Hi and welcome. Many thanks to you for taking the time to drop in and join me in the Blog. This post is going to be a touch different from the norm. As you know, if a "returner", I hope that my efforts amuse and strike a chord with fellow members of the LGBT community and, most importantly, shine an honest light onto aspects of gay life that will enhance the understanding of straight readers and debunk some of the ill informed, often hostile perceptions that abound out there. I seek to achieve this through anecdotal, easy reading and at times humorous posts...but this week will be a little different; normal service to be resumed next week!
(Please Note - photos/videos are taken from public sites and assumed to be open source. I do not hold the copyrights. If you do, and you wish the picture removed, just advise me and I shall take the photo down. The use of a photo does not presume anything regarding the sexuality of the subject)
You may recall a quote from the fabulous, watershed TV series "Queer as Folk" (the original UK version) in the post, 'A Gay Identity and Gay Culture, Really....in 2016? - PART 1', when Stuart (played by Game of Thrones Aidan Gillen) confronts Vince (played by Craig Kelly) in a bar and decries and denigrates him in the most venomous way a gay man can, saying, "....You're just a straight man, Vince. You're a straight man who f***s men....". The full context can be found in the above post from 02/09/16 (or 09/02/16 for my US readers), but what Stuart means is that one's sexuality may be homosexual but being "gay" refers to a positive lifestyle choice and, implicitly, to being part of that community's struggle for equal rights. Well, by Stuart's definition, the writer of this Blog is gay and, as such, it would be abrogating my responsibility as a gay man to simply turn a Nelsonian eye to this weeks events in the USA and their potential impact upon the US LGBT community....and beyond, as I know, from personal experience, that the Obama Administration State Department has done sterling work in pushing for and advising on LGBT rights in countries around the world.
As ever, what follows is but one gay guy's perspective of the issues, derived from personal experience, reading and discussion....and that's really all any of have to offer.
At the outset, let me say very clearly that the US electorate has spoken. President Elect Trump has won an impressive, historic victory. While Secretary Clinton seems to have won the popular vote (60, 467,245 to 60,071,650 as at 04.01 Fri 11 Nov), and despite having a Presidential/Congressional rather than Parliamentary democracy, the US does not work on the direct principle of one person-one vote, it works through the Electoral College system and, by that measure, President Elect Trump achieved an amazing victory on Tuesday. On top of that, the electorate returned GOP/Republican majorities to both the House of Representatives and the Senate. Mr Trump's party holds the Executive and the Legislature and one of the most important results of that, perhaps the most enduring, is that they will fill the vacant ninth seat on the Supreme Court of the USA (SCOTUS). The current balance of the Court is four "liberal" and four "conservative" Justices (all of whom are either Jewish or Roman Catholic) but, with a GOP White House and Hill, the vacant ninth seat will tilt SCOTUS to the right, once more....and that may only be the start. With the two senior "liberal" Justices currently 78 and 83 years old, some expect the Trump Administration to fill up to three seats on the Court; the implications of which are considerable and long lasting.
So, the Electoral College system has spoken, very clearly, and what I want to do here is share some thoughts on what that might portend for LGBT people in the USA and their struggle for equality; in the "land of the free", wherein "all men are created equal" with "certain unalienable rights".
If you have followed the long, long running TV spectacular that has been the 2014 to 2016 Presidential Election campaign there has been one loud, clear and sustained message from Mr Trump's team....change! Out with the establishment, the political insiders; writ LARGE. Indeed, if one adds the energised followers of Bernie Sanders (with whom, in the interest of full disclosure, I admit that my heart, if not my head, lay during the Primary season) to those who voted for Mr Trump you get a clear picture of the majority in the USA wanting change, a new direction, away from the merry-go-round of the traditional Washington political village; a desire mirrored by the majority in the UK, who appear to hold similar views about the London/Westminster insiders. In light of this, many may have been elated to hear the President Elect announce that he will "drain the swamp" of Washington insiders....only days later, however, I might be naughty and suggest that the swamp is being drained by puling inhabitants from it and placing them firmly in Mr Trump's transition team.
The team that will help shape policy formation and the new Administration is replete with Washington's "usual suspects" from such as the Heritage Foundation, staffers from the Pres Bush Administration and the wheelers and dealers of K Street (party-central for DC's army of lobbyists and think tanks) etc. Some establishment types may see this as reassuring, showing that President Elect Trump can, indeed, be a very traditional politician and run from his campaign positions as soon as the vote is counted. Others may derive a different sort of comfort from the strategy, recognising the fact that Mr Trump has never served in elected office and needs insider, experienced counsel and worker bees.
In January, Elizabeth Warren said, "Personnel is policy" and, as some saw Mr Trump's campaign as notably short on policy specifics and detail, that may be particularly apposite for his transition team. So, having set the scene, how might those resultant policies impact upon the issue of LGBT rights and equality over the next four years; and beyond, in recognition of the impact of the SCOTUS appointments?
