Jo Becker's book Forcing the Spring made waves for being that book alleging the revolution to legalize gay marriage began in 2008. However, despite backlash from those who say the movement began years earlier, Becker told HuffPost Live on Wednesday that she still doesn't regret what she wrote.
"Look, I don’t regret reframing it that way," Becker told HuffPost Live's Josh Zepps. "I certainly regret that a bunch of people created a distraction and seemed to make people not want to read my book.”
Becker said Forcing the Spring is in no way "pretending to be a history of the movement." Instead, it recognizes the significance of California's Prop 8 case, which she claims many of her opponents have downplayed.
"There is a concerted effort in some quarters to basically relegate the Prop 8 case to a footnote in history and say it was not important," Becker said.
The author argued that the many milestone decisions made in the Prop 8 case make it a meaningful moment in LGBT history, the significance of which cannot be denied.
"It was the first time that a federal judge had said gays and lesbians have the right to marry just like any others. It was the first time an appeals court had ruled in that way, and it was the first time this issue reached the Supreme Court. I think all of that was important," Becker said.
Becker thinks her book should be accepted as just one perspective in the long list of narratives that cover marriage equality and the LGBT movement.
"It seems that some people think that you can’t write about this case without writing about every other incredibly important moment in the movement. And there are many: the Stonewall Riots, the AIDS acitivist of the 1980s …people like Evan Wolfson and all the work he did when this was not a popular cause -- in any way [these people were involved], all deserve to have their moments in history and enshrined in a book."
Watch the full interview with Jo Becker below:
Before You Go
