IGF CultureWatch

An item I posted on Dec. 30 dealt with the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force's endorsement of a statement issued by left-wing groups that oppose U.S. military action against Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq. Elsewhere on this site, you can find Rick Rosendall's column taking the Task Force to task (so to speak) for past positions against U.S. foreign policy. But in case you think that NGLTF is alone on the movement's left flank, consider an article in the Jan. 3 issue of New York's Gay City News titled "Queer Anti-War Sentiment Grows." It reports:

Queer anti-war activists had pressed NGLTF to oppose the war -- One group threatened to boycott NGLTF if it did not oppose the war. Others simply urged the Task Force to take a stand against the war....

"I think it's great," said Joseph N. DeFilippis, coordinator of the Queer Economic Justice Network. "The statement looks fine. It was shrewd of them to do it as part of a coalition so they don't have to stand up and get attacked by the conservative elements in our community."

There has been some criticism from left-leaning activists who see the "Keep America Safe" statement as insufficiently tough. A commentary on the web site blackcommentator.com described it as "anti-war lite." Mandy Carter, a long-time black, lesbian activist, offered a similar critique. "When I hear the line about patriotism -- this is why we have wars in the first place," she said. "We continue to have wars because we are guarding the flag and the nation states." Still Carter approved of NGLTF's position seeing it as part of a spectrum of positions that groups are taking against any U.S. war with Iraq.

You don't have to be in favor of eliminating the butcher of Baghdad before he acquires the bomb to believe that the possible war isn't a "gay" issue. While NGLTF seeks to ingratiate itself within the increasingly marginal political left (which seems more and more fixated on trying to re-enact Vietnam-era protests), such an identification doesn't help gays and lesbians achieve our long-term objectives, which have all to do with full equality under the law, rather than dreams of forced economic redistribution, de-militarizing America, undermining the nation state, or whatever contradictory panaceas are being ballyhooed at the moment.

Diverse Agendas. While on the topic of prominent national gay groups entering into (or becoming captives of) coalition politics, let's take a look at the Human Rights Campaign, the nation's largest GLBT lobby -- leaving aside the matter of whether the regrettably now ubiquitous GLBT (or LGBT) tag, for "gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender," is itself a union of causes. HRC is considered politically more moderate than NGLTF, and it won't be taking a position on the Iraqi conflict. But it hasn't exactly rejected broader alliances of its own, either.

HRC serves on the executive committee of the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights and participated on the conference's Task Force on Affirmative Action, which lobbies Congress to maintain race-based preferences. Their support for preferential treatment based on race serves to confuses the claim that gays only want equal rights, not special rights, for ourselves. Conservatives, not irrationally, fear that federal non-discrimination legislation inevitably leads to government-mandated preferential treatment.

In the past, HRC has also included non-gay specific issues such as support for government funded abortions among the key votes it has used to rate congressional candidates. Among the measures used on its "congressional scorecards" over the years have been federal bills dealing with funding for abortion services, overseas abortion services, and restricting protests outside of abortion clinics. Bv taking into consideration votes on bills such as these, HRC ensures that moderate GOP legislators who have reached out to gays, but are pro-life to some degree, receive only mediocre to poor ratings -- which are then ballyhooed throughout the gay press as a definitive sign of how "pro-gay" someone is, or isn"t.

Such "grand coalition" tactics are, if anything, even more likely among local GLBT groups. I received one letter complaining that the Empire State Pride Agenda, New York's largest gay rights group, used support for legalized partial-birth abortion as a litmus test for its endorsement of candidates, but didn't ask about same-sex marriage. As a result, the letter writer relayed that in his district ESPA endorsed an anti-same-sex-marriage Democrat over a pro-same-sex-marriage Republican.

Deference to coalitions can wind up working against our own interest. At the very least, groups that want to work for liberal or even leftist agendas should make it clear that their focus is on a diverse range of causes, many of which gay moderates, conservatives, and libertarians would rather oppose than support.

Getting Better All the Time?

I received a letter taking me to task for a Dec. 24 posting that included the line that "...the intolerant religious right is no longer going to be calling the shots in the GOP." My critic asked, "What on earth did you mean by the absolutely astonishing assertion?" and added, "Were you perhaps celebrating the birth of the baby Jesus by wearing your rose-colored glasses? It is amazing to my partner and me that a grown up adult person can actually believe what you wrote."

My response: I absolutely think that something has fundamentally changed in American politics over recent years. There is a new recognition in the GOP, coming down from campaign strategist Karl Rove, but also from GOP leaders such as Rep. Tom Davis (most recently chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee) who, like incoming Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, has spoken several times at Log Cabin Republican events. Vice President Dick Cheney's input is also important, given his family's support for openly lesbian daughter (and former professional gay corporate liaison) Mary Cheney.

