Liberals and Gay History
By This Frank Rich article on liberal hypocrisy and gay history really annoyed me. Not that Rich is wrong–liberals have not supported gay rights until very recently. But, well, duh? Is anyone questioning that? Am I somehow supposed to be surprised or outraged that Reuben Askew supported Florida’s anti-gay campaign in the 1970s? Isn’t that akin to being surprised that a southern Democrat would support segregation in 1957?
I’m not sure what Rich is trying to say here. Are liberals making a claim to having been pro-gay 20 years ago? He talks about Bill Clinton whitewashing his own past. Well first of all, Bill Clinton is barely a liberal. Second, Clinton is whitewashing his past because he knows he was wrong. And isn’t that good that he knows he is wrong?
Gay rights is the great success story of the early 21st century. We aren’t all the way to equality yet. We aren’t even close to that. Yet I remember 20 years ago this spring my home town of Springfield, Oregon being torn apart by anti-gay ballot measures that would fail miserably today. Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell is no more and gay marriage has become legal in several states. All polls point to growing support for full equality. The Santorums of the world may be outraged, but they are increasingly a minority, not a majority.
This is all awesome. But at the same time, it means that it is not only not surprising, but entirely predictable that mainline Democratic politicians would not be out in front on this issue 20 years ago. Unless Rich is damning all of liberalism for being squishy on equal rights generally, and Rich is most certainly not condemning liberalism, I don’t really see what his point is. It’s worth noting liberalism’s traditionally weak position on gay rights and reminding us of that history, but there’s not the ah-ha moment Rich thinks he provides.
But then that’s Rich’s entire journalism career.
Essentially, I feel Rich is updating the argument that Democrats aren’t the party of civil rights because Robert Byrd was a KKK member in 1946.