IGF CultureWatch

Ike Skelton, the Chair of the House Armed Services Committee, has been no friend to the repeal of DADT. But sometimes people who disagree with us can make our arguments better than our strongest supporters do, and Skelton's comments to CBS News tellingly reveal the denial and futility at the heart of the DADT opposition.

As we argue about equality and patriotism and the harm a nation can do to itself by looking at this issue through the narrow slit of prejudice, Skelton sees the problem with DADT repeal more simplistically, and in a way few of our supporters would even have thought of: "What do mommies and daddies say to their 7-year-old child?" he asked.

That's a surprisingly good question, when you think about it. Not a lot of 7-year olds will be weighing in on the merits of gay soldiers serving openly in Afghanistan, but that's not what Skelton's talking about. In fact, he's articulating the concern of the entire generation of people who grew up denying that lesbians and gay men existed - could exist - at all. They're older than 7, but when it comes to homosexuality, they have that same sort of idealized innocence. Skelton speaks for those who think that homosexuality, like cancer, should only be whispered about in public, to shelter tender minds from facing this dark truth too soon, the people who believe in their deepest hearts that homosexuality, if it must exist, is something to be ashamed of, suppressed, and kept hidden from the public (which is what those 7-year olds have been enlisted for) at all costs.

Skelton and his constituency are living in an increasingly shrinking closet. According to a new CBS poll, 77% of Americans know someone who is homosexual, compared to 42% who could say that in 1992. And while the remaining 22% today can say they don't know anyone who's lesbian or gay, they certainly can't say they haven't heard about people who are. The fact that the question is now regularly being asked in public interest polls presupposes the problem that irks Skelton and others: sexual orientation is a political subject that pretty much all Americans are asked about, talk about, and have opinions about. Directly to Skelton's point, there are not a lot of nooks and crannies left in the country where discussion of gay rights is not permitted, for adults or children. Conservative churches from one end of the nation to the other have made sure of that, as has the National Organization for Marriage and other anti-gay groups that run ads - on television and radio and in newspapers - opposing gay equality. Like discussion of DADT, those ads can and do lead kids to ask questions of their mommies and daddies.

In fact, the only place where discussion of gay rights is hindered at all is in the military. Heterosexual soldiers, of course, are free to weigh in to support or oppose (or be indifferent to) DADT - as long as it's eminently clear they are straight. Lesbian and gay soldiers, however, have to be ever cautious about what they say and how they say it, and certainly cannot articulate the fact that their opposition might arise from experience.

And that is the point. Not that we are protecting children, somehow, since they'll be exposed to the public debates over homosexuality in any number of contexts, DADT being only one. No, all DADT protects is its own premise: that homosexual soldiers should be silent about that fact, and leave the debate over their lives to the heterosexuals.

This has historically been a very successful strategy of disabling the very people who discrimination harms from explaining why, and arguing for its elimination from the law. But those days are gone. Even the new survey of military opinions on DADT will inquire into the opinions of the very people the policy harms. . . in fact, the only people the policy harms. They will still have to remain in the closet in order to be surveyed - something not even Kafka or Orwell could have imagined - but they will be asked; as bizarre a victory as I can envision.

And while all of that is going on, 7-year olds across the country will be watching TV and listening to the radio, and even talking to their friends at school. It's entirely possible they already know more about gay people than Ike Skelton does, and will likely be more comfortable viewing gay people as just people than Skelton wants them to be.

The new chair of the Massachusetts Republican Party has one word for social conservatives: goodbye. She is telling Bay Windows, a gay newspaper, that gay marriage and other social issues are going on the back burner, presumably because they're losers. MassResistance, a virulent anti-gay group, is appalled.

That was in April. Today, the New York Times reports that overturning same-sex marriage is getting no traction as a campaign issue in Iowa, where a state court ordered SSM a year ago.

And National Journal has a poll of Republican political consultants and insiders in which half say the party should "downplay" the issue of gays in the military. With 13 percent calling for repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell, that leaves only 31 percent who want to take a stand against open gays in the military. "This is going to happen, and Republicans don't want to look intolerant going into fall elections," says one typical insider. Another: "This issue will not help drive voters to the polls."

And there's this perceptive comment: "The Democrats and independents fleeing Obama are social liberals shocked by the administration's war on business. We would do well not to remind them why they once rejected the GOP."

Back in November, a group of social conservatives, led by Robert George, issued something called the Manhattan Declaration-a veiled threat to split the Republican party if it did not continue to put abortion and SSM front and center. But what Grover Norquist has been saying appears to be true. The energy behind the Tea Party represents a shift away from Jerry Falwell as well as a backlash against Barack Obama.

It's a mistake for gays to assume that the Tea Party movement is our enemy. More likely, it will help pull the Republicans off our backs.

