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Abstract
This project contributes to the study of modern social movements by analyzing two strands of rhetoric around the movie Brokeback Mountain and their implications for the LGBT movement. I identify the key distinction as one of rhetorical strategy as opposed to an ethical orientation for which Michael Warner has argued. Through close textual analysis, I outline the limits and possibilities of both assimilationist and integrationist rhetoric as strategic options for LGBT advocacy. I argue that rather than privileging one over the other, a more effective political discourse must be self-conscious of the strategic value of any given rhetoric.