April 04, 2008 - Gay 'n Gray

LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth

Gay 'n Gray

Sometimes I wonder what our founding fathers would think if they could hop out of their graves and tune in to our presidential electioneering. Following in the steps of George W, our infamous "Compassionate Conservative," candidates across the board seem to feel a need to establish their religious bona fides. Of course, Mike Huckabee doesn't have to establish them; he is a religionista Baptist preacher. His fellow Republican, John McCain, has been careful to note his Episcopalian affiliation but is happy to share the podium with Pastor John Hagee, a mega-church pastor who unabashedly attacks homosexuals and Catholics. Our friend Hillary speaks freely of her Methodist youth background and its importance in shaping her political agenda while Barack Obama, contrary to the claims of the rumor mill that he's a Muslim, is actually a member of the United Church of Christthe only major Protestant denomination that officially accepts gays and lesbians into their clergy.

My interest in the religious political scene was recently piqued when I read an article in the Express Gay News by Lester Leavitt, a seventh generation Mormon and author of Forbidden Friends: Memoirs of a MixedOrientation Marriage. Leavitt began his article with a quote from John Leland, a colonial Baptist preacher who was a strong advocate of separation of church and state. Both Madison and Jefferson were among Leland's friends and he is credited with helping them frame the first amendment to the United States Constitutionthe amendment which enshrines religious freedom in our country.

In researching Leland I was delighted to find this quote from his July 5, 1802 oration. "Guard against those men who make a great noise about religion, in choosing representatives. It is electioneering. If they knew the nature and worth of religion, they would not debauch it to such shameful purposes. If pure religion is the criterion to denominate candidates, those who make a noise about it must be rejected; for their wrangle about it proves that they are void of it." I love that "...their wrangle about it proves they are void of it."

Shakespeare made the same point in Hamlet when Queen Gertrude told Hamlet, "The lady doth protest too much, methinks." That quote now is most frequently heard as, "Methinks thou dost protest too loudly." Political candidates or anyone else who feels the need to establish their credentials through blatant assertion or through blathering protest should be rejected. Senator Larry Craig of the Minneapolis airport men's room fame immediately comes to mind. Repeatedly he protested, "I'm not gay. I'm not gay." Well, frankly, who gives a crap? The fact that he felt the need to protest so vociferously speaks for itself.

More recently Sally Kern, a Baptist minister's wife and an Oklahoma state Represen-tative said, "I'm not gay bashing. But according to God's word that is not the right kind of lifestyle." She was referring to her earlier remarks that "'the homosexual agenda is just destroying this nation and poses a bigger threat to the U.S. than terrorism or Islam." In attempting to clarify her remarks she said, "I was talking about an agenda. I was not talking about individuals. They have the right to choose that lifestyle. They do not have the right to force it down our throats."

Regrettably, and ignorantly, Mrs. Kern sees being gay as a chosen lifestyle. I'm one of the millions of gay and lesbian Americans who have energetically tried in my younger days to make other choices, including religious ones, before accepting the fact that whatever force created me created my sexuality as well. Also regrettably she demonstrates her lack of faith in the democratic system if she feels her supposed gay agenda, or any other agenda, will be forced down her throat. Whatever happened to "...government of the people, by the people and for the people?" Perhaps that concept hasn't taken hold in Okalahoma as yet. Then again, her stance is no surprise from someone who feels that her individual reading and interpretation of "God's word" is a universal religious truth and that her God is the one that all Americans worship.

This brings me back to John Leland. The quote that Lester Leavitt used to start his Express article was, "The liberty I contend for is more than toleration. The very idea of toleration is despicable; it supposes that some have pre-eminence above the rest to grant indulgence, where as all should be equally free Jews, Turks, Pagans and Christians." The thrust of Leavitt's article is that "Tolerance is not enough," and Leavitt and Leland are right.

As a public school student in the '30s and '40s I was taught to tolerate Jews and blacks and those who were different from me. But as a gay senior I want more than tolerance. I want the equality that Leland espoused, not the second class citizenship of civil unions and domestic partnerships. My guess is that if Leland, Madison, Jefferson, and the rest of the founding fathers could have a momentary resurrection and a peek at our current political process they'd gratefully go back to six-feet-under.

John Siegfried, a former Rehoboth resident who now lives in Ft. Lauderdale, maintains strong ties to our community and can be reached at hsajds@aol.com.

LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth, Vol. 18, No. 03 April 04, 2008