Are Democrats Throwing Gays Under the Bus?

Corrected.

With just over three weeks until the elections, it seems a pretty certain bet that most of the LGBT community will vote for Barack Obama and Joe Biden, though with curtailed enthusiasm after numerous missteps.

But electoral support does not mean surrendering the right to critique and hold the candidates or the Democratic Party accountable. Indeed, it is the obligation of citizenship to call out disparities between avowed principles and actions that conflict with those principles. If the actions are not corrected, at least the credit-card promises are de-mythologized and once starry-eyed voters will not be surprised when the disappointing compromise bills come due.

So let's stipulate that Obama has captured most of the LGBT vote. After all, LGBT people have been deeply impacted by the Bush-Cheney-Rove regime and can't wait to exhale. But frankly, it seems the Obama camp and the Democratic Party just aren't all that into us anymore.

Let's also stipulate these facts: Obama's deputy campaign manager Steve Hildebrand is gay; Obama's gay outreach is light-years ahead of the McCain camp's publicized acceptance of Log Cabin's endorsement at the GOP convention; and the DNC's Inclusion Rule, in conjunction with Gov. Howard Dean's 50-state strategy and executed by the National Stonewall Democrats, yielded the largest ever contingent of LGBT delegates and participants to the Democratic Convention and laid a possible foundation for future inclusion.

But none of that translated to viewers of the Democratic Convention -- which I wrote about in "Requiem for Gay Political Power." From my seat glued to the TV, it looked like a shameful replay of 2004 when the LGBT community agreed to invisibility for the "greater good" of electing John Kerry.

It didn't matter. We were blamed for Kerry's loss anyway -- ostensibly because we brought about the eleven anti-gay marriage initiatives in battleground states, not Karl Rove -- by wanting full equality "too fast."

So here we are in 2008 and what's changed, really? There are anti-gay marriage initiatives in California, Arizona, and Florida. But who's paying attention, other than the LGBT community and its allies, and the well-funded Religious Right for whom this is the ultimate spiritual warfare, as described by TheCall?

The focus here is Proposition 8, the constitutional amendment on the November ballot in California that would eliminate the right of same sex couples to marry. That right was recognized by the Republican-dominated California Supreme Court May 15, a ruling in which the court also called gay people a "suspect class" or minority deserving equal protection under the law.

But this fight goes beyond the "fundamental" right of same sex couples to marry. If Prop 8 passes, it would be an ugly addition to U.S. history (remember the Jim Crow laws and the Japanese Interment, to mention a couple) where a majority has stripped rights away from a minority.

Yet, so far the DNC and the Obama campaign have issued plenty of statements with no action.

Here's the record:
-- On May 3, 2006, the DNC hired longtime LGBT politico Brian Bond to handle the LGBT constituency. Dean said:

"The Democratic Party has a long history of standing against discrimination and standing up for equal rights for every American. Unfortunately, the Republicans are again taking a page from the Karl Rove playbook and using issues to scapegoat the LGBT community with the divisive Federal Marriage Amendment and hate-filled ballot initiatives aimed at dividing and distracting America from critical issues facing our country. Brian will help lead our fight to end the Republican politics of fear and division."

-- May 10, 2006. In Bond's first interview, he is asked if the DNC has a strategy to combat the ballot initiatives. Bond said:

"I would say yes, but I think you have to look at this in both a short-term and long-term context. In the short term, clearly strategy is being put in place."

If such a strategy existed, it failed in California, Arizona and Florida.

-- Feb. 2008, Equality California, the statewide LGBT lobbying group, launched the "Decline to Sign" campaign trying to prevent the anti-gay ProtectMarriage.com and the New Jersey-based National Organization for Marriage from gathering enough petition signatures to qualify the ballot initiative. According to the Secretary of State's website, the DNC contributed $25,000 (the California Democratic Party contributed nothing) but the petition qualified with over one million signatures.

-- On May 15, the Obama campaign released a statement about the marriage ruling:

"On the issue of constitutional amendments, Senator Obama has been on record for some time: He opposes all divisive and discriminatory constitutional amendments, state or federal. That includes the proposed amendments in California and Florida."

