Over the past year the emotional turmoil LGBT people have gone through has been very intense. There has been the individual state victories and losses of marriage equality as well as the first federal law helping LGBT people signed by President Obama. We are much better off today then we were under President Bush and the Republican majority considering we do now have a federal statute on hate crimes protecting LGBT people. Unfortunately, this is no where near where the laws need to be, and this is the ongoing story of struggle that continues in 2010.
It might be a new decade, but the new Democratic majority has brought forth deep divisions within the party over whether LGBT people should be protected from discrimination. Often on this very blog LGBT people who have demanded change have been called names, spoken down to, and generally marginalized by some of the very people who say they support our civil rights. In the run up to the 2008 election Gay people focused on every positive word uttered by then Senator Obama as well as many Democrats across the country who made very solid promises. Some of these promises which would help us immensely included: repealing DADT as well DOMA and enacting legislation such as ENDA as well as the UAFA. When you combined such solid words with an actual description of new policies it did create a great deal of hope for change.
Many figures within the right wing on the opposite side continue to engage in character attacks, stereotyping, dishonesty, and outright hatred as a means to maintain the status quo. Although this is a new decade the LGBT community finds itself struggling against the promotion of prejudice and discrimination from the right. During such difficult times LGBT people try to remind ourselves of these promises from individual Democrats as well as the words written directly in the Democratic party platform. Sadly, the vast majority of these promises have yet to come to fruition because of forces within and outside of the Democratic party acting as inertia to these changes we still fervently hope for.
There is much thanks for bloggers here who have continued to update the DailyKos community about the right wing attacks against LGBT people. The most recent development being, of course, Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli calling for an end to non-discrimination policies for sexual orientation at Virginia's public Universities. We also, however, need more blatant calls for the Democratic party to fulfill these promises as swiftly as possible from repealing DADT to enacting ENDA. The best way to make a real difference is to demand new policies from our Democratic majority in Congress now that would delay justice no longer for LGBT people. Otherwise, people like AG Cuccinelli from Virginia will continue to have the power to promote discrimination against LGBT people without a federal law that clearly states such a thing is illegal.
Democratic inaction has contributed to the suffering of the LGBT community greatly because the continued ability for so many states who don't have laws on their books to protect us find discrimination within their borders with no recourse. At some point the Democratic party will need to live up to the slogans, party platform, and promises that inspired many LGBT people to work so much for them to win during the 2008 Presidential election. Silence and kicking these important civil rights down the road because of politics is painfully obvious and deeply depressing to see. Do LGBT people expect every Democrat to line up in favor of our civil rights? No, but in order to legitamize the party platform there must be enough support for such things to pass in a Democratically controlled Congress.
I remember voting early here in Illinois for President Obama and nearly all Democrats on my ballot. It was my first Presidential election as a 21 year old Gay man voting, and it was exciting. At that point I had so much hope and confidence that the Democratic party would come together to push a civil rights agenda for the LGBT community. In my mind I was hoping Barack Obama would be to Gays who Lyndon Johnson and the Democratic party was and still is for African Americans. Sometimes when talking to my loved ones about these issues I break down in tears wondering what happened to all of the energy, hope, and optimism for a new day this would be for the LGBT community. For all of the empty words that have not yielded anywhere near what needs to be legislated I am still hopeful that things can and will get better.
Please don't make excuses for the Democratic party anymore on LGBT civil rights in this new decade. Many stories about the lives of LGBT people have been written here and discussed greatly at DailyKos. The time to move beyond sympathy in words to actions that help better the lives of the LGBT community is here for the Democratic party and even Republicans who might feel the same way. You can make a difference by standing in solidarity with LGBT people in demanding that this Democratic majority start moving boldly and swiftly on LGBT civil rights issues. The struggle for dignity, equality, and protection from discrimination for LGBT people will continue on, but we need clear plans of Congressional actions to finally bring about the changes we need.
It is not enough for Democrats to simply say they support LGBT people anymore. There must be a solid committment to strategy and to the way they will vote if we elected her or him to Congress in the upcoming midterm elections. Please call your House Representatives and Senators to demand changes and new policies that create and respect the civil rights of LGBT Americans. The Democratic party can once again prove that they truly are the party of civil rights and civil liberties by delivering on these important social and economic issues that strongly impact LGBT people. In this new decade there is immense need for more actions and less words, greater solidarity in demand rather then division by excuses. LGBT civil rights are human rights, and the more quickly the Democratic party demonstrates understanding that through actions the better life will be for the LGBT community.