As
pamindurham notes, the Democratic National Committee's LGBT outreach office is circulating a petition asking President Bush and the Republican Party to stop their gay bashing, particularly with regard to the Federal Marriage Amendment.
Pam is skeptical of the Democratic Party's support for gay people, with good reason. While many people on these boards are supportive of gay people and issues, there are others around here who honestly can't be counted on. There are those who think Democrats are too identified with gay rights, and that it's costing the party. These folks are part of the problem.
For many of us gay folks the Democratic Party is our political home. It's far from a comfortable home life, though. Throughout the last political campaign, we were told to "take one for the team." When Kerry and Edwards said they supported the Missouri anti-marriage amendment, we were told not to criticize the campaign, that it was simply a political reality that Kerry "had to" support the amendment for political reasons. Our rage and pain were poo-poohed as political naivete. We were told to keep our feelings of betrayal to ourselves. The same thing happened when people like Stephanie Herseth and Ben Chandler voted for court stripping legislation.
Let's face it, while the Democratic Party is a far friendlier place for gay people than the Republican Party, it's not always a terribly friendly place. A Democratic Congress and President gave us Don't Ask, Don't Tell. A Democratic President signed the Defense of Marriage Act. That same Democratic President advocated throwing gay folks to the wolves during this election campaign and having John Kerry come out in support of that anti-marriage amendments that were on the ballots this fall. Many people admired Kerry for refusing this advice. However, when you look at what happened in Missouri, he didn't reject this advice. He supported that amendment.
I'm not threatening a revolt. I'm a Democrat and I'm not going anywhere. I am saying, though, that the Party needs to do some work on this issue. The Party has been tagged as the gay rights party. It's time we actually became that party. In order for that to happen, the party needs to be more visibly supportive of gay people. How often did John Kerry come out in support of gay rights in the campaign? And when he did so, how did he do it? Opposition to the Federal Marriage Amendment was discussed is "politicizing the Constitution." He didn't discuss the gay people in his own life. (How many of you knew that one of his closest friends is gay?) Indeed, when the FMA was being debated in the Senate, you couldn't find any Democrats (other than Teddy Kennedy) willing to stand up for gay people and our relationships.
Public Democrats seem terrified to discuss gay people. Republicans have no such avoidance issues. They love to talk about us. As long as the Democratic Party continues to talk about abstracts like politicizing the Constitution and states' rights, instead of real world issues facing gay people's lives, little progress is going to be made.
We also need to have honest conversations amongst ourselves. I'll be honest, when I hear people say, "I think homosexuality is a sin" I know I have an opponent. These folks are homophobes, even if they claim to be "tolerant". I don't care if it flows from your religion. I won't excuse racist beliefs that flow from religion, so why should I excuse homophobic beliefs that have a religious basis. I'm often struck by the arrogance of these people. They know that being gay is a "choice" no matter what gay people say about our own experiences. Do me a favor, if you wouldn't say "I think black folks are inferior," shut up about being gay being a sin.
So, if the party is serious about taking on Republican gay bashing, it needs to get serious about addressing gay issues. The Party is already "gay" in the public imagination. We might as well start living up to that impression.