Though it has not always been the case, many might expect that first amongst policy advisers and shapers will be the 45th President's Vice-President, Republican veteran, Governor Mike Pence. The Washington political village is already alive with talk of him being an unusually influential and powerful VP. The VP Elect has made no secret of his position on LGBT issues. In 2006 he said that being gay is a "choice" and he supports the idea that we homosexual guys and girls can not only choose to stop being gay but should be helped in so doing. He supports "conversion therapy" and, in 2000, he said that he was in favour of redirecting funds from HIV and AIDS work to provide "conversion therapy". Governor Pence voted for the Marriage Protection Amendment 2006, which would have prevented gay marriage equality across the US, believing that stopping gay couples marrying was in support of "God's idea". In 2007 Governor Pence, then in the House of Representatives, voted against the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), which sought to prohibit work place discrimination based on sexual orientation, saying that the law "wages war on freedom and religion". As the 50th Governor of Indiana he signed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, seen by people across the USA as legalising anti-LGBT discrimination; though he was forced to sign an amendment intended to protect the LGBT community later. Vice President Elect Pence's position seems to clear, evident in word and act.
But what of the man himself? What is the stance on the future 45th President of the United States of America on LGBT issues? As well as moving his political affiliations between Republican, Democratic, Reform and Independent movements, the oldest man to assume the Presidency has also shifted his position on LGBT matters. He was once considered something of a moderate, but now appears to have adopted a position more in line with the populist foundations of his power base; smacks of pretty conventional, traditional politicking to me? In January, he told Fox News that he would "strongly consider" appointing Justices who would overturn marriage equality laws and his short list of potential appointees is staunchly conservative, most known to be vehement opponents of same sex marriage. Time and again, during the campaign, the future President told his supporters that he was for "traditional marriage". We can expect that socially conservative Justices will become the majority and that marriage equality will be struck down.
Mr Trump has said he supports and will sign a First Amendment Defence Act (FADA) if passed by Congress. Known as the religious freedom laws, FADA would effectively legalise anti-LGBT discrimination, including amongst employers, businesses, landlords and health care providers....as long as they claim to be motivated by firmly held religious beliefs; overturning President Obama's Executive Order of 2014 prohibiting anti-LGBT discrimination amongst Federal contractors. It rather goes without saying that the hope of getting ENDA onto the statute books in such circumstances will vanish....not that there was chance of that under a GOP Congress anyway, as the vast majority of the Party believes that employers should be allowed to hire and fire on the basis of sexual orientation and that landlords should be able to allocate or deny housing on the grounds of sexual orientation. I know I am not a US citizen, but it does sound perplexing, counterintuitive, to be talking about a fight against being denied work or denied housing because of one's sexuality in this century in the USA.
Beyond the President Elect and Vice President Elect, as Mr Trump is filling his policy forming transitional team with many of the usual suspect, insider, Washington political elite Republicans and as the GOP will rule The Hill, we also have to make some mention of the broader party agenda on LGBT issues. The Executive Director of the Log Cabin Republicans (LCR), Gregory T Angelo, pronounced the GOP's platform "the most anti-LGBT in history". The LCR is a group of gay Republicans who seek to advance the cause of LGBT equality from within the party....so it was a Republican calling his own party's platform the most anti'LGBT in history. The key elements of the platform are: overturning SCOTUS' ruling of 2015 legalising gay marriage; ensuring it is legal to discriminate against LGBT people, denying ENDA and enacting FADA; discourage gay adoption and make "conversion therapy" legal for minors.
Lastly, some of greatest fears revolve not around the specifics, but about the social context of the LGBT fight in the wake of Mr Trump's election and the return of a GOP Congress. I do not believe everyone who voted for Mr Trump or other GOP candidates is a bigot. Most certainly not. I know I number one of them amongst my mates and think it likely there are two others. They are simply of the opinion that the interests of the people of the USA are best served by Mr Trump and the GOP. I do not go along with the current trend of seeing any political opponent as traitorous, as posing an existential threat to the nation. No, I entirely accept that they want the best for their country and its people but have divergent views on how to achieve that.
While I am clear that not all those who voted for Mr Trump are bigots, however, I do think that the bigots, racists and misogynists who did vote probably voted for him. My fear is for leaders who forget that words can be weapons, they can be interpreted as supporting and, indeed, legitimising certain bigoted, racist, misogynistic actions; "who will rid me of this turbulent priest?" If X won the vote, that must make it OK for me to do this or that, we know he supports it, really, listen to his words. In the wake of the UK's BREXIT vote the police reported a significant, disgraceful, despicable spike in hate crimes. I fear that the rhetoric deployed during the campaign, which may be repeated as each of the above policy issues is kicked around the floors of the House and Senate, will be interpreted by some as legitimising illegal discriminatory actions, including violence. Police are already investigating reports that Mr Chris Ball, a film producer, was brutally beaten in Santa Monica by alleged Trump supporters, hours after the election result, with the attackers shouting, "We got a new President you f***ing f****ts"....ie 'this is OK now because of our leader's views about your sort'. Leaders have to realise that the rhetoric they deploy to "play (pander) to their base" is heard by all and it can foment hatred, it can be taken as legitimising discrimination and even violence. This I fear, in the coming months and years of President Elect Trump's Administration.
Right....different from the norm, but I felt a responsibility, duty, if you will, to focus briefly on such a momentous event as Mr Trump's impressive, historic win this week.
I do thank you, most sincerely, for joining me and I send e-hugs or manly embraces, as appropriate. Next week I shall return to the usual character of the Blog....and, remember, if you have specific questions about anything relating the gay lifestyle, the LGBT community, then please pose them through the comments facility below or other comms means if we know each other. Assuming it is within my experience, you will read as honest an answer as I can give in an ensuing post.
If Saturday and Sunday are your weekend and if work demands allow, have a fabulous one and ENJOY.
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