The Obamas made similar statements in March, June and July.

-- The DNC also issued a statement:

"The Supreme Court of California today took a step forward in the long march toward protecting equal rights under the law for every American. This should not be a matter of politics or partisanship; it is a matter of protecting the rights and dignity of all American families."

In August, the Democratic Party Platform included this:

"We all have to do our part to lift up this country, and that means changing hearts and changing minds, and making sure that every American is treated equally under the law.... We oppose the Defense of Marriage Act and all attempts to use this issue to divide us."

But while the Democratic Party has helped the No on Prop 8 campaign on the ground, the DNC has made no financial contribution to fight Prop 8 since the "Decline to Sign" campaign. Nor has Obama publicly mentioned the grave and historic fight to retain this minority right. One wonders if there would be such silence and benign neglect if an initiative threatened to take away an existing right of the African American, Latino, Asian or Jewish communities.

How ironic that this fight falls during the 10th anniversary of Matthew Shepard's hate crime-murder, about which
Cathy Renna notes: "The sense of being "other" is still a constant feature for many of us, even those who try to assimilate as much as possible and proclaim that they're just ordinary citizens like everyone else."

But the cruelest blow came when Biden agreed with GOP candidate Sarah Palin about same sex marriage during the vice presidential debate. His comments are now highlighted on the Yes on 8/ProtectMarriage website.

Obama has steadfastly opposed same sex civil marriage because, he told evangelist Rick Warren, as a Christian,

"God's in the mix....I am not somebody who promotes same sex marriage, but I do believe in civil unions. I do believe that we should not -- that for gay partners to want to visit each other in a hospital for the state to say, you know what, that's all right, I don't think in any way inhibits my core beliefs about what marriage are."

The conflation of a civil marriage right with a private religious belief and the argument in favor of "separate but equal" by a constitutional lawyer is jarring. But the political ramifications could be catastrophic for gays, as the New York Times pointed out last September.

"Mr. Obama, the Democratic presidential nominee, is against the measure. But opponents of the proposed ban worry that many black voters, enthused by Mr. Obama's candidacy but traditionally conservative on issues involving homosexuality, could pour into voting stations in record numbers to punch the Obama ticket -- and then cast a vote for Proposition 8."

In a statement released Oct. 12 commemorating the anniversary of Matthew Shepard's death, Obama said:

"All Americans deserve to live their lives free of fear, and as Americans, it is our moral obligation to stand up against bigotry and strive for equality for all."

The LGBT community has achieved equality in California, yet where is that "moral obligation" when it comes to fighting like hell to retain it? Where are the robocalls to targeted communities or the training to teach new young voters how to vote down-ticket and why the propositions are important?

While deflated gays expressed anguish -- or excused Biden -- amongst ourselves, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom went public with his "frustration." Because of his courageous principled stand on marriage equality, Newsom is the not-so-unexpected "star" of the first Yes on 8 commercial.

Newsom told the Long Beach Lambda Democratic Club Oct. 5:

"It was very frustrating for someone who has done fundraisers for Senator Biden - who believes in him, who is excited about him, his future, and the future of this country with him as vice-president -- that he agreed [with Palin]. That somehow a party that has always stood for the principles of human rights on women's rights, on civil rights, on environmental justice and labor rights -- that somehow today, our party leadership is arguing that separate is now somehow equal -- but only for the gay community. That's wrong. And we've got to call them out on it."

What's even more frustrating is that the DNC and the Obama campaign are throwing two major fundraisers in Southern California at a time when the No on Prop 8 campaign is begging for money.

The campaign is in such dire straights that they released their internal polling conducted by Celinda Lake of Lake Research Partners -- which was matched by another poll taken by SurveyUSA -- showing Prop 8 winning by four points, which the No on Prop 8 campaign attributed to the widespread airing of anti-gay Yes on 8 commercials. They said the Yes on 8 campaign reported raising roughly $26 million (over 40 percent from the Mormon Church), compared to roughly $16 by No on Prop 8.

Tickets for the non-gay Biden fundraiser at the Pacific Design Center in West Hollywood are $500 each, $5,000 for a VIP dinner.

