"Sexual Justice" argues that the achievement of equality for lesbian and gay citizens is part of the unfinished business of modern democracy. In Romer v. Evans the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Colorado's Amendment 2 is unconstitutional because it denies homosexuals "equal protection of the laws" and makes them second-class citizens. But lesbian and gay men already suffer pervasive legal disabilities: half the states define relations between members of the same sex as a crime; only eight states protect queer citizens from discrimination in employment, housing, and public accommodations; no state grants same-sex couples the rights available to heterosexuals who marry.
"Sexual Justice" develops the full implications of equal citizenship, defending a robust conception of lesbian and gay rights that includes civil rights laws that prohibit retaliation for the exercise of political rights and recognition for queer relationships and families. Kaplan insists that sexual desire plays a central role in the pursuit of happiness: individuals must be free to shape their lives and define their personal identities through a variety of "voluntary associations." He connects the marginalization of lesbians and gay men with efforts to maintain the subordination of women. The argument draws on law, philosophy, psychoanalysis, history, and literature, focusing especially on Plato, Thoreau, Freud, Rawls, Arendt, and Foucault.
"Sexual Justice" should be of interest to a general audience concerned with human rights and social justice as well as to scholars interested in lesbian, gay and queer studies, philosophy, political and legal theory, intellectual history, cultural studies and feminism.

"Sexual Justice" argues that the achievement of equality for lesbian and gay citizens is part of the unfinished business of modern democracy. In Romer v. Evans the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Colorado's Amendment 2 is unconstitutional because it denies homosexuals "equal protection of the laws" and makes them second-class citizens. But lesbian and gay men already suffer pervasive legal disabilities: half the states define relations between members of the same sex as a crime; only eight states protect queer citizens from discrimination in employment, housing, and public accommodations; no state grants same-sex couples the rights available to heterosexuals who marry.
"Sexual Justice" develops the full implications of equal citizenship, defending a robust conception of lesbian and gay rights that includes civil rights laws that prohibit retaliation for the exercise of political rights and recognition for queer relationships and families. Kaplan insists that sexualdesire plays a central role in the pursuit of happiness: individuals must be free to shape their lives and define their personal identities through a variety of "voluntary associations." He connects the marginalization of lesbians and gay men with efforts to maintain the subordination of women. The argument draws on law, philosophy, psychoanalysis, history, and literature, focusing especially on Plato, Thoreau, Freud, Rawls, Arendt, and Foucault.
"Sexual Justice" should be of interest to a general audience concerned with human rights and social justice as well as to scholars interested in lesbian, gay and queer studies, philosophy, political and legal theory, intellectual history, cultural studies and feminism.

Sodom on the Thames looks closely at three episodes involving sex between men in late-nineteenth-century England. Morris Kaplan draws on extensive research into court records, contemporary newspaper accounts, personal correspondence and diaries, even a pornographic novel. He focuses on two notorious scandals and one quieter incident.

In 1871, transvestites "Stella" (Ernest Boulton) and "Fanny" (Frederick Park), who had paraded around London's West End followed by enthusiastic admirers, were tried for conspiracy to commit sodomy. In 1889 1890, the "Cleveland Street affair" revealed that telegraph delivery boys had been moonlighting as prostitutes for prominent gentlemen, one of whom fled abroad. In 1871, Eton schoolmaster William Johnson resigned in disgrace, generating shockwaves among the young men in his circle whose romantic attachments lasted throughout their lives. Kaplan shows how profoundly these scandals influenced the trials of Oscar Wilde in 1895 and contributed to growing anxiety about male friendships.

Sodom on the Thames reconstructs these incidents in rich detail and gives a voice to the diverse people involved. It deepens our understanding of late Victorian attitudes toward urban culture, masculinity, and male homoeroticism. Kaplan also explores the implications of such historical narratives for the contemporary politics of sexuality."