First Things Podcast The Promises of Gay Liberation (ft. Scott Yenor)
Feb 12, 2026
Scott Yenor, political philosopher focused on family and social policy, discusses gay liberation as a symbol of freedom and its ties to the sexual revolution. He traces three waves of activism, how marriage shifted expectations toward government and technology, and the rise of transgender and school controversies. The conversation examines cultural mainstreaming, public backlash, and possible conservative responses.
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Sexual Liberation As Political Project
- Gay liberation promised sexual liberation as a route to broader social transformation.
- Thinkers from Wilhelm Reich to Herbert Marcuse linked sexual liberation to overturning capitalist restraints.
Government Grants What Nature Denies
- After Obergefell, government increasingly supplies what nature cannot, like children for same-sex couples.
- This reflects a new social bargain: the state grants what biological reproduction denies.
Gay Marriage As Capstone In Churches
- Same-sex marriage often functions as a capstone blessing for the sexual revolution within mainline churches.
- Churches tended to bless contraception, divorce, ordination changes, then same-sex unions last.
