First Democratic Debate Holds Lessons for Gays
The recent gathering of all nine Democratic
presidential candidates in South Carolina illustrated both the commitment of
that party to gay concerns, as well as some of the potential pitfalls for
gays in the more liberal of the two major parties.
On the positive side, there were several
expressions of support for the gay community. When debate moderator George
Stephanopoulos noted that “here in South Carolina, it is a felony for two
gay men to have sex in their own home,” and asked U.S. Sen. John Edwards
(N.C.) whether states should be allowed to have antisodomy laws, Edwards
endorsed the right to privacy for gay and lesbian couples, as well as for
heterosexuals. Carol Moseley Braun, formerly a U.S. Senator from Illinois
and ambassador to New Zealand, and U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman (Conn.) then made
clear their opposition to sodomy bans. When Stephanopoulos asked the entire
panel of candidates if any of them believed South Carolina should have to
the right to have such a law, not a single candidate volunteered a yes.
Earlier in the debate, when former Vermont
Governor Howard Dean and U.S. Sen. John Kerry (Mass.)—who are major rivals
in the New Hampshire primary because that state borders both of
theirs—were sparring, Kerry noted that Dean recently accused him of
lacking the “courage to stand up for gays in America.” That prompted
Kerry to cite his own extensive record in favor of equality for gay people.
What these items from the debate indicate is
that pro-gay policy has become the norm for any Democrat seeking the
party’s presidential nod. Even those contenders who occupy the Democratic
right, such as Lieberman and U.S. Sen. Bob Graham (Fla.), who have in the
past waffled on some gay concerns, are now going on record as strong
supporters of the nation’s gay minority.
For the most part, though, the Democratic
contenders are hesitant to bring up the issue in a nongay forum. Aside from
Kerry, no candidate at the South Carolina debate voluntarily discussed any
gay issue—employment rights, hate-crimes legislation, or civil unions. We
know the candidates are pro-gay because Stephanopoulos brought up the issue,
not because eight of the nine contenders did.
This same reticence on gay issues was
demonstrated when the candidates spoke earlier in the day to the South
Carolina Democratic Convention. I listened to all nine presentations and not
a single candidate mentioned gays. This was not a conservative audience;
there were frequent references to the civil rights concerns of African
Americans, abortion rights, opposition to the war in Iraq, and the harmful
effects of world trade— but not one mention of issues of specific interest
to gay voters.
This is not to suggest that Democrats are
evil hypocrites, but to point out that we are not a top priority even in the
liberal party. When the going gets tough, our issues may well get
side-tracked, as gays in the military did in the Clinton administration.
There is still a sharp contrast, of course,
between the parties on gay concerns. The Bush administration continues to
try to please both gay Republicans and the homophobic right. Within a day or
two of each other, 200 members of the Log Cabin Republicans attended a
briefing at the White House, while national GOP chair Marc Racicot met with
a group of antigay social conservatives at the party’s headquarters.
During the meeting Racicot agreed to meet in the future with a group of
ex-gays.
Hastings
Wyman publishes Southern Political Report, a nonpartisan biweekly political
newsletter. He can be reached care of Letters from CAMP Rehoboth or at HWymanSPR@aol.com.
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