Another fundraiser in Palm Springs, featuring Rep. Barney Frank and singer Rufus Wainwright is being held the day after an EQCA/No on Prop 8 fundraiser -- and some gays have canceled their No on Prop 8 tickets to attend the Barney Frank event.

The upshot: the DNC and the Obama campaign are taking money out of California at a time when Obama is leading in the national polls and has so much money he can buy 30 minute blocks of primetime television on three networks. No one from the DNC replied to my request for a response and the gay Obama supporters referred me to his previous statements.

(Perhaps not so coincidentally, the SurveyUSA poll also showed the anti-abortion rights Proposition 4 -- the Parental notification measure -- also passing. Another core Democratic value ignored.)

If Prop 8 passes, will we consider the DNC and the Obama campaign complicit in our defeat?
Right now, the No on Prop 8 campaign is being supported by generous LGBT and straight donors, hundreds of grassroots volunteers across the nation, unions such as the California Teachers Association and the Service Employees International Union and LGBT non-profits who understand that the future of their organizations are at stake.

So while Obama and the Democratic Party say they stand for the principle of equality for all, when it comes to gay people -- they appear to be sitting this one out. And if Prop 8 passes, their handprints will be on our backs -- having pushed us under the proverbial bus.

Comments

[WhirledTraveler]

Are Democrats Throwing Gays Under the Bus? Yes.

I've spent my life convinced that the Dems were the party of inclusion and compassion and that's why I generally voted Dem and put my concerns as a member of the LGBT community aside while thinking of the nation as a whole. However, Donna Brazille and Howard Dean have proven the Dems are NOT the party of inclusion...

Frankly, I'm tired of the LGBT community being used as pawns by either of the parties and it is for that singular reason that I no longer support the Dems.

At least with the GOP and Log Cabin we know from where these loonies come and where they will take us - Back To The Stone Ages.

So how'd I vote? I wrote in Hillary!

[afroacademic]

While I agree with some of this blog (but how do you take the exchange during the VP debate to be Biden moving to Palin, he was clearly making her look a fool for agreeing that their should be no legal distinction between gay and straight couples, but I digress). A lot of this sounds like the "HRC" problem to me. Why do we have to rely on the Democrats? As an organizer whose fought for equality in the south I don't get this hand holding mentality.

Of course the Dems are going to always do what we want. Rather than becoming the DLCs plaything like the Human Right Campaign why don't we focus on building our own networks and raising our own funds? In VA we fought (and loss unfortunately) our amendment with more organization and money than the VA Dems. How? We didn't rely on them and their methods we built our mechanism to fight. I really wish more people for equality would spend less time complaining about the Democrats not fighting our battles for us and more fighting our battles.

I think having Democratic allies is important, but we should not be taking our cues from them and we should be reliant upon them. In California alone there are far more progressive organization than the Democratic Party.

[MelGoetia]

What we are dealing with here is numbers. Very few votes will decide this General Election. This is the most important election of our lifetimes. Republicans have learned that IMAGERY is the key to winning the hearts and souls of the average American.

According to United States Census data for 2007,

http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/education/cps2007.html

of 194 million Americans over the age of 25; 14.28% have less than a High School Diploma - that's 27 million Americans. 9 million of those are over the age of 65; 60 million have not graduated from college. As little as 4 million votes could swing this election either way. That's only 1.9% of Americans over 25 who vote. That is a pretty slim margin; so it is understandable why our Democratic Leadership is steering away from GLBT issues.

Remember, IMAGERY is all that counts! Look at the signs the anti-choice protesters hold up. Graphic, shocking, disturbing imagery. Those images make up peoples’ minds for them because they have little or no depth of understanding; the understanding one acquires with a first-rate education.

The Democrats are doing it right. Let’s keep our issues “in the closet” for now; it will just make the coming out party that much more enjoyable.

As for ballot initiatives, gosh, the courts always overturn those; so they don't scare me at all. Good Luck, Mel Goetia

[MountPanic]

First and foremost, we need to win this election, and part of that includes "the gay question" NOT being an issue. In the last two elections, raising it has counted against our candidates. Both those elections were so close that any ONE thing could have swung it for us (Nader, voter fraud, swift boat, that d-bag Lieberman, assorted Rove vileness, etc.), so this time, we just need to run a flawless race. We're already challenging a lot of Americans with two things they're not sure they're ready for (an African American with a "funny" name), we simply can't afford to make a banner issue of something else that Americans are even LESS ready for.

