"Up…and Back Down Again"
by Christopher R. Geidner
January 15, 1999
This article may be reprinted with the permission of the author at [email protected].
The ups and downs that are a part of daily life in American politics have been no different at the outset of the 106th Congress as Tammy Baldwin, the first openly lesbian woman elected to Congress, took her seat in the US House of Representatives. Many gays and lesbians are looking toward the new, slightly more fair-minded Congress to show an improvement in the nation’s policies toward gays and lesbians. Already, the Senate has set its sights on the Work Incentive Improvement Act of 1999, a bill which would help those individuals with disabilities, including HIV, to return to work while retaining health benefits from the government.
"We welcome this strong bipartisan effort to address a very important need", said Winnie Stachelberg, the Human Right Campaign's political director in a press release.
Along with the up of a promising Congress is the downward cry of political religious extremists, such as possible presidential candidate Gary Bauer, which has dramatically increased in the passed six months. This recent onslaught began with the "Truth In Love" newspaper ad campaign, which was flowing freely with rhetoric the likes of which has not been seen since the hate chronicled in the early days of the AIDS pandemic. This attack on gay and lesbian Americans continued through the late summer days with several anti-gay measures debated in the Congress. All of those measures were defeated, however, with much time and effort expended by several dedicated lawmakers and political organizations. The October murder of Wyoming college student Matthew Shepard placed these many hate-filled actions in their somber and fitting light.
"At which point then is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer, if it ever reach us, it must spring up amongst us. It cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by suicide."
So said the sixteenth President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln, in an address before the Young Men’s Lyceum of Springfield, Illinois nearly 161 years ago. The words echo today as the Religious Right and their cohorts in Congress attempt to subvert much that is being gained and advanced in our nation in terms of equality for lesbians and gay men. When President Clinton issued an Executive Order attempting to bring Americans employed by the federal government some safety from discrimination based on their sexual orientation, Representative Joel Hefley, along with several pals, "[sprung] up amongst us" and attempted to author the destruction of this great advancement in our nation. It failed. But without a strong stand by the American people to stop this kind of mean-spirited legislation, we will not have seen the end of it.
Just this week, the Family Research Council stooped to new lows in attacking the adoption by HRC Executive Director, Elizabeth Birch, and her partner, recording industry lobbyist, Hilary Rosen, of two recently born Texas twins.
"What kind of image of manhood and fatherhood will little Jacob obtain from being raised by two lesbians? How will little Anna, who will never know the love of a father, relate to men someday?" said Robert Knight, the director of cultural studies at the Family Research Council in a press release.
Statements such as these prompted the The Record, of Hackensack, NJ to report the "anger" of conservatives at this adoption. David Smith, the communications director of the Human Rights Campaign expressed that this most recent action went beyond mean-spirited. He said that these groups are "now publicly attacking specific gay families in a very vicious way. Attacking public initiatives I can understand, but attacking a family is just downright mean."
Hoping that the Religious Right is not planning to continue these vicious attacks would be an optimistic hope, but it seems to be just that – a hope. Columbus, Ohio’s recently passed domestic partner benefits for city employees has received much opposition from local conservatives, and now it appears, may be placed as a referendum should the City Council refuse to voluntarily rescind the benefits. In the great up and down, however, less than three hours away, in Cincinnati, Ohio, the national Association of Flight Attendants has decided not to hold its 1999 convention in the city known for its passage of Issue 3, an anti-gay proposal passed in 1993. Patricia Friend, international president of the association, sent a letter to the Cincinnati Enquirer saying, "AFA members do not feel welcome in Cincinnati since it became the only city in the country that prohibits equal protection for gays, lesbians and bisexuals from discrimination."
Let us not "as a nation of freemen…die by [the] suicide" of our own Right hand. We must continue the work of progressive politics in order to ensure that the Right hand does not cause our great nation’s final down.
Either way, the ups and downs continue.
Christopher R. Geidner is living in Austintown, Ohio, is currently involved in health, wellness, education, and civil rights issues, and has been for 10 years. To contact, please e-mail at [email protected].