Taking it to the Streets
By Shawn Healy
Yesterday, more than 150,000 supporters of homosexual rights took their message to the fulcrum of power in Washington, demanding equality in Washington during a window ripe for reform. Last Thursday, the House passed enhanced hate crime protections for gays, lesbians, and transgenders, a long sought after legacy of the brutal beating of Matthew Shepard in 1998. On Saturday, President Obama stood before a gala sponsored by the Human Rights Campaign and promised that he would end the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy employed by the military since 1993. He claimed that his commitment to gay rights is "unwavering."
However, given the ambitious agenda on the first year president's plate, gay rights have remained on the backburner, and Obama has given no indication of when "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" will be repealed, nor tread new ground on issues like the Defense of Marriage Act. Cautious optimism seems to characterize a movement that lined up en mass behind a barrier breaking figure in his own right.
Obama walks a precarious line between risking political capital on an issue that could undermine his frontline agenda items like health care reform and cap and trade legislation, and deferring a dream that in the eyes of many is long overdue. He likely has an eye on the last Democratic president (Bill Clinton) who grappled with the issue only to see his ambitious goals sacrificed for a peacemeal approach thereafter.
These concerns considered, Obama will find it increasingly difficult to hold back the waters of a rising tide. How will be continue a policy that facilitates the harm recounted by former Navy recruit Joseph Rocha in this Washington Post op-ed? Next month, Maine voters decide whether or not to validate a state law that enables same-sex marriage. Five states and counting constitute these ranks, though none has done so directly through the voice of the people. In the nation's capital, the city council appears likely to legalize same-sex marriages by the end of the year. The Defense of Marriage Act may be undone from the bottom up.
Bob Dylan's lyrics in The Times They Are-A Chagin' were directed at the civil rights movement of his youth, one centering on race and later gender. The following lines are apt as ever in describing the forces of change gripping government institutions across the land as civil rights reach their "final frontier."
Come senators, congressmen
Please heed the call
Don't stand in the doorway
Don't block up the hall
For he that gets hurt
Will be he who has stalled
There's a battle outside
And it is ragin'.
It'll soon shake your windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin'.
However, given the ambitious agenda on the first year president's plate, gay rights have remained on the backburner, and Obama has given no indication of when "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" will be repealed, nor tread new ground on issues like the Defense of Marriage Act. Cautious optimism seems to characterize a movement that lined up en mass behind a barrier breaking figure in his own right.
Obama walks a precarious line between risking political capital on an issue that could undermine his frontline agenda items like health care reform and cap and trade legislation, and deferring a dream that in the eyes of many is long overdue. He likely has an eye on the last Democratic president (Bill Clinton) who grappled with the issue only to see his ambitious goals sacrificed for a peacemeal approach thereafter.
These concerns considered, Obama will find it increasingly difficult to hold back the waters of a rising tide. How will be continue a policy that facilitates the harm recounted by former Navy recruit Joseph Rocha in this Washington Post op-ed? Next month, Maine voters decide whether or not to validate a state law that enables same-sex marriage. Five states and counting constitute these ranks, though none has done so directly through the voice of the people. In the nation's capital, the city council appears likely to legalize same-sex marriages by the end of the year. The Defense of Marriage Act may be undone from the bottom up.
Bob Dylan's lyrics in The Times They Are-A Chagin' were directed at the civil rights movement of his youth, one centering on race and later gender. The following lines are apt as ever in describing the forces of change gripping government institutions across the land as civil rights reach their "final frontier."
Come senators, congressmen
Please heed the call
Don't stand in the doorway
Don't block up the hall
For he that gets hurt
Will be he who has stalled
There's a battle outside
And it is ragin'.
It'll soon shake your windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin'.
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