These are among the powerful voices within the party supportive of gay inclusion, recognizing that (1) the all-important suburban vote is lost with too much kowtowing to the religious right; (2) the religious right's political importance is waning (though not entirely disappearing), and (3) an inclusive message and image will bring in both independents and more minority voters - enough to win a majority of the electorate. This view is very different from what the national party believed in the past, and it's certainly not good news for what remains of the political religious right. Jerry Falwell's Moral Majority is gone as a political force. Pat Robertson's Christian Coalition has been floundering, with its numbers way down. Gary Bauer's exit two years ago seriously crippled the Family Research Council. Yes, James Dobson's Focus on the Family is still effective -- though its main efforts were never as political as the others.

Lou Sheldon's Traditional Values Coalition may remain a force to be countered, but when they pressed California gubernatorial candidate Bill Simon to adhere to their homophobic line last year, they cost him the election (and now it's clear that a statewide GOP candidate too closely linked to the traditional values crowd can't win in the Golden State). Robert Knight's small Culture and Family Institute (which resides within the Concerned Women for America) gets a bit of press, as do a few other groups. But the contrast with five years ago is startling.

This is a new era, and I think that needs to be pointed out -- especially since the gay left keeps implying things are getting worse. If I'm wearing rose-colored glasses, they're wearing blinders.

In the nation's capital on Jan. 2, both the Washington Post and the conservative Washington Times carried front page stories -- with photos -- announcing that the first baby of 2003 to arrive in the area was the daughter of two lesbian moms. The new parents recently moved from Virginia to Montgomery County, Maryland, because Virginia doesn't allow second-parent adoptions or recognize familial rights of same-sex partners. "I really like living in Virginia. But it's more important to be a parent," said new mom Joanna Bare, whose partner, Helen Rubin, is the baby's birth mother. Notes the Post, "The fact that a baby touted as the year's first in the Washington area was born into an 'alternative family' reflects the growing trend, some said." And perhaps gay families relocating to gay-friendlier jurisdictions does, too.

Get a Clue. Last week, the Washington Post ran a story headlined "Help Still Wanted: Arabic Linguists." The report dealt with the needs of the CIA, FBI, National Security Agency, and Defense Department, but somehow failed to mention that just two months ago the Army discharged 10 soldiers who were studying to become Arabic linguists because they are gay (see my Nov. 11 posting, "Bigotry Trumps Security"). Ironically, the San Francisco Chronicle reports that the Bush administration has nominated Arthur Collingsworth, who is openly gay, to a board created to interest people in pursuing careers as linguists and in other areas related to global security. Could any policy be more confused than this one?

Just Looking. Also in the Washington Post on Thursday was a story about the work of the air marshals now protecting commercial air flights. As the Post reported:

In one incident, an air marshal on a flight noticed a male passenger starring at him. He surreptitiously called and told his partner to watch to see whether the man followed him through the terminal. Sure enough, the suspicious passenger trailed the air marshal all the way to baggage claim, where the partner got a local police official to intervene. "Hey, man, it's okay," the passenger said, according to the intelligence official. "I just thought he was cute."

Left Foot First. Not surprisingly, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force has joined what it terms "a coalition of progressive leaders in opposing [the] Bush War Plan." In defending their stance, a press release from the group hyperbolically states:

the Bush Administration has eviscerated many of the fundamental principles upon which this nation was founded and which are at the very core of our free and democratic society. Without the constitutional rights and protections now being gutted by this Administration, our GLBT movement would not be where it is today. All of us are endangered by the behavior of this Administration -- especially its use of the post-9/11 climate of fear to advance their broader political goals.

Sorry folks, but trying to paint opposition to the pending military action as a gay issue just won't wash (a few years back NGLTF opposed the big welfare reform bill, claiming it would harm lesbian single mothers). It's fine if NGLTF wants to be the lavender strip in a broad left-wing coalition, but I wish these people wouldn't pretend that they speak on behalf of a wider gay constituency. They don't.

Unequal Before the Law. The Chicago Tribune has an excellent overview of the sodomy law issue now before the U.S. Supreme Court.
Among the vignettes:

During a raid last March in Jefferson County, [Missouri] police discovered six men and a woman having sex in a private theater behind an adult book store. The men were arrested for having sex with each other; the woman, who is married to one of the men, was released without charges because all of her sexual contacts in the theater were heterosexual.

