Politicians play politics
Stephen Miller at the Independent Gay Forum links to this article in the Windy City Times by Bob Roehr. Miller quotes this segment:
Most Democrats harped on the fact that, gasp, the Republicans were playing politics with the issue; all the while promoting their own set of political priorities. There was not a lot of defense of the gay community
And, when the person who says “marriage is between a man and a woman” has the courage to say that, even though they know it will not be to their political advantage, means we can also trust them to tell the truth (and keep their word) when they also say, “what happens between closed doors is private” and “all Americans have a right to equal access and blind justice.”
When a group will tell you what you want to hear, for their own political expediency, they don’t care about you or your issues.
Well, Connie, it’s hard to be gay. Being straight, and thus spared adversity of any kind as you sail through life, I know you have no idea what I’m talking about. But fulsome encouragement, delivered in soothing tones, is really the most important thing we can get from our politicians, because any other behavior would reveal that they don’t regard us as fully human. And then how cahn we be expected to go on?
[pause]
Okay, just so we’re all clear, I was exaggerating for effect in that last comment. Single-issue activists, irrespective of their specific single issue, are by nature susceptible to tunnel vision. It’s not just gay advocates. And the sorts of gays who don’t see every problem in their lives as requiring a public policy solution tend not to be quoted in the press, but there are plenty of them…us.
What gets on my nerves like nails across a chalkboard is how surprised and betrayed these people act when politicians soft-pedal one of our–hello!–controversial issues. The fact that in this case their own ambivalences might be coming through, sincerely, makes it worse than usual, but, more’s the pity, it’s not the source of the problem.
After reflection (and sleep) this isn’t really any different from the East and West coast liberals (and the Hollywood mindset) that believe, because their samples are anecdotal and self-selecting, “most people are liberals.” This is why moderate, to them, is John Kerry and not Bush (and even Bush is too left for most).
The only gay people they know are also liberals (and members of PETA, who digest herbal remedies, etc. etc. and all the other liberal/leftist stereotypes). They don’t know any gay people from Kansas, Arkansas, or Texas. They’re clueless that there are gay and lesbian couples living normal lives, in normal white bread and mayonnaise communities, experiencing no harassment or censure–because they FIT IN and conform to the neighborhood’s morals and discreteness.
Some of the most conservative folks I’ve known have been gay. Always makes me giggle when I read about how “all gay people are leftists.”
It just defies logic. Gay men, whether living alone or in couples, pay a considerably higher share in taxes. They have none of the deductions that a family status has. It is logical, except to morons, that they’d be quite concerned about the staggering rate of taxation.
I know I come across to you as Mr. Spleen most of the time, but I want you to know that I like both of you, Sean Kinsell and Mrs. du Toit.