Gays Force The Issue
Republicans and Democrats are discovering they can't avoid homosexual politics. The question is, where are the votes?
At a congressional fundraiser last summer, Bob Kabel got the chance to do what most Republicans only dream of: pose for a photo with George W. Bush. Then Kabel, a former chairman of the Log Cabin Republicans--the country's biggest gay GOP group--won an even rarer prize: a personal message from the president. "I know exactly who y'all are," Bush told Kabel. "I'm working so that people don't have heartburn over your issues." Kabel was moved, but the Republicans have suffered plenty of heartburn over his issues since then.
On the other side of the aisle, things have been a bit awkward as well. At a July 15 Human Rights Campaign forum for the Democratic presidential contenders, the moderator grilled Sen. John Kerry on why he supports gay "civil unions" but opposes gay marriage. "I think it's important to do first of all what we can do," Kerry said, suggesting it was the country, not himself, that wasn't ready for same-sex marriage. Howard Dean, who as governor signed a law making Vermont the only state to legalize gay civil unions, also stumbled over the gay-marriage question. He finally asked the moderator to change the subject.
Gay issues represent rocky terrain for Republicans and Democrats alike, but suddenly there's just no avoiding them. In June, a landmark Supreme Court ruling overturned a Texas antisodomy law and effectively legalized homosexuality. Last week, the Episcopal Church elected its first openly gay bishop. President Bush stepped into the fray late last month, saying he had lawyers studying how best to "codify" marriage as a male-female institution. In Canada, two provinces have recently begun minting gay-marriage licenses. And the United States may not be far behind: Decisions pending in the high courts of Massachusetts and New Jersey could soon legalize gay marriage there. As the 2004 elections inch closer, the recent march of events presents the two parties with starkly different challenges. For the Democrats, the trick is not coming off as too gay-friendly to a nation that's still wrestling with its views on gay rights. The Republicans, meanwhile, must mobilize a voter base of religious social conservatives without alienating swing voters by seeming intolerant.
Bush has tried to keep his distance from the string of recent controversies, but it hasn't been easy, and the president has at times seemed squeamish. "I am mindful that we're all sinners," he said in response to a press conference question last month. "And I caution those who may try to take the speck out of the neighbor's eye when they've got a log in their own." Bush kept mum on the Supreme Court decision in June and has hedged on whether he supports a constitutional amendment barring gay marriage, which has been introduced in the House of Representatives. Still, the president has quietly extended a hand to gays, appointing a gay ambassador to Romania and signing a bill that extends benefits to same-sex partners of District of Columbia employees. "We don't always agree" with the administration, says Log Cabin Republican Executive Director Patrick Guerriero, "but the lines of communication we have are unprecedented."
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