Ronald Regan: Dead and Alive

[abillings]

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When we lose a parent we can tend to canonize them. All their faults, all their human qualities may fade away and what we are left with is barely recognizable. It isn't always true, and usually if it happens, it happens within the first few years, and then resolutely and with time, we see them for who they actually were: People who did the best they could, with what they knew. But every once in a while, a child remains in that place of denial, and Dad could do no wrong. This is particularly true when it comes to the Fathers of our country. Our ex-presidents become saintly. He becomes things he never was. Ronald Regan has a fascinating history in American politics. He seems to be the poster child for everyone’s cause-at-the-moment; whether it’s on the left or the right. People use him to further their own agenda, and they do it as though they all had dinner with him and vacationed with his family every summer.

When America loses a President, whether you voted for him or not, America loses a Father. And again, as with our own family, they tend to become angelic. We forgive them their mistakes. We take them back into our homes and into our hearts. No matter what they've done, or who they've done it to, or how angry we once were, they are redeemed. Our memories are spotty at best.

Look at Nixon.

Ms Davis' own views on gay marriage are progressive and current. Her father was a notorious homophobe who did everything in his power to avoid dealing with the AIDS plague the killed not only gay people but straight people as well. And only when it began to kill heterosexuals did the White House take notice. We lost years of research because of this particular President. He killed my friends, he almost killed me and he could not have cared less. So although I sympathize with Ms. Davis’ wish that her father night have been for equality and human rights, I do not believe for one second that Ronald Regan would be standing in the middle of a gay marriage debate waving a rainbow flag and humming a Garland tune.

And let’s be clear: there were indeed some good things that came out of Regan's presidency, but gay rights was not one of them. He is, and will remain, the murderer of an entire gay generation. And that will be true whether we pretend he's alive or not.