Owing to the "logic" of same-sex sodomy laws, only the men were prosecuted, with their names and photographs displayed on the newscast of a local television station. As a result, their lives were horribly disrupted and, for some, marriages ruined and the ability to earn a livelihood seriously threatened. However, it's likely that even a ruling that finds sodomy laws unconstitutional won't end the police stings that routinely occur in commercial sex establishments -- including closed booths in adult video arcades. But at least it would take away one of the underpinnings used to jusify such abuses.

A Sea-Change. More good news about incoming Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist. An e-mailed statement from the Log Cabin Republicans notes that Sen. Frist opened the 2002 LCR National Convention in April 2002. According to the LCR release:

Speaking to a packed house at the kick off reception, Frist welcomed LCR members from across the nation to Washington and challenged them to keep working in the Republican party.

Again, just try to imagine deposed Majority Leader Trent Lott doing any such thing.

I don't know why LCR can't post press releases online once they're sent out, but at least there's a photo on their site of Sen. Frist at the LCR get-together. Lott, by the way, now says :

"When you're from Mississippi and you're a conservative and you're a Christian, there are a lot of people that don't like that. I fell into their trap, and so I have only myself to blame."

A bit paranoid in a reverse Bill & Hillary sort of way, but the fact is that the intolerant religious right is no longer going to be calling the shots in the GOP. That sound you here is some gay Democratic activists gnashing their teeth.
--Stephen H. Miller

Misplaced sensitivities?

"The comparison of race and sexual orientation is a challenging thing to talk about. It is a real hot button issue. The last thing we want to do is alienate potential allies in the African-American community."

The above quote is from Cathy Renna, news media director for the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, explaining why GLAAD pursued a strategy of, as the Washington Blade put it, "quietly reminding reporters and columnists" of Sen. Trent Lott's history of anti-gay comments rather than loudly publicizing Lott's homophobia, during the recent media frenzy over the Mississippi senator's expressed nostalgia for racial segregation. For the record, the major national news outlets seem to have completely ignored Lott's homophobic history while reporting on his racist remarks (the Blade story was headlined "Lott furor obscures anti-gay comments"), suggesting the failure of a "quiet strategy" conditioned on not offending civil rights activists by drawing too explicit a parallel between racism and homophobia. But wait, aren't LGBT organizations constantly berating gays and lesbians for not doing more to fight racism as part of our agenda?
--Stephen H. Miller

What a Difference a Day Makes! Lott's toast. And it looks like Sen. Bill Frist of Tennessee is poised to take his place as Senate Majority Leader. This would mean the leadership spot goes from a senator who publicly held that homosexuality is a "problem just like alcohol...or sex addiction...or kleptomaniacs" to a senator who happily embraces the Republican Unity Coalition's call for a gay-inclusive party. Here's an excerpt from Hastings Wyman's Capital Letters column from last May about a fete put on by the Republican Unity Coalition, which calls itself "A gay-straight alliance of Republican leaders, working to encourage tolerance and to address concerns of gay and lesbian Americans" :

Among the gay Republicans and their guests snapping up the crab dumplings and caviar toasts were such usual suspects as Congressman Jim Kolbe (R-Ariz.) and District of Columbia City Councilman David Catania (R), as well as one not so usual - Tennessee Sen. Bill Frist (R), who chairs the National Republican Senatorial Committee. I asked Frist how come a straight Dixie Republican felt comfortable mixing it up with a bunch of avowed homosexuals. After acknowledging with a grin that "Trent Lott (R-Miss.) wouldn't be here," he thought a minute, then said, "Maybe it's my medical background" - Frist is a cardiovascular surgeon - "It's just not an issue with me."

Keep your fingers crossed on this one!
--Stephen H. Miller

After Lott? The San Francisco Chronicle's Marc Sandalow has a good piece on Sen. Trent Lott, addressing the homophobia of some GOP (and Democratic) social conservatives -- including a few in the running to take Lott's spot as Senate Majority Leader. He writes:

Open insults against African American are, in most quarters, seen as a political liability. Yet Don Nickles, R-Okla., one of the senators most likely to replace Lott as majority leader should he step down, didn't hide his contempt when he led the fight against the confirmation of gay San Francisco philanthropist James Hormel as ambassador to Luxembourg.

"It's immoral behavior . . . and shouldn't be treated as acceptable behavior," Nickles said on national television. "One might have that lifestyle, but if one promotes it as acceptable behavior . . . then I don't think they should be representing our country."

Over in the House, Sandalow doesn't mention Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Tex), but he could have. In a July 18, 1993 story (not available online), the Washington Post reported DeLay's remarks to a convention of college Republicans:

"They are scared to death when we talk about values and morality and good, strong family values," said DeLay, a House minority deputy whip. He called homosexuality a "perversion" and said "it's pervasive to this administration."

