Worse than Rove (updated) or: The Gay After Tomorrow

Luke in reply to E.D. Kain says:

I wish that it were a ‘stroke of the pen’ issue; though this is sort of like Kennedy’s support of American Americans’ right to citizenship, and subsequent walk back, plus the campaign by the SCLC and others sending him pens for such an executive order.

I like the symbolic stroke of the pen, and it’s an appealing symbol. But it risks votes on health care, which is more important than gay rights and more time-critical as it’s underway. Once it’s off the table, there’s more room to inhabit and more ways to maneuver–though the Republican Party will throw itself on the floor for a grand tantrum about the “homosexual agenda” and “special rights.” There’s also the internal dynamics of the Congress to be worked through; given the ire over Prop. H8 and other issues, you’ve got some good members building momentum in their committees for DADT/DOMA Repeal, but there aren’t enough votes to pass things on the floor of either chamber.

I also think the tenor of this post is a bit rich; firstly, Obama’s participation in the Olympic bid confuses his symbolic and official roles (this is why England keeps the Queen; she cuts ribbons, doesn’t write bills.) On the flipside, he got the stimulus and the first Latina on the Supreme Court, and has gotten further on health care reform than anyone since LBJ; as core generational ambitions and obligations of the Democratic Party (Kennedy-Dingell), that’s a lot, and a lot to stop total screaming economic meltdown.

Second, Obama’s not worse than Rove, that’s plain hysteria and rhetorical flim-flam. It’s been alleged that Bush was not a sincere bigot with regards to gays; but he was willing to gay-bash to get elected and reelected, and did nothing to change his party’s inane behavior. I’d have been happier with Sam Brownbeck; he’s a reactionary of the first order, but an honest monster in his hatreds. If you exploit hatred for political gain (like kicking off your campaign on the graves of civil rights workers to celebrate ‘States’ Rights’ and the dangers of ‘welfare queens’) but lack that same hatred, you’re worse than a mere bigot; there’s something special in aiding and abetting bigotry and the abuse of a minority when you think it’s wrong to do so (one of the /Vanity Fair/ Articles about the Bush Presidency and the Latimer book both describe events where Bush admits he doesn’t want to tell gay kids they can’t marry or whatever, but then he realizes he’s not made of stern stuff and chants “Faggot faggot hahahah bigotry yay” because the other thing might be politically risky, but morally righteous. Hmm, there’s a religion that likes compassion and helping the meek. Not sure I can remember what it is…nevermind)

Obama and his campaign activated, registered, engaged, and mobilized a bunch of voters who are more multiracial and more liberal than the electorate as a whole; he’s also inherited a gigantic mess, and it’s only been nine months (in which the GOP is holding up great swathes of his staff). The Lily Ledbetter Act had a closer causal outrage to drive it forward. To some degree, the Prop. 8 outrage has dissipated into new and different fights (Beware! Mormons marching on Maine!).

Either the Congress will move forward after health care, or after health care the White House will draw outlines and engage but let Congress write the bill.

The wild cards on are the ongoing Mormon/Ken Starr attempt to annul all gay marriages (which would be a Pyhrric victory at best), the National Equality March, the various stupid referendums, and a variety of civil rights cases.

I think it’s premature to think of an Obama-Democratic Party collapse over gay rights; most Democratic 2010 candidates are for marriage equality and DADT repeal, which is a useful barometer of what’s electable. Further on, the Obama voting base can shove OFA back just as much as OFA can mobilize them. Health Care is sucking up all the oxygen; once it’s passed, there’s space for three or four issues at once.

Gay rights as political movement has the worst combination of black and Jewish minority groups. In the case of the former, there’s an array of laws that diminish our citizenship while demanding equal taxes, and a political party that stands to gain from keeping us as ‘those people of the broken window.’ In the latter, we can culturally integrate in most of the country and sometimes integrate locally politically without too much effort, as there’s no easy visual marker; but our allies often mistake social acceptance for political change and lose interest in engagement, and thus we’re the repressed minority.

Of course, since seventies, there’s been a minority in the country that’s been able to be heard and arrange for the success of its agenda; the anti-choice movement has successfully used domestic terrorism to limit women’s access to reproductive health services and the rank and file of major political party has collaborated in the process; obviously, when judicial review and the political system don’t do as you please, that’s really the best thing to do.

(In a big meta-point, America mostly thinks of upper middle class whites when it thinks of gay men; the alienness of Obama in the White House has on the one hand racheted up hate crimes in the Old Confederacy and the Rust Belt, but by virtue of holding office, and America’s various cultural hang ups about black men and sex and the GOP’s hobby horse of xenophobia, the Black President makes the White Gay less difficult to assimilate culturally.)Report