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Loading ...Jon Mallow: Why a gay official won’t matter
If President Obama calls me up and asks my advice on where to appoint an openly LGBT person, I will say to him:
“There are tons of great gay people who you could appoint: Christine Quinn for HUD Secretary, Urvashi Vaid for Attorney General, Tony Kushner to Chair the NEA, Suze Orman for Secretary of the Treasury (she knows her money and we are in a financial crisis!), Doogie Howser for Surgeon General (he did graduate from Med School at 16!)”.
But I am much less interested in seeing an LGBT person in government than I am in seeing a real progressive who is committed to individual sexual freedom and equality for all.In this case, identity alone is not enough - the simple fact that someone is gay does not make that person a friend of the gay community. In fact, in the wake of the Larry Craig scandal it became pretty clear that there are already a lot of gay people in government, and they aren’t exactly pushing for my political agenda.
The last thing I want is a gay Clarence Thomas!
Jon Mallow is co-host of The Gay Agenda video blog
Go back to the main story for more opinions on where we need LGBT officials.
GLBT activist b4 “Stonewall Rebellion” where I participated in the aftermath.
Son of civil rights lawyer father and labor organizer mother and grandfather.
Civil Rights activist b4 1963 MOW where conceiver the Gay, Black, Quaker Bayard Rustin was anathema to many leaders.
Feminist b4 birth of NOW where founding mother Friedan was admitted homophobe.
Ret employee of HUD, Treasury & Congress.
Found agency GLBT org b4 FedGLOBE estab.
Only male supporting female volunteers in
successful effort to rename organization
National Gay AND LESBIAN Task Force and change charter for allowing woman to be sole (as opposed to co-) exec director.
Not unlike similar organizations today, at NGLTF rampant were racism, sexism, ablism, ageism, biphobia and transgenderphobia.
I could not agree more with Mr. Mallow about the need for true progressives regardless of identity correctness.