25 Years Ago

"Despite the headlines, we seem to be moving, albeit slowly, to reclaim a more individualist vision…More importantly, people from across the political spectrum are beginning to recognize the unintended, and decidedly unpleasant, consequences of sticking everyone in boxes and granting benefits to whomever seems the most victimized or yells the loudest."
—Virginia I. Postrel, "Sticky Labels"

"An almost Victorian denial of complicity—of woman's emotional stake in the relationship—is a big feature of the date-rape oeuvre. Man is entirely predatory; woman is entirely passive, a hapless victim, there by accident."
—Stephanie Gutmann, "'It sounds like I raped you!'"

"Indeed, when a case can be made for a religious exemption to a given law, the law itself should be deemed suspect. If it is possible to allow prostitution or drug taking for religious reasons, why not for other reasons as well?"
—Jacob Sullum, "Sex, Drugs, and Religion"

—July 1990