Funny thing about this great land of ours. She's got no problemfighting for what's right (Civil War), but she doesn't always make thesimple stand for righteousness (Civil Rights movement).
This past Thursday the United Nations, which excels at issuingproclamations, circulated one that is as marginally effectual as it issymbolically strong. It was just a little ole declaration seekinguniversal decriminalization of homosexuality.
Wasn't saying Gays could get married.
Wasn't saying Gays could show up at your house and read your kidsHeather Has Two Mommies.
It was just saying, you know: "Hey, Iran, when you're done with thatshow trial, could you possibly not hang those two guys who engaged ina love whose name you dare not speak."
And if you think I'm being hyperbolic, UN High Commissioner for HumanRights Navi Pillay notes that ten countries still have laws makinghomosexual activity punishable by death.
But the U.S. did not sign the declaration.
You'd think in a country where presidential aspirants do song parodiesabout introducing rogue nations to the wonders of thermal nucleardiplomacy, the U.S. would have no trouble putting its John Hancock onsomething that would mock the backward nature of those "funny" littlenations that aren't as forward thinking as we are.
Problem is, we'd be mocking ourselves.
The word is, as innocuous as the U.N. declaration was, it could turninto a sharp-toothed boomerang that, when set free, would whip aroundand bite Uncle Sam in the backside. See, in America it is not againstthe law to be gay. We just use the law to deny gays equal rights; theright to marry, the right to serve openly in the military... In somestates the right to work and the right to fair housing.
So, really, it's not that American officials wouldn't sign thedeclaration, they couldn't for fear of overloading on hypocrisy andgiving Gays an instrument to use in court cases.
But we weren't the only ones to abstain. Sure, a couple of small timeleft-leaning countries threw in with the U.N. Japan, Australia,Mexico. The entire EU.
But we stood strong with our buddies from the Organization of theIslamic Conference which issued a bewildering SAG-type declaration oftheir own against "the social normalization and possibly thelegalization of deplorable acts" like pedophilia and incest. Sure.Along with dream stealing, alchemy and a bunch of other stuff homosexuals don't actually engage in either.
Hey, sorry to sell you short, Gays. Not our fault you don't haveaccess to rich oil finds.
But, though your government has let you down, Citizen of Democracy, ithasn't abandoned you. She stands ready at a moment's notice to nukeIran for being the least bit belligerent.
And that, not signing declarations, is the morally responsible thingto do.
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