LETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth |
Capital Letters |
by Hastings Wyman |
Lessons from the Santorum Affair Sen. Rick Santorum's (R-Pa.) comparison of homosexuality to bigamy, incest, and bestiality, and President Bush's subsequent support for the GOP Senate leader as "inclusive" offer important lessons about the party that rules the White House and both houses of Congress. First, as a president who met with gay groups both before and after his election, George W. Bush has courted the support of gay people and their moderate allies. Those who have been persuaded by his public stance should now know what he does and does not mean. The president is not moving steadily to a more moderate position on gay concerns. Rather, he is performing a balancing actone day getting Patricia Ware, the homophobic executive director of the President's AIDS Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS, fired or scuttling the Christian right's attempt in Congress to block condom distribution in Africa; another day backing up the incredibly gay-hostile Santorum and praising his performance as the third-ranking member of the Republican leadership in the Senate. Neither gay Republicans nor Christian conservatives are going to win the battle for the heart and mind of the president. For Bush, "inclusive" means trying to keep both groups pacified. The only indication the president gave that he recognizes the harmful import of Santorum's comments is that he did not defend them, although he did support the man by characterizing him as inclusivea virtue the senator obviously doesn't have. Perhaps Bush was trying to signal to gays and moderates that the White House is committed to a broad-based administration. Or maybe he was trying to tell Santorum that he hopes the senator will become inclusive and avoid creating public relations problems in the future. But that is a rather small crumb to throw to such gay GOP groups as the Log Cabin Republicans and the Republican Unity Coalition, who have stuck out their necks and wallets on behalf of this president. There is one bright side, however. It was only five years ago that Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.) insulted gay people by suggesting that we should not be hated, but provided treatment, like "alcoholics and kleptomaniacs." There was, of course, an outcry, but Lott's antigay gaffe provoked far less denunciation from straight politicos and less attention from the news media than Santorum's has today, when some commentators have made his statements a major story. One reason why there is more uproar over Santorum this year than when Lott made his antigay statement is that, in just five years, the nation's gay community has grown in public acceptance and political success. Consider that in late 1997, shortly before Sen. Lott likened us to drunks and compulsive pilferers, there were some 127 openly gay elected officials in this country; today, there are 243. In 1998, 103 local governments across the nation had outlawed antigay job discrimination; today, that number is 152. And in 1998, only 55 local jurisdictions provided health-insurance coverage for same-sex domestic partners; today, that number has risen to more than 140. If we keep up this rate of progress, insulting antigay statements by prominent politicians may become increasingly unacceptable, even for conservative Republicans.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. |
ETTERS From CAMP Rehoboth, Vol. 13, No. 4, May 2, 2003. |