Perfect Enemies

This comprehensive account of two arch-nemeses analyzes the surprisingly similar strategies, rhetoric, and skillful grassroots organizational efforts that have landed their conflict in the center of political debate and that continue to influence electoral politics from state houses to the White House. In the new paperback edition, the authors expand their examination of the gay rights debate to cover the controversy of gays and lesbians in the armed forces; statewide antigay initiatives in Oregon, Colorado, and Maine; recent debates about same-sex marriages and the legal recognition of gay relationships; the surge in hate crimes; and the religious right's struggle to regroup behind President George W. Bush.

Chris Bull is the former Washington correspondent for The Advocate, where he covered national politics. He currently is a freelance journalist living in Washington, D.C. He is the recipient of the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association's 1994 honors for his coverage of gay youth suicide, and is the editor of Witness to Revolution: The Advocate Reports on Gay and Lesbian Politics. John Gallagher has been a national correspondent for The Advocate for the past five years, where his reporting on regional and national politics has received numerous awards. Previously, he was a reporter at Time magazine for seven years. He lives near San Francisco.