That said, I admit I was a little shocked by the fervency with which Biden expressed himself and Obama to be against gay marriage in the debate. But domestic partnerships are at least forward motion, as opposed to rolling backward. And we REALLY need Obama in there to restock this gawdawful Supreme Court bench so we can protect the progress now and to come.

But progress is inevitable, folks, and we're going to get there. How many states allowed marriage for gays and lesbians ten years ago Is 3 more than that number? Then yay!

[siney]

i'm a 40 yr old lesbian...social change takes time...makes me livid, breaks my heart, but it takes time.. i think about "people" featuring the ellen-portia wedding as if it were the john-portia wedding...this is progress and a very good thing...that story, photo spread was seen, read by millions in middle america...ellen is the most popular daytime host today watched by those same millions, most of them probably mothers raising their children to accept people without bigotry...­..inundati­ng america with images of how ordinary we are, how exactly like hetero america we are in our wants, needs, hopes, fears, dreams -- this, too, is very much the path to the social change we seek...

the court is often the last stop for those seeking justice....in interpreting the constitution, it delcares, affirms what fundamental rights are....the california court affirmed the fundamental right of marriage recognized by the US supreme court, ruled society could not deny it to one group while allowing it for another...that separate but equal is not a legitimate paradigm insofar as civil unions v. civil marriage...indeed, it never is...but until society recognizes that denying civil marriage to gays essentially says "gays, you are lesser than me", then courageous court rulings will continue to be trumped by proposition 8's...besides anit-prop campaigns of our own, how do we combat this? well, i don't watch ellen's show, but i sure as heck am thrilled millions of middle americans do....

[davefl79]

Not by a long stretch of the imagination. Forgive me for saying this (and maybe its because I'm single) but why does GLBT equality always seem to only equal relationship recognition. In this article, I saw almost nothing about ENDA, hate crimes, HIV/AIDS prevention­/cure/vacc­ine efforts, "Don't ask, Don't tell," and immigration.
Why does relationship recognition always seem to be the "end all and be all" of GLBT equality. Yes, I'm all for civil same-gender marriage and even though the last thing I want to do is ever have kids, I fully support adoption rights.
Civil rights for racial/ethnic minorities were not won overnight, so NO, the Democratic Party has not thrown us under the bus. Barack Obama has called for the FULL repeal of the so-called "Defense of Marriage" Act.

To consider the Obama/Biden ticket having the same stance on relationship recognition as the McCain/Palin ticket is absurd. Barack Obama and Joe Biden stand, last I checked, for giving same-gender couples the exact same rights, responsibilities and benefits given to opposite-gender couples and overturning the so-called DOMA so that the federal government can start giving things like tax and social security benefits to same-gender couples. McCain and Palin have said that they have no problem with people entering into contracts with one another. Great, maybe they can give a tax rebate for the lawyers fees involved. Give me a break.

[ronin122]

I apologize if I came across as a dick. I just hate blanket statements as if all liberals were responsible for whatever. I'm on the left and I consider myself an ally. I can't say I do anything politically about gay rights (nor any issue really) but I'd say most of it is lack of information of what I can do here in IL about it and I don't see myself as being any help to anyone. There are lots of us who are guilty with implicitly being unsupportive of gay rights sadly but I think part of it is no one really comes up to us and say "you have to support this, here's why and how". As for what to do with California I am ignorant as to what would help (not from CA nor do I have any influence) but fact of the matter is many non-liberals don't support gay rights, sometimes completely so, so I don't know what the best course of action is but somehow I doubt blaming the left blanketly is the way to go.

[kellygrrrl]

Q. are dems throwing gays under the bus?
A. NO NO NO NO

0bama is doing what he MUST do to get elected!
The rest of US are doing and giving everything we have to fight the H8!!!!!!

