Thursday, October 28, 2004
by Wayne Besen
The Democratic convention is over and I absolutely, positively love John Kerry. Sure, in the latest polls he got the convention bounce of a medicine ball on a concrete sidewalk, but I still adore him. To be honest; I'd rather vote for Tony Soprano or Tony the Tiger or anyone that isn't George W. Bush.
I'm one of those folks who doesn't like the way Bush walks or talks. I despise his policies and I loathe his politics. I know this is irrational, but I'd rather French kiss a piranha than hear Bush pronounce "nuclear" one more time.
Most Democrats - especially gay ones - feel exactly as I do. So, to win over the base at the convention, all Kerry had to do was be able to walk and chew gum - not necessarily at the same time. Fortunately, he delivered a powerful speech that exceeded expectations.
For most gay Americans, choosing Kerry over Bush for president is as easy as choosing Matt Damon over Don Knots for a prom date.
Kerry is a co-sponsor of legislation banning job discrimination based on sexual orientation. Bush is against such a law.
Kerry is for hate crimes legislation that includes sexual orientation. Bush is not.
Kerry is for civil unions and domestic partnerships. Bush is against such unions, and led a failed effort to pass a federal Constitutional Amendment banning gay marriage.
Kerry, a war hero, is in favor of openly gay and lesbian people serving in our military. Bush is against allowing openly gay service members.
The list of differences is long and the further one goes down the list the worse Bush fares. And this doesn't even take into consideration that if Bush is reelected he will try to stack the federal courts with Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas clones. A Bush reelection is an unmitigated disaster for gay and lesbian Americans.
Kerry, of course, doesn't favor same-sex marriage. In normal times this would lead gay activists to mount sizable protests. But these aren't normal times and gay leaders are rightfully, albeit painfully, allowing Kerry a pass for the sake of unity.
In fact, the most notable gay protest in Boston was not directed at the nominee. It came when the largest gay rights group, The Human Rights Campaign, rescinded an invitation for comedian Margaret Cho to perform after she said she would tell off-color jokes about Bush. But even the jilted jester Cho displayed comity for her cancelled comedy and forgave HRC.
As an activist it is not easy to let the Democrats dissemble on gay marriage and treat us as second-class citizens. However, let's be real - same-sex marriage will not be won or lost between now and November.
So let's take a much needed break and focus on the positive. For example, the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender delegation featured a record of 236 delegates at the convention. HRC's articulate Executive Director, Cheryl Jacques, addressed the Beantown crowd on gay issues. Another speaker, Rep. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wisc., served as the first openly gay Vice Chair of any major political convention.
Politics aside, the Democrats just look good. On the campaign trail they have John Edwards, the candidate with the movie star looks, campaigning with Ben Affleck, an actual movie star. Perhaps Edwards is against gay marriage because he would get too many proposals!
John Kerry isn't perfect on gay issues, but he's not W., and that's good enough.
The lesson from Boston is that gay activists are not going to obsess about Kerry's relatively minor flaws. Instead they are going to relax, go to the beach and catch the Kerry wave. Sure, they have no illusions it will take us all the way to the shores of equality. But it sure beats the dangerous and exhausting undertow of the Bush administration that has been dragging us down for the last four year.
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