CAPITAL Letters

Two recent appointments in leading gay political groups are examples of a new and healthy trend. State Sen. Cheryl Jacques (D-Mass.) will become the executive director of the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the largest and most influential gay group in the nation. In a lower profile, but still important, development, Robin Brand has left her post as vice president of campaigns and elections with the Democratic National Committee (DNC) to serve as political director of the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund.

What these two new hires have in common is that both women moved from mainstream politics, where their constituencies were largely straight voters, to gay advocacy groups, where they will work for the gay community. We have become somewhat accustomed to the opposite trend, with gay operatives entering the world of politics at large. In Georgia, for example, Cathy Woolard, a former HRC operative, got elected to the Atlanta city council, and then to the presidency of the council—the second most powerful post in this unofficial capital of the New South. Similarly, many of the openly gay officeholders across the country cut their political teeth working in gay groups, then used those skills—as well as their gay base—to move successfully into public office. While no one ever labeled these moves as "upward," I suspect that’s how most folks—gay and straight—regarded them.

What the reverse trend indicates is that the line separating mainstream politics and gay advocacy is narrowing. When a lesbian state senator moves from the Massachusetts legislature to a gay political group, it is clear that "gay is good" has become more than a slogan. Rather, there is prestige in heading such an influential Washington group.

Similarly, Brand’s move from the DNC to the Victory Fund shows that our movement’s institutions have appeal to political professionals who could just as easily remain in "the big leagues." Indeed, the gay movement’s presence in Washington has become the big leagues.

That makes some gay people uncomfortable. We are used to being on the outside, nose pressed against the glass, looking in at a straight world where no one gets called "faggot" or "dyke," where one’s most intimate relationships are honored by family and community, where hiring and advancement aren’t jeopardized by sexual orientation. Moreover, some of us don’t like gay people who haven’t been "out" that long, or who get paid a lot of money to advocate for the community.

HRC, however, was hiring a lobbyist, not choosing a poster child for the movement. Our very success requires us to be a force in Washington, a force that lobbies senators and representatives from both parties, that testifies at hearings with competence as well as commitment, and that makes a case to the American people at large, many of whom still harbor ignorant and hostile views toward people like us.

These new requirements of the gay movement call for the talents of people like Cheryl Jacques, who has worked in a real legislature—with people who agree and disagree with her about such issues as same-sex marriage—and Robin Brand, who knows that campaigning for office is more than just a revolutionary act, but an effort to win and to change public policy.

So hats off to HRC and the Victory Fund on their new personnel. Three cheers for Jacques and Brand for sharing their hard-won expertise with the gay movement. And sustained applause for the gay women and men across the country who have contributed to these and other gay rights groups, enabling them to pay the salaries that will attract and keep such stellar folks in the employ of the gay community.