Addendum: Thanks to the reader who points out that the Mass. GOP chair's comment is from April 2009, not two months ago. I should have caught that.

Living in a solidly blue district, my household received a fundraising letter from the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee urging us to donate money at www.dscc.org/SilenceGOPlies.

At the site it doesn't, or no longer, uses the ominous phrase "Silence GOP lies," and instead offers the somewhat less threatening "Stop GOP lies" - perhaps because a number of bloggers have called attention to the DSCC's call to "silence" the opposition. Reportedly, many of these fundraising letters also have included a "Silence GOP lies" button.

Think about that; it's not "respond to GOP lies" or "expose GOP lies." The fundraising message (at least in the letter) is "Silence GOP lies." That's a little scary, but quite tellingly captures what's so wrong with the "progressive" mindset today.

And what, exactly, are these "lies"? Some are strongly partisan criticisms of Obama, but others are policy views widely shared by much of the American public, such as the "lie" that "the badly needed stimulus bill" that cost nearly a trillion dollars (helping to create our debt tsunami) and which preserved mostly government jobs wasn't, er, "badly needed." Silence those lying liars before they lie again!

And isn't it the Democrats who like to claim that the GOP uses threatening words in its criticisms of Democrats? So, what exactly is "Silence GOP lies" supposed to convey?

The letter also attacks "Tea Party hysteria" in terms that are, well, hysterical (say, isn't the word "hysteria" supposed to be sexist and no longer permitted? Uh, oh, somebody at the DSCC is gonna be in trouble!).

More. No, my point is not just to engage in partisan sniping, but to critique it. And the "gay" angle is my consistent argument that the fight for our equality should not be tied to just one of the two governing parties (and the negative repercussions of having so much of the LGBT political movement controlled by Democratic party operatives, whose agenda often places their party's needs first.

Blogress Ann Althouse discusses implications of a McDonald's ad running in France (you can view it with captioned translation through the above link) that's caused expressions of consternation from Bill O'Reilly and other American conservatives. As Althouse summarizes,

"we see a young man and understand something about him - he's gay - and then we see his father doesn't really get that, but they love each other and spend time with each other...at McDonald's.

". . .When O'Reilly jokes about McDonald's doing an ad in this series showing a member of Al Qaeda, he's revealing that he thinks gay people are a group that most people view with justified hostility. McDonald's, operating in France, hasn't analyzed things that way. That's their judgment call, and I hope it's a good one."

Actually, I think O'Reilly and other miffed conservatives are showing how out of sync they are. With "Glee," one of the Fox network's biggest hits, including storylines about a gay high school student and his sympathetic but not-quite-comprehending father (shades of the French McDonald's ad), it's clear that the times have changed. I'd be very surprised if in the near future we don't see gay inclusive ads such as this one running here in the U.S., despite the wailings of certain members of the old guard.

More. I should add, it's also another sign of how capitalism drives equality, as discussed here, when not thwarted by social conservatives or anti-market progressives (as in this blast from the past).

Former Congressman Tom Campbell, the fiscally conservative, pro-gay marriage GOP candidate running in California's Senate primary, had been leading his opponents but now trails failed CEO and gay marriage opponent Carly Fiorina going into next Tuesday's vote, as social conservatives ramp up their attacks.

Campbell has the best poll numbers against current Democratic Sen. Barbara ("No Ma'am") Boxer, best know for her advocacy of out-of-control government spending and disdain for the U.S. military. But he may not get the chance to face her.

It would have been savvy for LGBT activists who actually want to see gay equality advance within the GOP, and hence the nation, to at least give Campell support in the primary, but aside from Log Cabin Republicans they didn't. Much better to keep the Republican party avowedly anti-gay in order to fundraise against the GOP demons.

The Republican and religious roots of the National Organization for Marriage (NOM) have never been in doubt. But is NOM becoming more frankly partisan and more narrowly religious? Consider three items:

***In California, NOM is running ads opposing Tom Campbell in the Republican primary for U.S. Senate. The ad mentions marriage only after attacking him for supporting higher taxes. On its website and in emails, it is dubbing Campbell a RINO (Republican In Name Only), an epithet used in intra-party squabbles.

NOM is now against higher gasoline taxes as well as gay marriage. I'm waiting for the "Drill Here, Drill Now" ads.

***In Minnesota, NOM is running ads criticizing the state DFL (Democratic) party repeatedly by name for opposing a voter referendum on marriage. It also attacks Independent candidates.

The surprise is not that NOM would oppose pro-SSM candidates, but that it would do so in a way indistinguishable from a GOP ad.

