Two op-eds from gay-sympathetic straights come to differingt
conclusions on the state of the gay rights fight. In the Pittsburgh
Tribune-Review,
Dimitri Vassilaros catalogs the string of defeats gays
encountered in 2004 and says, "To paraphrase Kermit the Frog, it's
not easy being gay.... The news lately has not been very good for
non-heterosexuals." But writing in his widely syndicated column,
Michael Kinsley finds that:
Gay civil union, itself a radical concept from the perspective of just a few years ago, has widespread support outside of liberal circles. The notion that gay relationships should enjoy at least some of the benefits of marriage...is probably a majority view.
Today's near-universal and minimally respectable attitude - the rock-bottom, non-negotiable price of admission to polite society and the political debate - is an acceptance of gay people and of open, unapologetic homosexuality as part of American life that would have shocked, if not offended, great liberals of a few decades ago such as Hubert Humphrey.
Of course, both perspectives are true - gays have made great
strides in the long march toward equality and sufferred
devastating politic defeats. That's the oddity of our times,
highlighting the challenge of recognizing and moving beyond the
failed strategies of the recent past.
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