"And I make the point that it's not just homosexuals in the military. They are putting homosexual activists in very key positions, very sensitive positions in this administration," DeLay said. --

DeLay further stirred the crowd of young conservatives by adding, "Just two weeks ago, the homosexual employees of the Department of Transportation had a party celebrating Gay Pride Week, paid for by the taxpayers."

On a happier note, Yahoo news has a story that Sen. Bill Frist (R-Tenn) may throw in his hat for Sen. Majority Leader. As IGF contributor Hastings Wyman reported, last year Sen. Frist attended a pro-gay Republican Unity Coalition function, at which he joked that "Trent Lott wouldn't be here." As one colleague remarked to me, "Maybe we'll get somebody civilized toward gays out of this dustup." Wouldn't that be a nice Christmas present!

Jail "em! FrontpageMagazine.com, the website run by the conservative activist and author David Horowitz, has a column urging the Supreme Court to uphold state sodomy laws. In "Sodomy, 'Privacy,' and Federalism," Henry Mark Holzer of Brooklyn Law School argues that sodomy laws are constitutional because the 'right to privacy' under Roe v. Wade doesn't exist. This is interesting, I think, because if repeal advocates try again to argue in front of the Court that sodomy laws are unconstitutional in light of Roe v. Wade, they are going to lose the Justices on the center-right who may not want to overturn Roe, but find its rationale deeply suspect. As I noted in a Dec. 13 posting, a constitutional argument that does not rely on the elusive "privacy right," but instead on constitutional equal protection/equal liberty gurantees, can be made -- as Roger Pilon of the libertarian Cato Institute urged in the Wall Street Journal. It's good advice, and one that liberal-left attorneys had best heed.

Also of interest on the FrontpageMagazine.com site are reader comments linked to the pro-sodomy-law column, which are far more openly homophobic than the column itself. Along with arguing that these laws are necessary because homosexuals can't keep their hands off little boys, one reader believes that sodomy laws protect women, because "As a woman you really don't know how to combat this problem. Marriage or a monogamous relationship does not protect her from a immoral husband or boyfriend, who thinks nothing of living a double life."

So without sodomy laws husbands will go out, have homosexual sex, and then infect their spouses with AIDS! Leaving aside the pathological homophobia expressed here, it's remarkable just how weak a drive heterosexuality is viewed as being if it can so easily be trumped by the allure of no-longer-illegal homosexual lovemaking!
--Stephen H. Miller

Gay Politics Through the Looking Glass. First off, let me say that there are some good libertarian arguments for why private-sector anti-discrimination laws aren't such a wonderful idea after all -- from infringing on the basic liberty of employers to hire and fire as they so choose (hey, it's their business), to creating a disincentive to hiring anyone in a protected category (for fear of frivolous, but expensive, litigation). I"m not sure I buy into the libertarian view, but it does suggest that countering discrimination by our government in the area of government employment (including military service) and government-granted benefits (including the ability to legally marry) should at least be a higher priority.

That being said, I think it's revealing what's just happened in New York State, where on Thursday the GOP-controlled state senate passed a statewide gay rights bill to protect gays and lesbians from private-sector discrimination. The bill had previously passed the Democratic-controlled assembly, and will now be signed by a GOP governor. But, as I previously noted, not everyone is happy; transgender advocates and their gay supporters called for the bill's defeat because of its focus on gay, but not transgender, protections.

The New York Times reports that a last-minute amendment to add protections for transgenders -- ranging from heterosexual cross-dressers to people undergoing sex-change procedures -- failed 19-41. Yet when the bill, minus the amendment, came to a vote, Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, a Rensselaer County Republican, voted for passage, as did 12 other Republican senators. "The time has come to move on in our lives put this behind us," Bruno said before the vote. "People can live their lives the way they see fit."

But, the Times continues:

opponents included both religious organizations and transgenders, who argued a nondiscrimination bill was also needed to protect them. "I think it would be an absolute and utter tragedy if this passes" without protecting transgender rights, said Charles King, co-president of Housing Works. New York City resident Melissa Sklarz accused Empire State Pride Agenda [the state's main gay rights lobby] of abandoning transgenders. "They have closed the door on us time and time again," she said.

Matt Foreman, executive director of the Empire State Pride Agenda,

said he had doubts about its passage less than an hour before debate started. On Sunday, he counted only eight Republicans in support of it. He credited behind-the-scenes lobbying by [Gov. George] Pataki and Bruno with swaying enough Republicans to win passage of the measure.

So those on cultural left wanted to see the measure defeated rather than having to endure an incrementalist approach to their agenda, while Republican leaders twisted arms to ensure the bill's passage -- politics through the looking glass indeed!
--Stephen H. Miller