President Bush has turned the only trick he, agnostic Karl Rove, and the GOP feel they have left to garner votes on November 7th: gay bashing. While out stumping for anyone that will invite him, the President was quoted Monday, Oct. 30th as saying "For decades, activist judges have tried to redefine America by court order," Bush said Monday. "Just this last week in New Jersey, another activist court issued a ruling that raises doubt about the institution of marriage. We believe marriage is a union between a man and a woman, and should be defended."
I won't go in to the hypocrisy of a man that screams about activist judges and then makes sure he seeds the highest court in the land with judges that will rule the way he feels appropriate, a man whose first victory was what many deem a criminal overstepping of juror's prudence on behalf of the Supreme Court when they handed him the Presidency. This administration has turned to the courts time after time to get their way and then scream when a court actually makes a just ruling.
No, I can't be mad at George Bush for his stance. It's like being mad at a lion for killing a gazelle. He's just doing what closed minded neo-fascist ultra-Christian conservatives do. Now, Karl Rove is another story, after all, he's got a gay stepdad whom he claims to love. Although, love means nothing to these people, if it did, Cheney would support same sex unions so his daughter could join the fun.
No, the real criminals in this act are the silent Democrats. For years, they have claimed to be the party of civil liberties, the party of equality, of inclusion and for years I have sat back while they cowered, too afraid of losing their jobs, of upsetting the religious right, of their own fears of what they don't understand. Many times it has made me not want to vote Democratic, the constant betrayal of the party. Clinton's ridiculous caving on the Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy, a policy that every general will admit does not work and one that during wartime has quietly been suspended. I cried when I heard in the dead of night on Air Force One he signed DOMA, the Defense of Marriage Act, making sure states wouldn't have to recognize the marriages he knew were coming, he knew because he knew they were right, they were just and when pressed the courts would not be able to find a valid legal reason to keep up the discrimination.
And now they are silent as well. They leave it to the disenfranchised to fight, the Davey's taking on the Goliath's. I know a little about this. When my late husband died (and no, we didn't need a state to confirm that) unexpectedly of what I contend to be malpractice, there were no laws to help me sue. I had to change California State law in order to get to court, and that took four years. Four years of fighting, of lawyer meetings, of his death being ignored while the paperwork got worked out about whether or not we loved each other enough to be recognized. I won without the help of one single Democratic in my State. Granted, they passed AB 25 and AB 205, laws which later I amended, but not one rallied for me, assisted me, nothing. Sure, they used me to testify in front of the State legislature to tell my story, but acknowledged that when the law passed it wouldn't help me. They were afraid to make it retroactive, afraid the governor would veto it. So, I made it retroactive through the courts.
Each and every person that calls themselves a Democrat should be ashamed of how silent they remain while tax-paying Americans are bashed at the hands of the President. Gays and lesbians, whose only crime is who they love, are the last minority still able to be publicly humiliated at the hands of politicians. Imagine if they were outlawing Jewish unions, Catholic unions (both of which are religions, which are a choice, not sexuality, which is not). Imagine if they were going after banning blacks from marrying whites. Imagine if the President made a speech denouncing Muslims, Mexican-Americans or any other subsection of this country. But gays, hey, they don't have feelings, and besides, they don't have a champion. Democrats certainly don't support them. Many say they are against same sex marriage, including superstar Harold Ford, Jr. Well, then, Mr. Ford, don't propose to a man, otherwise, shut up.
I long gave up on Republicans. Their heads are so far up the religious right's collective asses they could be their proctologists. They have long forgotten that they are the party of LESS government intrusion in personal lives. They should be the first to stay out of marriage. But oh no, they abandoned their platform long ago, so why turn to them. Again, it's clear what they're about these days. They're not pretending to care, like the Democrats.
That's why I laugh when a Democratic hopeful shows up at a gay fundraiser. Sure, take our money, pay the obligatory lip service, and then betray us by your silence and inaction. Pretend it's not a human right's issue. Pretend the ban doesn't prevent actual families from truly forming. Pretend it's not discrimination based solely on gender. Pretend our relationships aren't as valid as yours. Go ahead, if it makes you sleep at night.
If the Democrats win a majority in the House and Senate, or even just the House, what changes for gays and lesbians? Nothing. Because they'll want to keep that majority and to actually govern means at times you have to do unpopular things, like tell the ignorant masses that whether they like it or not we refuse to be a country of discrimination. They won't stand up to these hate mongers because they might actually have to travel out of their own comfort zones and do what is right instead of that of which they personally approve. And they might finally have to tell the "religious" that if they don't want to recognize gay unions in their churches, fine, but a marriage is a governmental contract, a legal binding agreement, and we can't exclude two people from it because they are the same sex no matter what their possibly fictional deity says (and just FYI, Christ never forbade same sex unions, He never even spoke of them).
Look, I've long said gays and lesbian leaders fought the wrong battle, they should have gone for Federal civil unions, with all the benefits of marriage. Even the President has said he would be for that. It's a winnable battle, and right now, it's the rights, not the name, we need. They scream separate is not equal, and they're wrong. Two contracts with the same legal benefits do, in fact, end up being equal, even if the title on the contract is different.
But to allow the President and his entire party to say this group doesn't deserve to enter this institution because they will in some way damage it, destroy it, corrupt it, sully it is not only wrong it is abhorrent. To remain silent is as much a crime.
The Democrats have sat by for years and watched gays and lesbians be attacked. Oh, they have pandered when they could, but it is just that, pandering. When will we get a Democrat that actually is one? When will we get one that denounces this party of hatred, that says, "Of course same sex marriage must be legal, of course a woman should always have the right to choose, of course we are going to cover every American with health insurance, of course we'll take care of the poor and elderly, of course we're going to find a workable immigration program and naturalize those that are already here, of course we're going to make sure that each American has the dignity they deserve, the dignity anyone else would have living between the Atlantic and Pacific, and of course all religion belongs away from politics and any law based in it should be struck down."
I know, I'm dreaming. But it's a nice one. In the mean time, the Republicans again are pulling their gay bash card and the Dems are remaining silent because they want to win. But when you win and you occupy my house at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue ask yourself this: how can the United States of America claim to be the best nation in the world when the Netherlands, Spain, Canada and Belgium all perform same sex marriages, South Africa began in 2006, the Czech Republic and then civil unions or some sort of same-sex marriage are allowed in Andorra, Argentina, Brazil, Croatia, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Israel, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and Tasmania. How can you Democrats claim to be protectors of American Freedom when you allow this to happen?
There was once a scorpion and a turtle stranded on a sinking island with another island nearby. The scorpion asked the turtle to take them both over to the other island, but the turtle said if I take you you'll just sting me. The scorpion assured him he wouldn't, but alas, on the journey he did. Right before they drowned the turtle asked "Why?" The scorpion replied, "I'm a scorpion, it's what I do," and they both faded away.
Bashing gays has become just what Republicans do. But Democrats, like the turtle, you go down, too, when you remain silent. Your soul dies along with the bashers because you do nothing to protect the rights of Americans that need it most, the ones it's still OK to sting at will.
History will judge you harsher than I, and that is my only peace. When marriage equality takes place, and it will, you will be looked at as barbaric, as enabling as the GOP. If that's the legacy you want, continue doing nothing. Otherwise, grow a spine and start speaking up for Americans that need you.