Small Steps

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Oregon’s Republican Party announced that it will strip antigay language from its 2012 platform, the Oregonian reports. Party spokesman Greg Leo said the change part of an effort to streamline the state GOP platform so it’s more attractive to a broader range of voters.

Oregon isn’t Texas, but eventually even the national GOP must realize that its anti-gay positions won’t win the support of future generations (but alas, not in this election cycle). The change will only happen when, as in Oregon, an effort is made to push the party in the direction it needs to go, for all our sakes.

More. The Cheneys Make Case for Marriage Equality. Yes, the man that so many on the left love to hate. And no, I’m not absolving W for backing the federal marriage amendment—a position that Cheney stated he disagreed with. Could he and should he have done more to buck his party on gay equality? Yes. But this still matters.

24 Comments for “Small Steps”

  1. posted by BobN on

    One wonders what “streamline the platform” means exactly. Still, it’s a step.

  2. posted by Tom Scharbach on

    A good sign. I hope that those of you who are Republicans will get active in the Republican party at the county and state level in your state to bring a similar result elsewhere. It will be an uphill battle for you, as it was for those of us who started working in the Democratic Party thirty years ago, but activism works.

  3. posted by daftpunkydavid on

    good news, however small. but all the more important, i think, in the backdrop of what the north carolina legislature, and the new hampshire legislature, both headed by – you guessed it- republicans, are currently doing to equality in marriage for gay folks.

    • posted by North Dallas Thirty on

      Yes. Letting the people vote on it.

      The fact that you are screaming, whining, crying, and doing everything in your power to stop it is just demonstrating to people why that vote is necessary.

  4. posted by Wilberforce on

    This is great.

  5. posted by BobN on

    From the Advocate article:

    “Yes,” he said straightforwardly. “I think freedom means freedom for everybody, and you ought to have the right to make whatever choice you want to make with respect to your own personal situation.”

    Cheney has made his feelings known on the issue as far back as the 2004 election, moving way ahead of his party. Most of the current crop of presidential candidates has pledged to try banning same-sex marriage with an amendment to the U.S. Constitution — something Cheney does not support.

    Cheney has said states have the right to decide their own rules, and he backed that philosophy again on The View.

    “Different states are going to come to different conclusions,” he said. “But I think I certainly don’t have any problem with it.”

    First of all, his statement is far, far from straightforward. It is the opposite. It is deceptive and ambiguous. Cheney has used the exact same construction ever since he was first reported as supporting same-sex marriage.

    Can anyone point to another “supporter” of SSM who has exhibited such determined discipline and care when addressing the issue over a period of almost 10 years? Is there any other “supporter” of SSM who has managed to avoid uttering the phrase “I support same-sex marriage”?

    • posted by North Dallas Thirty on

      Yes. Barack Obama.

      Now tie yourself into a knot spinning out of that one, BobN.

      • posted by BobN on

        Obama has, on many, many occasions, however, spelled out exactly what he does support. And he has done so without the carefully crafted and forever repeated ambiguity with which Cheney cloaks his true opinion.

        Were Cheney to be as forthright as Obama, he would just say, “No federal rights. If you find a state that’ll recognize you, good for you. NOT MY STATE.”

  6. posted by Jorge on

    I don’t interpret their answers as endorcing “marriage equality”. I *do* see them “evolving”, though. The video gives the context. Cheney identified specifically the issue about an official state authorization of gay marriage–and I think he did that when he began to see they were being open to misinterpretation. He said that was that this is being decided by the states. He said that he has no problem with it [I took that to mean the official state authorization of gay marriage]. What’s new is that they were both willing to say they support “gay marriage,” not something I’ve ever heard explicitly from Mr. Cheney. What’s significant is how affirming their language is on its own merits and how that sets them apart from other Republicans who are scared to say anything nice about gays. This puts them a step closer to the category of the Joe Bidens and Barack Obamas who make it a point to support and advocate for gays socially and sometimes politically.

    Suggesting that this translates into either Dick or Lynne Cheney “making the case for marriage equality” is not only not straightforward, it’s deceptive.

    • posted by BobN on

      You notice that Dick says something. The “interviewer” says, “so, you support gay marriage???”. Then Dick says something else, not really answering the direct question.

