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| How far we have come in half a century: a small group of neatly dressed, very brave homosexuals - in an era when homosex could get you not only fired, but also jailed and even lobotomized - picket the White House in the first gay-rights demonstration, April 17, 1965. |
It appears that even this stalwart homo-hater, who slithers around gay porn palaces and scurries about licentious leather bars looking for smut to post on his prurient website, knows the end is near. It is clear that there is a shrinking market for professional gay bashers and one can only hope he polishes off his cracker-thin resume and finds a new gig before it is too late. Since he has so much experience visiting the tubs in Chicago, and is likely a familiar face, maybe they will be kind and offer him an exciting, new opportunity cleaning the cubicles.Read the rest of the article in which Besen demolishes LaBarbera's twisted claims here.
The list of countries that recently declared war on sexual minorities include: Russia, Nigeria, Cameroon, Uganda, Iran, and Zimbabwe. For the contemptible despots who run these underachieving nations, fomenting homophobia makes political sense. By turning homosexuals into bogeymen these rulers can conceal their corruption and appear moral through the blessings of craven clergy. . . .
But today’s actions by the administration and Clinton’s speech were different. The words were spoken with true vision and encrusted in values. There was clarity and passion, and no one was left wondering where our country stood on the rights of LGBT people.
This was one of those times where our nation demonstrated true international leadership and made me incredibly proud to be an American. It was stirring to witness our country act decisively as a force for moral good. There was no patronizing that relegated the LGBT community to the role of liberalism’s unwanted stepchild. There were no carefully crafted and focus grouped code words that sugarcoated the abuses – just the honest truth spoken from the heart. . . .
The stunning events in Geneva mark the moment Barack Obama secured a national LGBT vote for his 2012 re-election campaign. Today we felt hope – but more importantly, we witnessed monumental change.
This administration under my direction has consistently said we cannot discriminate as a country against people on the basis of sexual orientation…Besen goes on to say, among other things:
What I’ve seen happen over the last several years and what happened in New York last week – I think was a good thing because what you saw was the people of New York having a debate, talking through these issues. It was contentious, it was emotional – but ultimately they made a decision to recognize civil marriages. And I think that’s exactly how things should work. And so I think it is important for us to work through these issues – because each community is going to be different and each state is going to be different – to work through them. In the meantime, we filed briefs before the Supreme Court that say any discrimination against gays, lesbians, transgenders is subject to heightened scrutiny and we don’t think DOMA is unconstitutional (sic – they do think DOMA is unconstitutional). So the combination of what states are doing, what the courts are doing, the actions we’re taking administratively, all are how the process should work…
I think what you’re seeing is a profound recognition on the part of the American people that gays, lesbians and transgender persons are our brothers, our sisters, our children, our cousins, our friends, our co-workers and that they’ve got to be treated like every other American. And I think that principle will win out.
Obama alluded in his statement to the idea that this process is working itself out on several fronts — state legislatures, court cases, the actions of his own administration that actually fall under his own set of responsibilities. President Obama simply cannot wave his magic wand and declare full equality for LGBT Americans. And I agree that it’s great that states like New York have used their legislative branch to move us forward. However, those who think that the civil rights of minorities should be solely left up to the whims of either voters or their elected representatives are idiots, as there comes a time in civil rights battles where the Supreme Court has to come in and gently explain to Mississippi that it’s time to stop playing with its own poop in the corner and join the other well-behaved children at the lunch table. (Can you imagine if we had waited around for Mississippi to deal with anti-miscegenation laws on a legislative level? My god.)I get all that Besen says, and he's probably right. But something he doesn't mention is the bottom-line fact that even though Obama may be doing all the right moves, politically and Constitutionally - what's missing for us queer folk is the feeling of being loved.
This brings us to why I think President Obama is deliberately being cagy on the subject of full marriage equality, at this point in time. Again, we all may not like it, but I do believe there is a method to the madness here. Going into the 2012 elections, the Obama administration is, unfortunately, more vulnerable than I think it should be, due to the economy, and due to the goldfish memories of many American voters, who do not remember where the shitty economy came from, but who simultaneously think that Obama should have been able to snap his fingers and fix it. And though the economy is improving, there are still a hell of a lot of Americans who are first and foremost concerned about the fact that they don’t have jobs. If that situation hasn’t improved much by the time next year’s election rolls around, he could be more vulnerable than we might have expected . . . .
Oh, but hell, if Obama is actually running around before the election, as Daniel Villareal said in the piece linked above, “guns blazing with a red, white, and blue hard-on for the queers,” I can imagine a scenario where that could tip one or more of those states into the red column. As it is, he’s letting the process play out and staying a bit above the fray, seemingly to me, to avoid handing the GOP that easy wedge issue going into the election. Now surely, he could come out for full marriage equality next week and prove me wrongity-wrong-wrong, but my gut just sort of says that’s where things are right now.