***In a recent fundraising email, NOM Executive Director Brian Brown claims that same-sex marriage evinces a "profound untruth about the human person." The term "human person," a redundancy to the uninitiate, is most distinctive to Catholic theology and especially prominent in the writings of conservative Catholic natural-law theorists.

Opposite-sex marriage, Bown continues, is "written on the human heart." It's an elegant and evocative phrase. Google it and the first thing that pops up? An important and, especially for Catholics, influential address by Pope John Paul II entitled, "God's Law is Written on the Human Heart."

Brown concludes his email in language that combines the partisan and religious strands in NOM's DNA: "Here's NOM's promise: We transform your values into action, action into victory--victory for God's truth about marriage. What God has joined, no RINO Republican has any right to put asunder!"

It's perfectly legitimate for NOM to make itself a home for religious-conservative Republicans and a particular strand of natural-law Catholicism. This reflects the group's governing philosophy. Indeed, as compared to downplaying these facts for strategic reasons, it's refreshing to see NOM come out of its partisan and sectarian closet.

The imperative of America's press is not truth, it is conflict - or, more accurately, drama. Truth and facts are tools the press uses to enhance dramatic conflict, but it is the fight, not the resolution, that animates the press.

Gay equality provides a rich vein of material, and we are used to our opponents exploiting fears and anecdotes to support laws that put the government into the active position of discriminating, from Sam Nunn's infamous "field hearing" in 1993 where he led legislators into submarines to see how gay soldiers would be sleeping and showering this close to our heterosexual fighting men, to Martin Ssempa's ongoing campaign in Uganda to provoke citizens into a full understanding that homosexuality means eating one another's poo-poo.

But it's not just our opponents who want to work people up into a sweat. The New York Times does a fine job this morning of stirring the pot. According to their reporting, if DADT repeal passes (a prospect still months away in the Senate, apparently), there will be all kinds of "thorny issues" that will arise, from allowing same-sex couples to live in base housing together to hospital visitation.

But this being the New York Times, these concerns are coming from homosexual soldiers. See? You don't have to hate gays to exploit us; you just have to be deeply enough committed to conflict.

To be fair, the NY Times did get Elaine Donnelly to weigh in with a typically overwrought comment, in order to maintain its liberal cred. Donnelly, true to form, brought up the perils of living right next to the homosexual menace: "Same-sex couples in family housing will become a reason for families to decline re-enlistment or a change in station," she fretted. If you thought it was bad having to live next to black neighbors in the 60s, imagine what it would be like if the black neighbors were homosexual.

It is not until the 17th paragraph of the 25 paragraph story that the NY Times states the obvious, noncontroversial truth "that tens of thousands of gay people already serve in the military, many open to their closest peers, without problems."

It's possible to imagine, in some alternate universe, an accurate, truthful and informative report where that is the point. But who in our own galaxy wants to read about something "without problems"? No one - or, at least no one who isn't primarily interested in conflict and drama.

After a lifetime of loving the theater and literature, I have come to take pleasure in the non-dramatic. In our age, this is nearly a confession of error, or gross and alarming nonconformity. But sometimes I just want the facts without the adjectives and adverbs, the breathless reporters and all the agita.

Which brings me to Rush Limbaugh, and a savvy defense of him on gay rights. As Timothy Kincaid observes at Box Turtle Bulletin, while we're used to assuming Rush is a Neanderthal reactionary on gay rights, that may not be correct. Bellicosity is Limbaugh's style, and I wouldn't argue he's the calm, rational journalist of my dreams. But on gay rights, he's hardly been leading the charge to maintain inequality. He's got some rough comments about political excesses from our side, and lord knows I couldn't disagree with him on that. But when it comes to the actual policies of DADT and equal or equal-ish rights for same-sex couples, Rush isn't on the front lines.

Tim offers some evidence -- from the right -- that Rush may be squishy on civil unions, and maybe even on sexual orientation being a choice. Whatever is in Rush's head or heart, though, it's clear that the prospect of gay equality is something he hasn't exploited with the bombast at his disposal.

Which may mean he's actually a bit more responsible and conscientious than the writers and editors of today's story in the NY Times. Certainly the NY Times has taken a strong editorial stand in favor of equality. But when their news side feels comfortable and duty-bound to use us in order to make sure people have something to argue about, it's worth pointing out that it looks, for all the world, as if they're trying to out-Limbaugh Limbaugh.

Yesterday's House floor debate over repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell was revealing - you might even call it telling. I could not count the republicans who alleged that the democrats and the administration were not listening to the troops, were ignoring what the troops had to say, were, in fact, disrespecting the troops who risk their lives for us every blessed day.

