“Go ahead, make my day.”
Clint Eastwood certainly made my day this past week when he announced his support for marriage equality in the United States.
Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would be reporting the milestones the Gay and Lesbian community are celebrating this week. In addition to the State of Illinois being one step away from being the first Midwestern State to approve marriage equality through the legislature, a group of over 130 prominent Republicans, including Clint Eastwood, have filed a brief with the Supreme Court strongly supporting our freedom to marry the person we love. In addition, the President of the United States, through the Justice Department, has also filed two briefs in support of marriage equality.
This is a watershed moment for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender (LGBT) community. Our cause for justice and equality is no longer a single-party issue or a radical idea from the nation’s liberal coasts, rather, it is now a mainstream social and political issue that crosses both parties and is emerging in the nation’s heartland. When Iowa approved marriage equality through the courts in 2009, the backlash was swift and punitive. Conservative Republicans came out in droves and recalled three of the justices on the Iowa Supreme Court who supported equality. Just 3 years later in 2012, Minnesotans fought back a referendum that would enshrine discrimination in their state constitution by banning marriage equality and voters in three states approved gay marriage at the ballot box.
What is going on around here?
The answer can be found in several social and political movements of this century. During the past few years, the younger generation has realized that the quest for marriage equality and full equality for LGBT Americans is the civil rights battle of their generation. Younger Republicans like Margaret Hoover (granddaughter of President Hoover) are pushing their party to lay down old ideas and reject the dogmatic approach of the right wing of their party. Moderate Republicans like former New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman are coming out to challenge the antiquated ideas of the past. Even Dick Cheney, who no one could ever accuse of being a “liberal”, has come out in support of gay marriage. This awakening was no doubt a result of the loving and committed marriage of his daughter Mary Cheney to her wife Heather Poe as they raise their beautiful children together.
The recent presidential election was a wakeup call for the Republican Party. A pro-gay marriage President was reelected in an Electoral College landslide. Republicans lost seats in both the Senate and House of Representatives. Republican Party identification among the electorate is at one of its lowest points in history. Anti-immigration rhetoric and homophobic vitriol are being replaced by calls for pathways to citizenship for immigrants and a road to full citizenship for gays and lesbians.
The Democratic Party has been a champion for the rights of LGBT Americans. Their steadfast support in the halls of Congress, in State Houses and in the White House has given Democrats a huge margin of support from gays and lesbians. According to exit polls, 76% of LGBT Americans voted for President Obama, one of the highest levels of support of any voting bloc in the nation. In an election that was so close in so many battleground states, the gay vote made the difference in the re-election of our president.
One of the dangers of relying on support from one party is that LGBT voters may be taken for granted so it is imperative that we widen our support to include Republicans who will take up our cause. This is hard to do in today’s primary system where moderate Republicans are outspent and derailed by extreme right-wing elements and the Tea Party. Witness what is happening in so many states where long-term moderate Republicans are being voted out of office replaced with activist religious conservatives. These folks have a narrow view of the world that does not include a world where two men or two women can marry.
The LGBT community must recognize that in order to win our freedom we must not only rely on our strong Democratic support but we must also cultivate relationships across the aisle with Republicans who are willing to take up our cause. Furthermore, we must hold Democrats accountable to their promises and not allow them to take us for granted.
We are in an amazing time in America for LGBT Americans. A decade ago I could have never fathomed that I could marry the man I loved in this country. In fact, Harry and I had to go to Canada 10 years ago to get married as no State in the union would marry us.
Though we are not there yet, there is truly hope for a better tomorrow. After all, we only need one of those five conservative Supreme Court justices to embrace true conservative principles- individual liberty, less government in our lives and the promise of freedom enshrined in our Constitution.
And who knows, maybe one or two of them will listen to Clint Eastwood and truly “make my day.”
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