouldn't have ended without it: "There was a small but rapidly growing gay movement that helped ensure the continued growth of activism in the 1970s even had Stonewall not happened."

The IGF was chartered in 1999 as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.