LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth |
Capital Letters |
by Hastings Wyman |
Tafel, ENDA, and the Gay Agenda The brouhaha in gay Washington over Log Cabin Republican (LCR) Rich Tafel's lack of support for the Employment Non- Discrimination Act (ENDA) makes clear that there is no single "gay community," at least where politics is concerned. Washington Blade writer Lou Chibbaro Jr. reported that Tafel wrote a commentary for LCR's newsletter that says ENDA "probably won't really change the lives of gay Americans," provoking serious criticism of Tafel from ENDA backers. Tafel replied that LCR has never taken a position against ENDA, but he acknowledges having "substantive concerns" about its benefits. Since ENDA is probably the top item on Washington's gay agenda, Tafel's doubts about the issue are big news. Some history: In the 1950s and '60s, the civil rights movement, or the organized effort to end discrimination against blacks, fought for a number of important goals, including equal access to jobs. Through a series of federal, state, and local laws, the very high barriers to black employment equality were reduced, though not eliminated. The African-American civil rights movement became the model for subsequent rights movements, including the gay one. Not only were many of the black movement's tactics copied-marches, picket lines, boycotts, sit-ins-but many of its policy goals were as well. At first, the gay movement wanted to be included in the civil rights laws that had been enacted to protect blacks. Then, in part because of arguments about the application of affirmative action to gay people, the gay movement agreed on ENDA-which specifically excludes job preferences. The question that Tafel raises-and it has some merit-is whether ENDA responds to a genuine need in the gay community. When laws were enacted protecting blacks from job discrimination in the mid-1960s, the employment of blacks in jobs from which they were previously barred soared, especially in the South. There was a parallel for women, who moved relatively recently into the mainstream of business and professional life in large numbers, due in part to laws. When I finished the University of South Carolina Law School in 1964, there was one woman in my class. Today, the student body of that same law school is 40 percent female. I doubt, however, that passage of ENDA would produce a major-or even a measurable-improvement in the economic status of lesbians and gay men. I base that in part on the same evidence that Tafel uses-I rarely hear gay friends complain about job-related bias. That's not to say it doesn't occur, but it's not the same as the massive exclusions that affect blacks and women before Congress outlawed such prejudicial behavior. While many gay people are shocked by Tafel's ENDA doubts, there is evidence that many other gay people share them, implicitly if not explicitly. In the last election, one-fourth of the gay electorate voted for Bush, who had not endorsed ENDA, had allegedly been responsible for the defeat of a hate crimes bill in Texas, and on several occasions during the campaign used language-e.g., opposing "special rights" for gay people-common to the homophobic right wing. This suggests that a substantial minority of gay people simply don't believe that the contents of "the gay agenda," as the movement has come to define them, are very relevant to their lives. There is similar evidence on the left, though less clear-cut. Ralph Nader got 5 percent of the gay vote, a tad more than he got from all voters. Nader was right on our issues, but many of the gay men and lesbians who supported him surely knew that by casting a vote for Nader, not Gore, they could help Bush win the White House. Had they been stressed out by job discrimination, would they have risked postponing legislative relief for at least four years to make a philosophical statement? Similarly, the nation's second largest gay political organization, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, is on record as being opposed to ENDA until and unless it covers transgendered persons. Capitol Hill insiders have made clear that including transgender language will doom ENDA-or at least postpone its passage for years-by introducing a complicated and controversial topic. Many local gay groups have also come out against state and local ENDA-type laws unless they include transgendered people. This does not mean these pro-transgender gays question the value of ENDA or similar laws on the local level. It does suggest, however, that these mostly left-of-center groups have no sense of urgency about passing laws to ban job discrimination against gays. I'm for ENDA. It may not help a lot of people, but it might help some. It will also allow many people who escape discrimination by staying closeted on the job to feel freer about being themselves, during as well as after work. Most importantly, if ENDA passes, it places the imprimatur of the United States government on its gay citizens-a powerful, even if symbolic, gesture. But before we crucify Rich Tafel, let's recognize that he's not completely out in left-or right-field. Hastings Wyman publishes Southern Political Report, a nonpartisan biweekly political newsletter. He may be reached in care of Letters from CAMP Rehoboth or at HWymanSPR@aol.com. |
LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth, Vol. 12, No. 06, May 31, 2002. |