On the "Timidity and Cowardice" of Gay Democrats
The most underappreciated resource in gay rights activism, Professor Arthur Leonard of New York Law School, speaks truth to impotence:
The more desirable route would be for Congress to repeal DOMA, but that would require the Obama Administration and Democratic leaders in Congress to show political courage and to be willing to expend political capital in an all-out struggle, and nobody is holding their breath for that to happen, given the timidity and cowardice of the political branches of our federal government on any issue involving gay rights. Consider – The Don’t Ask Don’t Tell military policy makes us a laughing-stock before our strongest military allies, since it is founded on the peculiar notion that American service members are such emotionally insecure creatures that they will collectively flip out if the numerous gay servicemembers among them were open about their sexual orientation, and yet the Obama Administration, elected on a pledge to end the farce, has now put this issue off “indefinitely” – because, of course, the administration is unwilling to expend political capital on anything involving gay rights…. And when did you last read that the Obama Administration was going to secure passage of an inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act this year???? They keep saying that they don’t want to be distracted now from the twin issues of the economy and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan… but then they insist that this year will also see action on education and climate change and this and that…. in other words, this is an Administration that is devoted to multitasking – but just not for the LGBT community, who they can continue to take for granted politically because of the continued knee-jerk anti-gay rhetoric of the Republicans. [All ellipses and typos in original.]
He forgot Rick Warren, but we can forgive him for that.
I would have let this fine blogpost come and go, but later in the day I read another post on a very high-profile gay blog (I will not link to it so as not to humiliate the author), reminding readers that gay marriage in New York State now hinges on “support from some Republicans” in the state senate — totally omitting the pesky fact that said state senate is now controlled by Democrats — some of whom happen to be anti-gay bigot Catholics.
Gay Democrats gave Bill Clinton a pass. Then they gave Hillary Clinton a pass, along with the three other candidates for the Democratic nomination who were in the Senate and who could have actually introduced or co-sponsored legislation regarding DOMA or DADT, but chose not to — for the very same “risk no political capital for gays” attitude that Leonard notes so adeptly.
Gay Democrats are as a group still nowhere near the plateau of pathetic self-loathing that gay Republicans occupy.* Still, there is no basis for pretending that the tried and true Democratic tactic of throwing gays under the bus is either new or shocking.
They’ve simply been doing it too long and too often to pretend you hadn’t noticed.
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*Speaking of gay Republicans:
A dissident faction of gay conservatives is launching a rival group to the traditional voice of gay Republicans: the Log Cabin Republicans.
GOPROUD, the new 527 group, will launch next week, according to a media advisory. The contact given for the group is Christopher Barron, a former Log Cabin political director who broke with the group.
“Essentially, there’s no voice for gay Republicans or gay conservatives in particular in D.C. right now. Log Cabin has been completely and totally absent here in D.C. for months and months,” Barron said.”
“It has simply moved way too far to the left and is basically indistinguishable from any other gay left organization.”
It’s quite simple really: Self-loathers who break away from the self-loathing group that represents them and then form another self-loathing group are still self-loathing.
Would it really be so horrible to become, if not a libertarian, then just an independent? Really?
Previously:
–The Perils of the Democracy Fetish — Part Two
Filed under: Constitutional Issues, Gay Rights and Issues, Law, Politics, Society, Religion, Culture Wars