This past week marked a true shift in the political machine of the gay community. We aren't really a community in the sense that we do not vote as a bloc or have the same values or beliefs. At least that used to be the case.
There are still a number of gay Republicans who will vote for Bush because of being brainwashed, or because of monetary or terrorism issues. But they are now a minority of a minority of a minority.
Nothing reinforced that for me more than seeing Human Rights Campaign's notice thanking Log Cabin Republicans for their anti-FMA ad campaign. These were the same organizations, who, 4 years ago, under different leadership, were writing embarrassing and hostile attacks against each other on their respective websites and in The Advocate. HRC was incensed because John McCain had joked about "gaydar" and LCR was outraged because HRC had made a very early endorsement of Al Gore (who had once voted for sodomy laws) instead of McCain (whom LCR were always much closer to than Bush) or Bill Bradley. HRC shot back that McCain was far worse than Gore could ever be on gay issues.
2000 was the peak of the split between gay conservatives and gay progressive voters. The 90's was a long, sometimes painful division between hardcore activists entrenched deep in global interests and agendas, and more affluent, more traditional men and women who simply wanted the same things that their parents had, and couldn't deal with what they saw as self-defeating PC extremism or excessive concentration on non-gay issues (abortion, affirmative action, anti-war protests, gun control).
The 90's had seen the Democratic Party step deep into the midst of degrading, dehumanizing legislation like DOMA and Don't Ask Don't Tell. Meanwhile, the Republicans had managed to elect a number of governors and mayors who were more supportive of gay rights than even many Democrats. While gay Democrats were seen as relying on the same Clintonista machine, the LCR was supportive of a man who, although he was not as supportive as he could be, did meet with them and took a states-rights positions on gay relationships.
George Bush's election should have been the final nail in the coffin for one unified voice. Two camps - the unwavering gay Democrats and the increasingly prominent and proud gay Republicans.
Instead, he's managed to climb a near-insurmountable peak of apathy and self-hatred to join AIDS, Jerry Falwell and Anita Bryant as the ultimate foe to freedom, to life, to equality, to any chance of a future for gays and lesbians.
Although the LCR likes to brag about the Republican officials who are opposed to the Anti-Family Amendment, they no longer even dare to whisper that Democrats are as bad as Republicans on gay issues. They will be very hard-pressed to ever say such a thing again. Nor can they ever brag about making huge inroads in the Republican Party.
To many gay Republicans, I think the disillusionment started with the reaction to the sodomy laws being struck down. Log Cabinites probably did not expect any big support for same-sex marriage, or even civil unions, but they also weren't prepared for one of the most powerful senators in Congress essentially comparing them to pedophiles and dog-fuckers, with the President responding not by asking for an apology, but by praising him as "inclusive". The backlash over same-sex marriage, Marriage Protection Week, states with a majority-Republican legislature passing expansive and malicious bans and amendments. It built and built and built until Bush finally endorsed the FMA.
I truly feel that moment was the one which reminded all gays and lesbians just how alike they are, regardless of location or political ideology. The condemnation of LCR by the supposedly friendly "next generation" like the College Republicans only serves to show gay Republicans that every generation of their supposedly tolerant party is made up of intolerant, opportunistic bigots and dittoheads. I have no idea how LCR reacted to the College Republicans' rant, but it certainly reinforced for me that I will never vote a Republican again, no matter how much they claim to love everyone.
Believe it or not, many gay Republicans actually did (and some still do) believe that the GOP cared about them. I think most people look at them and think they are total morons, or playing a great con game. But they really did expect better from the Republican Party.
The outrage goes beyond the White House. LCR has also been extremely critical of Mitt Romney, telling the press that he lied to them and they wish they had not supported him. That "keep it in your own house" fragility of gay Republicans, where they feared speaking out because they would lose any ground, has been shattered. They've realized they have nothing to lose. I knew that hell had frozen over when their leader (Patrick Guerreiro) suggested that they may endorse John Kerry over Bush.
Realistically, that won't happen. LCR tends to hem and haw and already backed off of a ridiculous demand that the GOP accept same-sex marriage. They may very well endorse Bush this summer, and even if they don't, they certainly do not speak for all gay Republican voters.
Their behavior is more powerful as a symbol than in actual fact. By standing up to the party - and as a result getting far more media and financial support than they ever have before - they sent a message that you can buck your traditions and not pay any severe price. I think that, within the next 2 to 4 years, we are going to see gay Republicans getting pro-gay Democrats elected in places where they realistically should have never been out of power, like the governorships of Massachusetts and Marlyand (the one Republican that has been elected as governor reneged on any promise he made to LCR), like Gordon Smith's Senate seat. I think they will help make places like Ohio slightly less dominated by lunatics. And by working together in the trenches I think that we are going to see a real, open debate among gay men and women of different political stripes for the first time in a long, long time. This community needs one voice, one soul on so many issues (rising STD rates, non-discrimination laws, shallowness, self-esteem, more funding for activism on local and state levels, AIDS funding, partnership rights), and many of the petty differences that split us in two are increasingly trivial.
George Bush is a uniter in ways that he never imagined. My fervent hope is that even if we are unfortunate to have this jackass for 4 more years, that the one group split asunder by his deceptions, his bullying, his lies is the Republican Party. For the first time in a while, the gay community has a common enemy. I hope that we continue to focus on that enemy instead of turning our guns on each other, as we so often have in the past.
What suggestions do you have to help build a stronger and more unified gay community? Do you have any? Or is it impossible to ever stand up to the far more wealthy and influential fundies who now control the government?