The Washington state marriage decision has prompted
AmericaBlog to whine over the
past few days about what a bad idea politically pushing for marriage now is (repeating the discredited assertion that gay marriage cost Kerry the election).
I don't really want to hash through the marriage question again (the paragraph above should indicate my feelings on constantly being asked to take one for the team on the issue), but I was struck by something in Wednesday's post:
Someone in the [gay] community with some influence needs to stand up and say "enough already," and get our agenda back.
My question in the comments thread was, "Who?"
Seriously, I can't think of a single person who could be called a "leader" in the gay movement. (Not to mention, the marriage fight isn't being driven by a leader. It's pressing forward because there are long-term couples of a certain age who have realized the only way they can secure their relationship, family, and property legally is through marriage.)
There are well-known, openly gay people, mostly entertainers who don't fit the bill of spokesperson for the movement. There are openly gay politicians, but they serve their constituents, not the community at large.
So I toss out to the community wisdom here: Who is (or is a viable candidate to become) a leader of the gay community on the national level?
Given the impossibility of finding someone who could speak for everyone, I'll settle for any one person (or even a group) a significant segment for the GLBT community could get behind and say, "____ speaks for me."