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Loading ...Democratic platform gay-positive without saying ‘gay’
08.11.2008 5:01pm EDT
(Washington) The party platform that will be presented to delegates at the Democratic National Convention carefully never mentions the words gay, lesbian or transgendered, yet it’s the most positive LGBT platform in memory.
The platform also calls for the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, the ban on LGBT people serving openly in the military, and for the first time it calls for the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act used to bar gay and lesbian couples from receiving federal benefits.
The platform additionally calls for the full inclusion of same-sex couples and their families and for a national strategy to combat HIV/AIDS.
“The platform addresses many of our community’s critical issues, however it does not explicitly use the words gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender,” said Human Rights Campaign President Joe Solmonese. “While this has prompted much discussion, it is our responsibility as a community in this election year to compare this document with the soon-to-be-adopted Republican platform and to judge which party would best advocate for us. Additionally, we challenge the Republican Party to, for the first time, adopt equally supportive language.”
Servicemembers Legal Defense Network Executive Director Aubrey Sarvis said she was pleased to seek repeal of DADT tell in the platform adding that it “firmly advocates that all who are qualified be allowed to serve in the military without regard to their sexual orientation. This is a bold and historic moment for all those who must serve in silence today and for all who believe in equality.”
Meanwhile, a record number of LGBT delegates are expected to the Democratic National Convention in Denver. Over 350 LGBT participants are being sent to the convention.
This represents approximately 6 percent of total convention attendees and is a 27 percent increase from the 282 LGBT participants who attended the Democratic National Convention in Boston in 2004.
Very pro-gay and gay invisible at the same time. Bizarre. I’m not sure if I should be happy or insulted.
Dear Chris, You should be insulted to the max. All the democrats really want are all the LGBT votes and they will tell you any lie that works to their advantage. Not that the Rebublicans are better, they are just as bad, but at least they tell you what they think to your face before you vote them into office. You need to decide which of two groups of voters you are. You are either a tax payer. Meaning you earn & pay that taxes that others who don’t live on, or your one of those who lives off the taxes and the wealth created by those who pay taxes. Let me make it real simple, if the politician your thinking of voting for is a lawyer, think again.
Well, I for one am thrilled that it includes repealing DOMA.
Who cares if it says “gay”, as long as we get what we want and need. Sometimes gay advocates are so caught up in wording and get offended so easily! At least the Dems are trying, where are the Republicans?
Why are they embrassed by the word gay, lesbian, transgender, or bisexual. This isn’t high school. Very immature on their part
A GLBT friendly platform is not one that includes bigoted opposition to same sex marriage and support for second class citizenship via civil unions.
A GLBT friendly platform is not one that panders to bigots by refusing to mention us.
A GLBT friendly party is not one that gutted ENDA and then dumped it in the garbage along with the hate crimes bill in the run-up to November so no one would get the impression that the DP is GLBT friendly. As if.
The Democrats boasted about supporting and singing DOMA and DADT is entirely theirs.
They’re not opponents of the Republican/christist crimes of bigotry, they’re accessories.
Gay invisible or not, I am concerned that the bigoted right-wingers are changing to the Democratic Party to take control of it. There are several candidates in Florida who were once Republicans, and this election have changed to Democrats. I really am worried that we have a lot of Republicans in democratic-sheeps clothing and they will hijack both parties to push their policies of intolerance and hate on an unsuspecting and unaware public. I do not believe that an elephant can change it spots, even if it has a donkey coat. Fear the right, even when they say they are from the left. It looks awfully suspicious to me. Look what they did to the middle class when Reagan, Daddy Bush and Sonny Buxh became Führer-in-chief.
They are also the best option we’ve got.
I see the same thing with the True Left in this country. When compared to most European parties the Democrats would be a center right party. Here they are constantly called liberal (as if that were a BAD thing), which makes them scatter like cockroaches. Outside the US the Republican party would be considered so extreme that they’d get about 1/3 or less the votes they do here, but the fact remains they are not outside the US. Neither party is. This is all we’ve got to work with, so you either work with the tools you have while trying to get better ones or you just don’t work.
The problem with any attempts to change this is that usually after the election; interest dies off. Even though it is going to take multiple cycles to change one party, let alone two. Just look at what the neocons had to do with the Republicans.
So so what if the Dem’s platform doesn’t acknowledge us by name? This is still a step forward from where we are. It’s comparable to race issues in the 50’s and 60’s. What I’m hearing right now is comparable to saying, “Well we’ve got ‘Brown vs. Board of Education’, but there’s still racist in the system.” Get the rights, then change attitudes! That’s how equality has moved forward throughout American history.
Would the philosophy of “hope for the best but plan for the worst” be too far out of the question? Like many members of our community, I listen closely to the way other people describe us. What is not entirely clear is the Dems reason for using this kind of ambiguous language. I agree with the integrity that goes with use of visible language. As a Gay man, I can certainly respect it more that a closeted approach to politics. I like “in your face” over playing games. You know where everyone stands, for better and worse. In the best case scenario, the Dems could be using a back-door approach to supporting the GLBT Community. There is the expression that “the Devil’s in the details.” Right-wing, Bible-thumping, Republicans have been playing with these kinds of details for some time. Is the Dems closeted approach to politics a gesture at playing the same kind of game? Whether this is some kind of “game” or not it is hard to not feel like a pawn.
The Democrats are already in control of Congress… If the party truly supports any of the above things, why aren’t they doing any of them?
Keri is either very naive or is a troll. Why waste time passing bills that will get vetoed by Bush? Bush will not sign any pro-gay legislation, or anything seen that may be considered pro-gay legislation this late in his term.
And as for the platform-much ado about nothing; talk is cheap and I believe that the Democrats with an increased majority in the next Congress and President Obama in the White House will bring about real change to this country and our community will be included.
While I can certainly understand the knee jerk reaction from you who are dumping on the Dems for the wording of their platform I think you are missing the reality of the situation. The gay rights issue is still an iffy question within your culture. Look what happened the last time gay rights were an issue in a Presidential race. The issue was so contentious that it caused a lot of votes to go to the Republicans that would have gone to the Democrats. I think the wording is exactly what the American gay community needs right now. Why try to jam it down the throat of the right? America is just now starting to accept the concept of gay rights. Gay America needs to worry about getting the Democrats elected. Using buzz words like gay will only work against you right now. You’re on the brink of getting what you want. The Democrats are your only hope now and in the foreseeable future. Using too strong of language will only turn people away. Relax, don’t stir the pot, get the Dems elected then push for your rights. Don’t blow it now by shooting off your mouths and turning people against you.
The Democrats continue to refuse to grow a pair! No wonder the Repugnicans have been steamrolling them for so long now….
If the dems did their best to pass such legislation now and Bush vetoed it, it’d only give their voters a reason to come to the polls for Sen. Obama this November.
But they won’t because all the dems do is pay lip service to us since they lack the political courage do do what’s right.
Alternatively, there’s a big disconnect between the dems actually in office and actual DNC leadership.
Probably a bit of both.
Come on, folks. You’re getting pissy at the Democrats for writing in the formal prose that everyone else utilizes. It is hardly unusual for official documents to use the same language that legislators do. What political party would use the words “gay and lesbian” in their election manifesto? Even vehemently pro-equality parties like the Spanish Socialists and the African National Congress don’t do that. It is simply considered low brow (and borderline slang). The correct terminology is “sexual orientation.”