Why Straight Guys Love Their Gay Guys: Reviving the Roots of Male Sexuality Paperback – 15 Oct. 2017

A provocative essay. David Dalton is a fine writer and I have enjoyed his science fiction series on time travel, love and life in pre-Christian times. "I am calling for nothing less than a rebellion against an unnatural system of sexual repression that has been used against all of us for almost 2,000 years," he writes now in "Why Straight Guys Love Their Gay Guys." I agree that organized religion likely causes more problems than it solves by hounding believers into irrelevant narrow sexual roles and lifestyles that seem disconnected to the real issues of the day: poverty, discrimination, public education, a declining middle class, health care, gun violence. The list of issues that impact real lives is a long one and only sporadically handled by church leaders who often seem to be looking for bogymen then solving complex social issues. What would Jesus think? is a question sometimes asked by the devout. He is silent on MM sexual issues in the Gospels. Feeding the hungry seemed a prime concern and joining his ministry. While I do not seek the love of straight men, or men outside my own marriage, I think Mr. Dalton makes many good points and the essay is well documented and a fun, provocative read.

Good concepts & reflections but shortage in explaining the mechanisms why straight guys can accept a gay friend as a lover. Good research job in gay and t heology as social repressive institution, but I expected to find more clues about male sex behavior and tendency to have male male sex.

A short read that poses that the prohibition of M/M sex is a construct of modern society that changed the way i these relationships are perceived and not for the good.

This was an interesting read, that touched on subjects usually relegated to the shadows. There were a variety of approaches to "straight guys and gay guys"... from the author's personal anecdotes, historic references, and other articles and books. Major sub themes were the apparent unhappiness of gay men, especially those living in gay ghettos; the constraints on sex in general, and especially between men imposed by Christianity; and the prevalence of sex between men in Celtic cultures, Through all the shadowy stuff, there was a beautiful optimism about intimacy between straight and gay men.Regarding the unhappiness of gay men, I think Mr. Dalton may have lived in San Francisco for too long. I myself lived there for 5 years in the 90s, and moved an hour outside of the city, to get away from the hyper gay masculinity, and it's pressure. As well, an area he didn't refer to, is that if you're not happy, you need to address that - it's not endemic to being gay!The author romances the supposed freedom and prevalence of male/male sex in the Celtic world... as much as our culture romances the "Romeo & Juliet" romantic illusion of heterosexual love in our culture. While it's interesting to reminisce the Celtic world, it's about as useful as reminiscing America in the 1950s or the Middle East before the current conflict. We all swim in the reality of this moment - that is our playground, the place we can find happiness and meaning.

This is a genuinely original book. Concise and direct, it challenges just about every orthodoxy our sexual pop culture insists upon, and suggests some world-rocking-yet-attainable benefits for both gay and straight men. A bold and sensible reset of individual and societal priorities is laid out for all we searchers to consider.