      Lynne, who has her own issues about homophobia, seems to have “evolved” more than her hubby. BUT I DON’T GIVE A RAT’S ASS what politician’s families think.

      Sorry, that outburst was not directed at you, Jorge, but I had to get that off my chest.

      • posted by Jorge on

        No. Barbara Walters asks Lynne Cheney “So you’re not against gay marriage.” Lynne says “That’s right.” (Applause). Joy Behar asks twice if Dick Cheney agrees with that and he says yes twice. This is between 1:56 and 2:05. She then asks “Do you think it should be a federal law.” Meeaaaaaaandeeeeer.

        I am sorry to see that I cannot agree with you here, but your assumptions will lead you far from where I am willing to go. I do care what politicians’ families think. Thank God for Lynne Cheney in the 2004 election. How inspirational Michelle Obama was in 2008 when she said for the first time in her adult life she’s proud to be an American (Ack! Real women alert! Shut her up!) And… on second thought, since there’s an outside chance Michelle Bachman will be our next president, maybe I should look the other way about her husband. It’s Michelle Bachman who is running for president of the United States.

        • posted by BobN on

          Jorge, I’m “not against” pickled herring, but I’ll go to my grave refusing to endorse it.

          Followed by, “Freedom means freedom for everybody”. Freedom matters not one bit if your relationships are void by law. And, if anyone knows that, it’s Dick Cheney.

          Point me to any other “supporter” of SSM who speaks in such timid, mealy-mouthed terms.

          • posted by North Dallas Thirty on

            That’s easy. Barack Obama.

            Classic example, and the reason why so many people have realized that gays and lesbians like BobN and Obama Party staffer Tom Scharbach are nothing more than hypocrites who attack Republicans for things they endorse and support when Obama Party members do them.

            It’s especially funny when you consider how BobN, Tom Scharbach, HRC, the LGBT caucuses of the Obama Party, and the like endorsed and supported FMA supporters as pro-gay — mainly because, as they freely admit, their whining about “gay rights” is nothing more than smokescreen for their Obama Party owners.

          • posted by Jorge on

            Timid and mealy-mouthed?

            Look, where Dick Cheney stands is where Dick Cheney stands. It is not where you want him to stand.

            That’s really all there is to it.

          • posted by BobN on

            Yes, Jorge, he stands where he stands. And he’s too ashamed/sneaky to say exactly where he stands.

            And it works out well for him, cuz he’s a lying creep and so many people fall for his game.

  7. posted by Doug on

    Yes they steamlined the GOP Platform to attract new votes. Did they change their attitudes and positions regarding gay issues too? I doubt it. Let’s follow the Reagan mantra “Trust but verify”.

  8. posted by tim on

    Lynne Cheney made a federal case out of it when John Kerry stated (correctly, as we all know) that Mary Cheney is a lesbian. Dick Cheney is a war criminal. Small, small steps indeed.

    • posted by Jorge on

      He “outed” her to score a political point, and it was unrelated to the question. It was none of his business.

      • posted by Houndentenor on

        Mary Cheney outed herself in the early 90s when she took a job with Coors. The company was losing business in gay bars over its donations to anti-gay politicians. They hired Mary as a liaison to the gay communtiy. She had been out for a very long time and her sexuality was no secret, in spite of the fact that her mother flat out lied about it on the Today show in 2000. Kerry didn’t out her. She wasn’t in.

  9. posted by Houndentenor on

    About Cheney. Does he still matter? Only if he will go to North Carolina and campaign on behalf of gay rights. I he just going to make a statement on a talk show or is he going to actually work on behalf of his daughter’s rights? We’ll see. He certainly could have done something while he was VP and he chose not to.

  10. posted by tommmy jefferson on

    Been reading Randy Shilits book on gays in the military (1994) and I am pretty sure that their is a bit about Cheny’s daughter coming out to her father. No names are mentioned. But the description makes me think that it is . Basically, he was totally fine with it, but he still wanted a career in the GOP and that meant catering to the religious right.

    I suspect that their are a fair number of Republicans who personally do not really care that much one way or the other, but they want to have a career and no full well that they can mine homophobia for all its worth.

    The two most interesting Republican Presidential candidates — the former New Mexico Governor and that GOP consultant (Fred Kargner something) were not invited.. Which I think is just silly.

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