More conservative voices included Margaret O'Brien Steinfels of the Catholic magazine "Commonweal", who, in the "New York Times Book Review", described the book as "a model polemic" and admired Bawer's "efforts to be fair and balanced". Yet she rejected Bawer's call for same-sex marriage, arguing that insisting on it "is likely to prove... explosive". Gay-rights opponent Maggie Gallagher, while calling the book "fascinating", criticized Bawer for being dissatisfied with "mere tolerance". Helle Bering-Jensen, in the "Washington Times", sounded a similar note, arguing that while most Americans "are quite happy to let other folks live the lives they please", many "draw the line... at gays in the military, gay marriages, gay parenting and so forth".