When I read the White House announcement about the recipients of the Presidential Medal of Freedom I laughed out loud. Wasn’t too boisterous because the day job is getting funkier by the minute (if my boss is reading this I only mean that as a compliment). Only President Barack Obama would think to honor both Jack Kemp and Harvey Milk.

Milk’s importance doesn’t have to be justified here (at least I hope so). While I have nothing against Gus Van Sant’s biopic, it wouldn’t hurt folk to check out Randy Shilt’s The Mayor of Castro Street for a more nuanced vision of the man and his history. However, when Milk’s family goes to the White House on August 12, they will  bump into Jack Kemp’s kin. The former HUD Secretary will also be given the same award. Kemp and Milk. I’m willing to bet  both would appreciate the irony  of their honors because they looked at each other from across the political divide. Milk, knocking the door open for gay political participation; Kemp, doing his best to slam that very door.

For partisans honoring both men cheapens what they stood for. That’s fair and worthy of conversation, but the past shows people of good will can be found all over the political map. Yes history judges us, but that rearview look doesn’t mean we can’t honor those who were political opposites.  Our battlefields have made this point already.

When it came to gay rights, Jack Kemp was part of the GOP mainstream. Which explains why he was loved by many conservatives (that and the intellectual foundation he gave to supply side economics).  A 1996 joint press release by the Human Rights Campaign and National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (I love their quip about gay marriage) rightfully takes Kemp to task for many of his positions,  but a spokesman for  HRC describes Kemp in a way that is revealing.

“Jack Kemp, while not as acerbic as some of his colleagues, has a solid anti-gay record nonetheless,” said HRC spokesperson David M. Smith.

Kemp was on the wrong side in the gay rights debate (no way to defend wanting to fire public school teachers who might be gay), but he lacked the bitter histrionics of  many of his peers. He was a political enemy you could have a conversation with. Granted that might be a low bar of expectations, but in a time where everything is a shout and epithet this is something not to be summarily dismissed.

While Kemp was deaf to gay rights, he was way ahead of his party on race. Kemp always demanded Republicans to do their best to break the Democratic hold on the black community. The GOP never listened of course, but that says more about the cold calculus of Republicans than Kemp. To my conservatives sisters out there: I know the Democratic Party’s shameful history when it comes to race and I think, as the gay marriage debate has shown, there are some GOP votes waiting to be mined in the black community.

Backwards on gay rights, ahead of the curve on black issues. Kemp’s political legacy is more complicated than most partisans will make it out to be.

PS: I know there are rumors circulating about the man’s sexuality. That debate is above my pay grade. Even if they are true, Kemp’s takes on the issues are what count. Not his past bed mates.