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(Part 1 of a 4-Year Series) |
On the other hand, the election of the gay-friendly Bill Clinton, as well as advances in AIDS medications, led to a marked decline in queer activism. Though Clinton's record on LGBT causes was mixed, to say the least, the fact that he was president deprived us of a visible figure that we could rally against. What was true of LesBiGay and Trans activism was also true with other progressive movements: civil rights, feminism, labor and environmentalism, just to name a few. While the apparent election of the conservative Republican George W. Bush appears to be a triumph for the political right, it also galvanized the liberal opposition. This is partly due to the fact that Bush's "victory" was not clear cut: He did not win a majority like Reagan nor a plurality like Clinton. Bush lost the popular vote and won a bare majority in the electoral college thanks to a disputed election in the state governed by his brother Jeb that was settled by a conservative Supreme Court. Progressives complained about the way the election was "stolen", and about a voting system that seems to discourage participation on the part of African-Americans and other minorities.
Though Ashcroft will probably be confirmed by a divided Senate--if only by Vice-President Dick Cheney's tie-breaking vote--this emerging opposition is an indication of things to come. How lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender activists will fare under the Bush Age depends on what Bush does once he is inaugurated. After all, Bush allegedly won 25% of the LGBT vote, and he remains popular with the Log Cabin Republicans and other gay conservatives. Queer opposition to Bush is based on his Cabinet choices and on his unfavorable record as Governor of Texas. Still, the queer left is not waiting for Bush to drop the other shoe in order to launch an opposition. For instance, both Elizabeth Birch, Executive Director of the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) and Elizabeth Toledo, Executive Director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (NGLTF) joined other LGBT, civil rights, feminist, labor and environmental leaders to oppose the confirmation of Mr. Ashcroft. But who will lead the LesBiGay and Trans troops in this new coalition? Under Bill Clinton and Al Gore, Birch's HRC sat near the seats of power, even if its gains were more symbolic than productive. But, as we enter the era of Bush and Cheney, we need a more militant LGBT organization to lead us into battle. Recently the NGLTF's Toledo wrote an essay, "Time To Put On Our Marching Shoes", that articulated this new militancy. It was just what NGLTF needed. Reading Toledo's article inspired me to renew my membership to this organization, and I am sure I am not the only one. By pointing the direction that our community must take to survive Bush and his administration, Toledo's essay restored the group that she leads to the forefront of our movement. "George W. Bush is heading to Washington, and now is the time for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender activists - arm in arm with all social justice activists - to be visible and vocal. Right now is the moment when our movement must demand exactly what we want--and we must do it in a way that is powerful." Though Toledo admits that "The fact of a Bush Presidency is a technical defeat", she refuses to believe that "the best we can muster in a Bush administration is to hold the line." Instead,
"First, we must not give up on the federal level. Advances are possible, even under a Republican Administration. . . . Second, we need to take all of the power that the movement amassed inside the beltway and unleash it at the community level. The power of our movement lies in activism - organized, strategic activism in every state. . . . Third, it made some sense to compromise when we had friends in the White House. Our movement made practical decisions in an effort to win whatever gains were in our reach." This sounds like special pleading on Toledo's part. Like HRC and other LGBT groups, NGLTF went out on a limb when it "compromised" with the Clinton administration; and the result was "Don't Ask, Don't Tell", the Defense of Marriage Act, and a decline in grassroots activism. But this is no time to compromise, Toledo tells us. Instead, "now is the time to be truly visionary. If we're not going to put out an agenda that will truly challenge homophobia, nobody else is going to do it for us." As a guest at outgoing Vice President Gore's holiday party, Toledo "encountered a number of GLBT insiders there--from party activists to donors. We should all take a good look, it will be some time before we're truly invited back in. And that's not necessarily a bad thing," she adds. Toledo ends her essay by pledging that NGLTF will "be a clearinghouse for activism in this Bush era", and by sounding the call for a new militancy. "Coalitions are forming and major protests are on the way. Thank goodness, it will feel empowering to take off our tuxedos and put on our marching shoes. . . . Let's link arms. It's a new day in this country, and despite his 'victory,' George W. Bush doesn't automatically get to be at the helm." I think we held our "Millennium March" one year too soon.
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Miami activist Bob Kunst has been on the forefront of anti-Bush activism, as seen here in early 2000 at the Millennium March on Washington 
Leaders of civil rights groups, including HRC's Elizabeth Birch (far right) are uniting to oppose John Ashcroft as attorney general 
Jesse Monteagudo is a freelance writer who lives in South Florida with
his domestic partner of over 15 years. He can be reached at
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