I try to be expansive in discounting political rhetoric before I'll call it a lie, and there's enough selective truth here to judge these statements as misleading rather than fully false. But a more complete and accurate view is that the democrats and the administration, after having listened to the troops and to the country at large, and after having reviewed the policies of every other nation that has dealt with this issue, nearly all of which have allowed lesbians and gay men to serve openly, have decided that those who support repeal of DADT have the better argument than those who support retaining it. That may feel oppressive and dismissive to those whose position has not prevailed, but it is hardly fair to say their point of view has not been heard. We've all been heard.

In fact, the listening won't stop under this bill. It requires yet another study, though this one will be unique in that it will solicit the views, not only of heterosexual troops who can speak openly about how they feel, but also provides a mechanism where homosexual troops who are serving in silence can express their own feelings. Imagine that: asking lesbians and gay men who are forced to be in the closet how they feel about a policy that forces them to be in the closet. On this subject, while the views of heterosexuals are important, it would seem that the views of gay soldiers ought to be given some weight. The fact that they can't reveal their opinions under the current policy - because it would get them kicked out - seems to me proof enough that the policy is perversely and calculatedly designed to be self-perpetuating.

I'm pretty sure this kind of polling of the troops about their policy preferences is original, but our political branches do have the authority to demand such things if they think that's wise. They didn't need to pass DADT in the first place, but they had the ability to do so, and did. If they think they might have made a mistake, and that polling the troops is worth doing to confirm the suspicion, then polling it is.

But I'm with Nathaniel Frank in suspecting that the new study will show what the decade of existing ones shows - that our military, like the militaries of so many other nations, won't suffer as an institution by allowing lesbians and gay men to be truthful, and that it might even benefit a bit by ridding itself of a policy that, unique among military policies, demands people lie.

We'll see, today, if John McCain can keep the lie alive.

After a long spell with no staff whatsoever, the national Log Cabin Republicans' board of directors has named R. Clarke Cooper as the group's new leader. Here's the announcement. And some background on Cooper's military service (well, he seems like a straight shooter!).

As I've often argued, to the dismay of the one-party-is-all-we-need crowd, we will never obtain full legal and social equality if the conservative party in the U.S. remains in adamant opposition. That's why making gay integration into American society a conservative goal is so important. Witness the strides toward legal equality in Britain, where several top Torie party leaders are openly gay.

In the U.S., as of now the left-leaning Democratic party has an overwhelming majority in both houses of Congress and the presidency, and after two years we are not going to see even partial repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act that prohibits the federal government from recognizing gay unions sanctioned by individual states (no joint tax returns, no Social Security inheritance, no tax break on employer-provided spousal health care, etc. etc.). The reason: the Democrats have more or less gotten a free ride, so why spend political capital?

Let's hope with new leadership, LCR (along with newer rival GOProud), can help to move the ball forward.

Adding to the posts below by Dale and David, it doesn't appear to me that Obama deserves any credit for being forced to move ahead on repealing "don't ask, don't tell." The movers here are those Democrats in Congress who are, finally, standing up to the president.

As the AP reports, under the proposal Congress would overturn the Clinton-era law barring gays from serving openly in the military, but would "allow the Pentagon time-perhaps even years-to implement new policies" following completion of a comprehensive study. At that time, implementation would require approval of the president, defense secretary and chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. And tellingly, according to the AP:

"The White House had hoped lawmakers would delay action until Pentagon officials had completed their study so fellow Democrats would not face criticism that they moved too quickly or too far ahead of public opinion in this election year. Instead, administration officials recognized it could not stop Congress in its effort to repeal the 1993 ban and joined the negotiations."

In other words, Obama's hope was to sacrifice his commitment to gay equality in the military for electoral expediency. But at least some congressional Democrats, who may or may not have the votes to put this across, aren't letting him get away with it. Good for them.

More:

uh-oh.

"A lukewarm endorsement from Defense Secretary Robert Gates and opposition among some lawmakers cast doubt Tuesday on whether Congress this week would lift a 17-year-old ban on gays serving openly in the military....

"I see no reason for the political process to pre-empt it," Sen. Jim Webb, a conservative Democrat from Virginia, said of the military study."

By the way, the Human Rights Campaign's website is still bragging about the group's support for Webb.

ADDED: With House passage, all eyes will be on the Senate, which isn't expected to vote until later this summer. At issue: will the Senate Republicanbs mount a filibuster?

Also, it should be noted the despite the characterization in the excerpt above, Sen. Jim Webb is no "conservative Democrat." He was an enthusiastic supporter of the Obama mega-billion pork-barrel "stimulus" and of so-called health care reform. He's a big spending, government expanding Democrat who thinks he can placate Virginia conservatives by opposing equality for gays. Nice. Let's all send our checks to HRC to keep him in office.

Benefits of bipartisanship. GOP Sen. Susan Collins of Maine backs repeal, giving conservative Democrats some wiggle room.