| I
don’t like the way things are looking in this country politically
right now. Not at all.
I’m not an alarmist, but it is starting
to make me worry a little. Take a look at these headlines:
Psychiatrist Testifies ‘Gay Rage’ Legitimate
Oshkosh, Wis. — A forensic psychiatrist has told an Oshkosh court
that ‘gay rage’ exists and that a man was legally insane when
he killed a gay Wisconsin man after having sex with him.
New
Anti-Gay Attack From Ed. Secretary: ‘Schools Not Place For Gay
Issues’
Washington, D.C. — Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings says
she has no apologies to make for criticizing a PBS children’s series
which features an episode with a lesbian family.
Charges reinstated against gay marriage mayor
Albany, N.Y. — Criminal charges against
New Paltz Village Mayor Jason West for marrying gay couples were reinstated
by a judge Wednesday.
Virginia anti-gay license plates gain momentum
Richmond, Va. — Cars in Virginia could
soon have license plates extolling traditional marriage.
Throughout the late 20th century we all
watched as the struggle for gay and lesbian civil rights moved along,
stymied by the AIDS crisis in the ’80s
and then reinvigorated by the election of a relatively liberal Democrat — Bill
Clinton — in the ’90s.
Things looked good. There were gay people
all over the place — in
television and film we were no longer played as mental cases — we
actually had entire TV shows about us. In politics there were openly gay
congress people and senators and queer staffers could be found everywhere
in the Clinton administration.
Nobody was talking about gay marriage then — but it seemed like a
good time. The poison and hate-spewing evangelical anti-gay Christian right-wingers
weren’t organized to go after us with such a vengeance just yet.
That all changed, of course, in the presidential elections of 2000.
I often wonder how things would have turned
out if Jeb Bush wasn’t
the governor of Florida and the electoral votes had gone to Al Gore — the
man who should have rightfully been president.
How would Gore have responded to 9/11? Would Republicans have launched
a never-ending attack on Gore like the one they maintained against Clinton
throughout both his terms?
Things looked pretty dark after George W. Bush was appointed to office.
Gone were the gay cabinet members. No more big parties with Ellen DeGeneres
and her crazy girlfriend.
In the beginning, however, Bush attempted to make an effort to reach out
to LGBT Americans. Remember this?
Bush meets with gay supporters – a
positive first step for GOP nominee
Dialogue begun this week in effort to unite the Republican Party
April 13, 2000 — As part of an ongoing
dialogue with gay Republicans this week, Governor George W. Bush of
Texas, the presumptive nominee for
the GOP presidential nomination, met today with a group of his gay supporters
in Austin and welcomed gay Americans to join his campaign.
“I welcome gay Americans into my campaign,” Bush told reporters
after the meeting. “I want the Republicans, conservative Republicans
to understand we judge people based upon their heart and soul, that’s
what the campaign is about. And while we disagree on gay marriage for example,
we agree on a lot of other issues and it’s important for people to
hear that.”
Where did all that positive energy go? What happened? How could a campaign
that seemed to propose such promise give birth to a ravenous, hate-filled
political party that maintains in many of its own party platforms that
gays and lesbians are an aberration?
In North Carolina, the Republicans’ platform states that homosexuality “is
not normal and should not be established as an acceptable ‘alternative’ lifestyle
either in public education or in public policy.”
In South Carolina, Republicans say that
they “support tolerance,” but “do
not agree that unnatural or unhealthy sexual practices ought to be legitimized
or promoted in the classroom, nor do we believe that known practicing homosexuals
should serve as teachers in public schools.”
The overturning of the sodomy laws in 2003 and court victories for same-sex
marriage in Canada that same year rang hope in the hearts of gays and lesbians
across this continent, while simultaneously striking fear in the ignorant
minds of the evangelical right and politicians supported by them.
It is their fear that has fostered a growing anti-gay atmosphere in this
country.
George Bush has waffled on the Federal Marriage Amendment so many times
these days he looks like nothing more than a hand puppet for groups like
Focus on the Family and the Traditional Values Coalition.
There’s no doubt in my mind we were used as a pawn in a game of political
poker so that Bush could recapture the White House. In an editor’s
note last year I indicated that I felt Bush did not truly support a constitutional
amendment and that he would likely drop his push for it after he was re-elected.
I was right.
But then the right-wingers sprung into action,
threatening all kinds of untold horrors for Bush and his Social Security
reform if he didn’t
carry through with his initial support of the FMA.
Ever the spineless jellyfish, scared little boy Bush was quick to serve
our heads up on a platter to ensure that his privatization plan that will
pad the pockets of the wealthy has a chance at moving forward.
As long as this scheming man-boy is in power, hatred towards the LGBT community
will continue to grow like a toxic mold in a damp basement.
See also: Letter to Editor |
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