Gays vs. Democrats
There's an interesting article at The Advocate entitled "Gays vs. Democratic Party: They're fond of your checkbooks - and deaf to your demands for equal rights." It writes about the indifference the DNC had to the Maine proposition that overturned same-sex marriage in that state, and goes on to write about a boycott underway by some high-profile gay donors. It later goes on to note that the most powerful lobbies in Washington are the NRA and the pro-Israel lobby, both of which have influence because they have support in both parties. That kind of multi-partisan support isn't as possible for gay rights just yet, but it's hardly a far-fetched notion. Emphasis below is mine.
...Democratic partisans acknowledge that the work required of any civil rights struggle is going to be slow and difficult. But rather than attack the party, they say it's better to support the team that is at least rhetorically supportive.
The other side, which seems to be gaining influence, doesn't want to play the old-fashioned political game of quid pro quo, which, it argues, is offering little if any value in return for gay people's historically generous support. "I'm not beating you as hard as the other person" is how Mixner describes this rationale. Party critics often are met with the response that the DNC and the president are focused on more pressing issues like health-care reform and the economy. But a full year into the Obama presidency, and with large Democratic majorities in both houses of Congress, Aravosis calls this explanation "a recipe for never."
But while able and willing to recite a litany of arguments against the party and why gays should withhold their support, DNC critics are less clear about tangible goals. "Goals? Good question," Aravosis replies when asked what he hopes to achieve with the boycott. He gestures toward an answer when he says gay activists should adopt the same attitude regarding Democrats as they have with Republicans-and stop being so deferential out of some presumed understanding that one party is better than the other on gay issues. "The damage to the party brand has been significant" over the past year, he says, and the Democrats' reputation as the benevolent crusader for gay rights no longer holds sway in the minds of as many gays as it once did. But when I offer the explanation that the gay campaign against the DNC may have the effect of a "death by a thousand cuts," irreparably damaging the decades-long ties between the Democratic Party and the gay rights movement, Aravosis delights at the analogy. "We’re just saying we’re going to take you down with us," he says. "We're going to blow this up and it's going to hurt you too."
...Democratic partisans acknowledge that the work required of any civil rights struggle is going to be slow and difficult. But rather than attack the party, they say it's better to support the team that is at least rhetorically supportive.
The other side, which seems to be gaining influence, doesn't want to play the old-fashioned political game of quid pro quo, which, it argues, is offering little if any value in return for gay people's historically generous support. "I'm not beating you as hard as the other person" is how Mixner describes this rationale. Party critics often are met with the response that the DNC and the president are focused on more pressing issues like health-care reform and the economy. But a full year into the Obama presidency, and with large Democratic majorities in both houses of Congress, Aravosis calls this explanation "a recipe for never."
But while able and willing to recite a litany of arguments against the party and why gays should withhold their support, DNC critics are less clear about tangible goals. "Goals? Good question," Aravosis replies when asked what he hopes to achieve with the boycott. He gestures toward an answer when he says gay activists should adopt the same attitude regarding Democrats as they have with Republicans-and stop being so deferential out of some presumed understanding that one party is better than the other on gay issues. "The damage to the party brand has been significant" over the past year, he says, and the Democrats' reputation as the benevolent crusader for gay rights no longer holds sway in the minds of as many gays as it once did. But when I offer the explanation that the gay campaign against the DNC may have the effect of a "death by a thousand cuts," irreparably damaging the decades-long ties between the Democratic Party and the gay rights movement, Aravosis delights at the analogy. "We’re just saying we’re going to take you down with us," he says. "We're going to blow this up and it's going to hurt you too."