IGF CultureWatch

Not that I’d make too much of it, but it’s at least worth noting that the Value Voters Summit presidential straw poll was won by Rep. Ron Paul, one of the 15 GOP House members to vote for repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell” and a non-supporter of the anti-gay federal marriage amendment. Businessman Herman Cain, who thinks homosexuality is a choice (when asked; his website is silent on gay matters when discussing “faith & family issues“), came in second. But former Sen. Rick Santorum and Rep. Michele Bachmann, the real homophobes who are the most vocal in scapegoating gay people and calling for anti-gay legislation, came in just third and fourth respectively (Gov. Rick Perry tied with Bachmann in the fourth spot).

Straw polls are won by the candidate with the best organization, but the Values Voters Summit is sponsored, and tightly controlled, by the vehemently anti-gay Family Research Council. That they couldn’t arrange for an anti-gay fire-breather to win is an encouraging sign of the times.

More. Per the comments, Rep. Paul made a conservative constitutional case against a constitutional amendment in “The Federal Marriage Amendment Is a Very Bad Idea” and in this interview with John Stossel.

In Britain, Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron endorses marriage equality:

while the Conservatives were once opposed to same-sex marriage and LGBT rights as a whole, the party has in recent years attempt to shrug off its past and reform itself as a party of fiscal conservatism and responsibility while cultivating a more progressive social agenda.

The problem in the U.S., not surprisingly, is religious right social conservatism that has deformed both religion and politics. The goal is to move American conservatism away from where it is today—beholden to the religious right, much as the Democrats, to their detriment, are beholden to public sector unions. So far, no truly transformative path has been proposed, and a singular focus on electing Democrats, no matter how lame, because they’re not as awful as Republicans, isn’t getting us there.

Democracy isn’t easy, as this New York Times story about the fight for partner benefits in El Paso shows. But ultimately it’s what it takes to bring the public onboard.

As easy as it would be to characterized the minister fighting against partner benefits as “evil,” it would be more accurate, and useful, to see him as deeply misguided. Screaming denounciations at him and his followers, for instance, wouldn’t be particularly useful. Engaging the system to educate the public, as is being done, is the way to go.

President Obama speaks to the Human Rights Campaign: Doesn’t endorse marriage equality but calls for repeal of Defense of Marriage Act and passage of Employee Non-Discrimination Act (both of which never moved out of committee during the two years of his administration when the party he leads controlled both houses of Congress), rips GOP (they’re much worse and boo gay soldiers), tells LGBT community that his agenda of higher taxes and more government spending is their agenda, too. Receives tremendous ovation. Sets back broad-based support for gay equality in center-right America by tying our advancement to his unpopular big government policies.

More. A roundup of reaction to the booing charges, via Instapundit.

From the right-wing Washington Times: After demise of ‘don’t ask,’ activists call for end to military ban on transgenders:

The Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN), which pushed to end the military’s gay ban, is urging President Obama to sign an executive order prohibiting discrimination based on “gender identity.” . . .

A White House spokesman declined to provide Mr. Obama’s position on transgenders in the military, referring a reporter to the Pentagon. “Transgender and transsexual individuals are not permitted to join the military services,” said Pentagon spokeswoman Eileen Lainez.

Leaving aside the fairness or unfairness of the military policy, there’s little doubt, politically, that if certain leading LGBT lobbies had insisted that the “LGBT community” oppose repeal of “don’t ask, don’t tell” until transgendered people were also included, then repeal would have failed to get out of committee, blocked by Democrats and Republicans, just as was the case with the gender-identity-inclusive Employee Non-Discrimination Act. We can be thankful, in this instance, for the arbitrariness of political correctness. (And, I suspect, that L&G servicemembers weren’t going to let the “all at once or nothing at all” crowd call the shots on this one, although SLDN seems now to have found a new mission.)

From the Washington Post, an overview of marriage equality and the courts:

The DOMA [Defense of Marriage Act] case is part of the legal wrangling that has slowed what once looked like a relatively timely showdown in the Supreme Court over same-sex marriage.

Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders (GLAD), the group that has spearheaded legal challenges to DOMA, does not foresee any decision by the justices until 2013.

And the celebrated effort to recognize a constitutional right to same-sex marriage — led by the political odd couple of Democratic stalwart David Boies and former George W. Bush solicitor general Theodore Olson — is caught in a tangle of judicial procedures.

Via Towelroad: HRC’s Joe Solmonese Submits Question to GOP Debate.

More. Will the future of the GOP be more akin to Santorum, or Brown?

I didn’t catch the debate and don’t have much to add to the general response to Santorum’s ugly, and misleading, characterization of gay servicemembers. The format of these debates certianly isn’t helpful—why not ask all the candidates the same questions? Ron Paul and Gary Johnson are against “don’t ask,” and it would be interesting to have seen Jon Huntsman reply.

Effecting change in the GOP will take more than denouncements from left-leaning activists who’d cut off their hand before voting for a Republican under any circumstances. The Wall Street Journal reports on an interesting coalition regarding immigration:

[Free-market] Conservative, tea-party and libertarian groups have joined liberals in fighting a signature Republican bill in Congress that would crack down on illegal-immigrant workers. The legislation, they argue, would hurt businesses and employees while expanding government regulation.

Many LGBT activists have been peddling the line that small-government, low-tax tea party groups are racists, homophobic social reactionaries. That’s not only wrong, it’s counterproductive for long-term coalition building (but not so counterproductive if your goal is purely partisan).

A Hollywood story of how much the world as changed, for the better, in the last few decades.