Andrew Sullivan

   

Andrew Sullivan

Andrew Sullivan (born 10 August 1963) is an Anglo-American journalist and intellectual, known both for his heterodox personal-political identity (HIV-positive, sexually gay, politically Tory/conservative, religiously Catholic) as well as for his pioneering efforts in the field of weblog journalism.

Biography

Sullivan was born in South Godstone, England, and received a B.A. in modern history from Oxford University (Magdalen College). He went on to earn a masters degree in public administration and a Ph.D. in political science at Harvard, writing his dissertation on conservative British philosopher Michael Oakeshott. In 1986 he began his career with The New Republic magazine, serving as its editor from 1991 to 1996. Sullivan wrote for The New York Times Magazine briefly; his termination in 2002 (http://slate.msn.com/?id=2065829)-- Sullivan describes himself as having been "banned"-- is widely seen as a burr under Sullivan's saddle.

In late 2000 he began his blog andrewsullivan.com, which soon became one of the most popular political blogs on the Internet (by the middle of 2003, it was receiving about 300,000 unique visits per month). Between starting his blog and ending his New Republic editorship, Sullivan wrote two works on homosexuality, arguing for its social acceptance on conservative grounds. His writing appears in a number of widely-read publications. He currently serves as the American columnist for The Sunday Times of London.

Sullivan is often compared to lesbian academic Camille Paglia, another gay intellectual who argues from a non-Leftist perspective.

Sullivan has described himself as being a South Park Republican, a phrase he coined in 2001 and has gained considerable currency since.

Sex scandal

In May 2001, Village Voice columnist Michael Musto revealed that Sullivan had anonymously posted advertisements for "bareback" sex (anal or oral sex without a condom) on America Online and the now-defunct website barebackcity.com. Subsequently, journalist Michelangelo Signorile wrote about the scandal in a front-page article in a New York gay magazine, LGNY, igniting a storm of controversy.

In the advertisements, Sullivan noted that he was HIV-positive. Sullivan's critics have argued that it was hypocritical of Sullivan to engage in this kind of sexual activity while simultaneously arguing against gay sexual promiscuity; they claim that the vision of gay sexuality presented in Sullivan's writing is at odds with the activities he was revealed to be engaging in. They also charge that because Sullivan was HIV-positive, it was unsafe for him to engage in sex without a condom. Sullivan's critics argue that it is unfair for Sullivan to criticize Bill Clinton's sexual indiscretions as "reckless" while engaging in unprotected sex himself.

Sullivan's defenders respond that he only had bareback sex with consenting adults who were also HIV-positive. According to Sullivan, this significantly reduced the risk inherent in his behavior, and he has derided what he called a "thin reed of evidence" of the existence of "reinfection," which, according to medical experts, heightens the destruction caused by the virus. His supporters have also argued that it was a violation of his privacy to publish information about his sex life. Sullivan has called the scandal "sexual McCarthyism". Sullivan supporters also argue that those who revealed the details about his sex life were motivated by a desire for payback, because they disagree with his politics and his comments about the gay community. His detractors respond that his hypocrisy was reason enough to publish the stories.

List of works

  • Virtually Normal: An Argument About Homosexuality
  • Love Undetectable: Notes on Friendship, Sex and Survival

Remarks on homosexuality and the 2004 election

I've been trying to think of what to say about what appears to be the enormous success the Republicans had in using gay couples' rights to gain critical votes in key states. In eight more states now, gay couples have no relationship rights at all. Their legal ability to visit a spouse in hospital, to pass on property, to have legal protections for their children has been gutted. If you are a gay couple living in Alabama, you know one thing: your family has no standing under the law; and it can and will be violated by strangers. I'm not surprised by this. When you put a tiny and despised minority up for a popular vote, the minority usually loses.
[1] (http://www.andrewsullivan.com/index.php?dish_inc=archives/2004_10_31_dish_archive.html#109949972677510025)

Sullivan defected from the Bush camp over gay rights, as well as other issues such as the perceived mishandling of the war in Iraq.

External links



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