Bob Roehr was a member of the discussion panel reported on below. The sponsor supplied his airline ticket and hotel room, however, no honorarium or speaking fee was paid.
"Ideas matter. Ideas still drive what becomes politics," Rich Tafel told the opening session of a conference sponsored by the Liberty Education Forum ( LEF ) , in Chicago July 21. He said the LEF would focus on "ideas that can be implemented into policy."
The Liberty Education Forum is the "think tank" of Log Cabin Republicans. "Our mission is to work towards achieving individual freedom and fairness for gay Americans by applying the principles of individual rights, individual responsibilities, free markets and limited government," said Bob Kabel, chairman of the Forum.
The conference marked a heightened profile for the organization with an enhanced presence online. The opening panel discussion was redefining the gay agenda.
Political columnist Hastings Wyman said that about 25 percent of gays and lesbians voted for George W. Bush, despite the fact that "Al Gore really endorsed most of what has become known as the gay agenda," while "Bush promised not to hit us." It suggested to him that much of the "agenda" is "not terribly relevant to the average gay person." He thinks, "There is a lot of malleability in what gay voters consider important."
Wyman has seen "an amazing shift in the way gay issues are handled in Washington." He used examples of the nomination of John Ashcroft to be Attorney General and the faith-based initiative. In both cases "the gay side theoretically lost," but gay concerns were at the core of the public debate and those holding antigay positions were perceived to be on the defensive.
THE HONORABLE ...
"I have a very simple political philosophy," said Washington, D.C. city councilman David Catania. "Those of us who have been raging against big government, we lost that battle." Within that reality he favors "pushing as much of that power onto individuals rather than the government."
Catania believes the future of the gay community lays in our understanding "that we each can make a difference." He spoke of his advocacy for keeping open the city's only public hospital. It included work with a regional group of conservative Black Baptist ministers.
At a recent meeting, one of the ministers from the suburbs began a homophobic tirade. His colleagues from D.C. who had worked with the councilman rose and cut him off, "We are not going to have that here," they said. Catania called it "a transforming moment" that came from "diligent work in building relationships."
"I'm often accused of having a gay agenda, and I always say I don't have a gay agenda," said Arizona state Rep. Steve May. But once in a house hearing, he flippantly replied, "My gay agenda is to work out in the morning and drink martinis in the afternoon."
Family is most important to May. "The government has to recognize our family structure. Most of us as individuals are not discriminated against in our daily lives," but our relationships are discriminated against. "We will not have equal opportunity in this country as long as our families are not recognized."
That concept resonates with his colleagues on the far right and he has been able to attach amendments that "recognize members of the same household in the same way the law recognizes marital relationships." He has notched successes in insurance discrimination, victims' rights, and domestic violence legislation. Often these quiet activities do not gather media attention but they do help to create the legal web of protection that gay relationships need.
"We are second class citizens in our own country" as long as the antigay military policy of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" exists, said the veteran who fought that policy. May believes it saps resources from a strong national defense and "denies equal opportunity" to young gay Americans. "Our problem is that we don't have an advocate in Congress. We need someone like John McCain who would be willing to risk some political capital to make a change."
YOUTH
"Many of my colleagues in the field of lesbian and gay work in general can't find their ways to political tables and say youth," said Verna Eggleston director of the Hettrick-Martin Institute in New York City. She laid it to continued fear of being labeled a pedophile.
The issue is growing as gay and lesbian youth acknowledge their sexual orientation at increasingly younger ages. They come "without rights and without instruction, where they cannot access any goods or services without the advocacy of an adult."
Eggleston argued with the local gay pride committee, "The young people must lead the parade, in front of the pumps and G-strings, because as folk look in and watch, the perception is that this is where our community is taking 12-year-olds."
She works strategically with foster care agencies to train those who evaluate gay households and households where gay youth may be placed. She made the case that more attention should be paid to family court judges where basic decisions are made about the legitimacy of our families.
In Arizona, some school superintendents were attempting to deny meeting space to gay-straight alliances. May filed a civil-rights complaint with the state Attorney General's office, "which got the attention of the schools' leadership and forced them to change their policy."
Catania knew that family and societal pressures leave gay youth disproportionately vulnerable to becoming substance abusers. When he shook up D.C.'s dysfunctional treatment program, introducing vouchers, he made sure to "carve out gay and lesbian treatment options for our youth."
A PLACE AT THE TABLE
Sometimes "the only way to get people's attention is to hit the streets and make a fuss," said Catania. But he has found that once you are sitting at the table and have built relationship, often it is relatively easy to get things done. At his suggestion the Washington Metropolitan Transit Authority initiated domestic-partner benefits for its 10,000 employees.
The Salvation Army has one of the "finest substance abuse treatment options in the city" and Catania has worked closely with them as chair of the committee that oversees $1.5 billion in federal grants in D.C. When the recent incident broke, he called the local major in charge and received assurances that they did not discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation.
Then he called a senior official at the Salvation Army's national headquarters and "in a kind of hypoglycemic high, I said, this faggot controls federal grants in the District. You'll never see another cent as long as you live. I'll subpoena every one of you motherfuckers and I'll turn my chamber into a national circus. Do we understand each other?"
Within the hour he had the letter that he wanted from the organization. It denounced any intention of discriminating against gays and lesbians. "And that's the importance of being at the table," Catania concluded.
This reporter, Washington-based writer Bob Roehr, said the very limited role that openly gay people play in the Bush administration means that it "has a tin ear" when it comes to many issues affecting the community. Consequently one should anticipate that it will make more mistakes such as with the Salvation Army, and the media with its love of conflict is going to play them up. The community has to be prepared and react. It does not always have the luxury of following its own agenda and timetable.
Tafel said, one has to seize opportunities as they arise and meet people on their own terms. One of the reasons why AIDS initially was so important for Log Cabin was because it was an issue that many politicians did not know how to handle. AIDS was "a reason to let you in the door" and Log Cabin was able to build broader ongoing relationships from that initial contact.
A transcript of the panel discussion and other resources is available online at the Liberty Education Forum website: www.libertyeducationforum.org
