Revival of hatred - Republicans critical of homosexuality - Brief Article

Progressive, The, August, 1998

Intolerance is back in style. During the months of May and June, rightwing Republicans struggled to outdo each other in their denunciations of homosexuality.

In Texas, the state Republican Party refused to let the Log Cabin Republicans, a conservative gay group, have an information booth in the convention hall. Robert Black, spokesman for the state party, compared the Log Cabin Republicans to the Ku Klux Klan.

Wild comparisons also came from more senior officials. "Others have a sex addiction or are kleptomaniacs," said Senator Majority Leader Trent Lott, Republican from Mississippi. "There are all kinds of problems and addictions and difficulties and experiences of this kind that are wrong." House Majority Leader Dick Armey took Lott's side, saying, "The Bible is very clear on this." So did Senator Don Nickles of Oklahoma, who called homosexuality "immoral behavior."

"You're right in the middle of some serious hurricane, and I don't think I'd be waving those flags in God's face if I were you," Pat Robertson, chairman of the Christian Coalition and a 1988 Republican Presidential candidate, warned the city of Orlando, which displayed rainbow banners during gay pride month. Robertson predicted that a meteor might strike Florida, and when the June wildfires erupted, he claimed vindication.

Gary Bauer, president of the Family Research Council, appeared at a gathering of Republican Presidential hopefuls with Reggie White of the Green Bay Packers, who three months ago told the Wisconsin state assembly that homosexuality is "one of the biggest sins" in the Bible.

"I stood with Reggie White. No to same-sex marriages No to saying that way of life is acceptable!" Bauer proclaimed. The audience answered him with cheers.

"The far right has really put it to the Republican leadership that they had better toe the line," says Rebecca Isaacs, political director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. "And some of the leaders are responding, Clearly, the gay and lesbian community is still the community you can blatantly attack and then hide behind the Bible. They are participating in a hate campaign."

Much of the energy for this most recent revival of hatred is coming from Bauer and James Dobson, president of Focus on the Family. Not only is Dobson busy prodding the politicians, he is also rousing the estimated four million who receive his monthly mailings.

The group's June newsletter comes in an envelope marked, The Christian Response to the Homosexual Agenda. Inside, Dobson writes, "It is not enough to be a regular churchgoer. It is not enough to read the Bible or to nod in agreement with this letter and this ministry .... That alone will not turn the advancing tide of the homosexual movement, especially with regard to the issue of same-sex marriage. Your concern and convictions must be translated into action."

Dobson follows with detailed instructions for creating bills and referenda that "define marriage as being between one man and one woman." He says to be sure that your state does "not recognize same-sex marriages from other states and jurisdictions." Expect more bills like these at a legislature near you.

And expect some nasty preachiness, too. Wisconsin Christians United, a rightwing fundamentalist group, has already placed five billboards in and around Madison, Wisconsin, a city known for supporting its large lesbian and gay population. Homosexuality is not a family value. Homosexuality is a sin! assert the ads in the colors of gay unity, the rainbow.

"The purpose of our billboard campaign is to share His message with millions of Wisconsin citizens whom the homosexuals are busily attempting to deceive with the `doctrines of demons,'" said Ralph Ovadal, director of the group, when he unveiled the billboards. He said he chose June to run the ads because it is Gay Pride Month.

Ovadal, of course, has every right to say whatever he wants and to display his message on billboards. But the growing momentum of the assault on gay rights is breathtaking. A vehemently anti-gay firefighter recently announced that he was running for Congress in the Republican primary in Wisconsin's Second District. His platform: turn back gay rights.

The rightwing Republicans appear to be out of step with ordinary Americans. Although 56 percent (down from 75 percent in the late 1980s) of the population disapproves of homosexuality, public opinion is slowly changing. A recent study by the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force found increasing acceptance of civil rights for gays and lesbians. "This report proves that over time and in dramatic fashion, the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender movement is winning the battle of public opinion on civil-rights issues," says Urvashi Vaid, director of the Policy Institute at the Task Force. But Trent Lott and the anti-gay Republicans may not care. They know that a majority of Americans do not vote in off-year elections. The Republicans seem confident that by appealing to their core anti-gay constituency, they can win if most people stay home.