[ronin122]

The party entity in itself I think is putting a blind eye (though not full "thrown under bus") but I presume many if not most liberals who can do something about it are fighting for it, although it isn't exactly a battle that will be won huge and quickly. Not one to say "be patient about your rights" but that's the reality: no civil rights have been won completely in one fell swoop. It's just something that needs to be kept fighting for, sadly, by us.

[master09]

I agree , hold on LGBT community one fight at a time !!

[ronin122]

I love the blanket statements here how all liberals are basically throwing the gays under the bus. First off, liberals and Democrats are two different groups that happen to have a lot of overlap (most liberals are Democrats, but not the converse), with the latter group having the whole range of socially libertarian to socially very conservative. Maybe the party doesn't take a stronger stance against the bill for the sad but true fact that it doesn't speak for all Democrats (not an excuse but it's still a valid justification); probably more to political expediency than anything but sucks either way I admit. I expect little out of the parties themselves frankly due to this so while I wouldn't say "thrown under the bus" per se (unless they said yes to Prop 8) I do admit there is a shunning of sorts that sucks big time.

As for the blanket statements towards liberals I think it's quite unfounded and unfair (lots ARE actually trying to work for Prop 8) but hey when frustrated why not blame that which is closest to you. Go ahead, shoot at your own side. Unless you're personally doing something to advance LGBT causes amongst the heterosexual population (e.g. no to Prop 8), you have no reason to say anything. And if you are, then maybe you can find a way to encourage action out of your allies instead of this back and forth firing squad. But somehow I have my doubts so...

[AxelDC]

Yes, Democrats are cowards and will not stand up for our rights. Yes, Democratic candidates would liek to help us out but are too afraid of the political price.

Look, Bill Clinton gave us Don't Ask; Don't Tell and DOMA.

However, I'd rather take cowardly friends and invisibility to abuse, demonization and open attacks.

As disappointing as the Democrats are, the Republicans are outright hostile. So long as one party wants to use gays as political whipping boys to fire up the base, we are stuck hoping that the Democrats do something useful once in a while.

Democrats may be weak allies, but any port in the storm....

[lizr]

I watched the Biden Palin debate- what'd I miss?

Look- there is plenty of gay money in CA. I am gay, I used to live there.

Save your money, dont go to O/B fundraisers and donate to defeat Prop 8.

What's the problem?

I for one am tired of being blamed for Dem defeat.

Let CA and national gay orgs fight Prop 8 and leave O alone. Let's deal with this and quit dragging the national ticket down.

Once we have a sane national gov again we'll deal with all this once and for all. No one can tell me Jill Bi den and Miche lle O are anti gay. I just wont believe it. Let's try and be a bit self sufficient, how about it?

[kellygrrrl]

Bingo!

[ILOVELOSANGELES]

The GOP used their opposition to gay rights to help win the last two presidential elections. Obama has endorsed civil unions. Lets take one step at a time and get Obama elected first. Unless you think McCain / Palin would be more sympathetic to LGBT issues. No? I didn't think so. Love to all !!!!!

[RRuin]

I believe that a President Obama could see the light.
What Obama has the ability and intelligence to understand is how much he has in common with gay Americans denied their civil rights.
As the child of a black father and white mother, surely he knows that his parents marriage not only was frowned upon by a too bigoted "society" but was also illegal in many states.
Of all people to be able to grasp the need for gay Americans being granted the same civil rights as straight Americans, it's Obama.

[grata2ude]

I'm not understanding where this is coming from. Obama in a debate said that he favored legal unions and that a couple whether they are straight or gay should be able to visit their loved one in hospitals and make decisions for them.

A campaign can only address so many subjects in the course of it.

Relax. Obama is going to be a great President. Let's work on getting him elected.

[veggiequeenmo]

let's focus on getting obama elected first. it takes time for society to change - look how long it took for women to be something other than their husband's property. we still don't treat people of color as equals. so wait a while longer, frustrating as it is to alot of us, not just gays. i want a more tolerant planet for my children, too. but we have to make sure we get people in power that can and will make the changes needed. obama is making those changes now - who would have ever thought we would have an african-american president in 2009? a year ago that didn't seem possible, but now - it's ours for the taking. just wait - it will happen.