Putting Nancy and the Pussy-crats on notice

Less than a week after Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean incurred my wrath for his "move to the back of the bus" attitude toward gay issues expressed in a speech to the Internation Gay and Lesbian Leadership Conference, another Democrat has proposed a similar strategy for the coming Congressional session.

Nancy Pelosi, newly selected Speaker of the House, tacked to the right and announced she'd be steering a centrist course in the coming legislative session. "Centrist," in this case is a mixed blessing. On the one hand, it's doubtful we'll have to fight off another attempt to write discrimination into the Constitution in the form of another odius federal marriage "protection" amendment. On the other hand, don't expect any progress to be made on issues that affect millions of LGBT Americans.

According to a recent article in The Boston Globe:

Anxious to chart a centrist course with Democrats' new majority in Congress, incoming House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her top deputies are busily working in private and public to rein in the liberal ambitions of some senior party heavyweights --including proposals to reinstate the military draft and end the Pentagon's ban on gays in uniform.

Pelosi has urged House Democrats, including incoming committee chairmen, to use the first weeks of next year's congressional term to focus exclusively on proposals on which the party is unified and legislative goals that are within reach, according to Pelosi allies and aides. ...

Pelosi has also tempered hopes of reversing the "don't ask, don't tell" policy on the service of gays and lesbians in the military, after two key Democrats -- Representatives Martin T. Meehan of Lowell and Barney Frank of Newton -- said last week that they want to repeal the policy.

Though Pelosi believes homosexuals should be able to openly serve, she has made clear that she believes Democrats have more urgent national-security priorities -- including changing course in Iraq and investigating war-related contracting.

Pelosi and Hoyer outlined an agenda yesterday for early next year that Pelosi said will relieve "the middle-class squeeze." It avoids hot-button issues such as tax cuts, gay rights, and abortion for popular issues such as a higher minimum wage, more affordable student loans, and congressional ethics reform.

So there you have it. Another Democrat tells us we should move to the back of the bus because our issues just aren't important enough; that we're a "special interest group" who might scare faint-hearted voters into voting for Republicans again.

Given the pivotal role LGBT voters and their allies played in the 2006 midterm elections, I am more than fed up with the way the Democrats are treating our issues.

Perhaps it's time for the Democratic Party to change its symbol from the donkey - an animal known for its obstinancy - to a cute widdle cuddly kitten. What better symbol for this new Democratic Party than an animal that is weak, defenseless and skittish. Likewise, maybe they should come up with a whole new name to reflect the Party's timidity. I suggest Pussy-crats, a name that not only incorporates the new symbol, but also, in the best tradition of the old schoolyard vulgarity, labels them as weak, ineffectual and cowardly.

The Pussy-crats haven't yet even begun their tenure as majority party in the House and Senate and already I'm sick of them. I am angry at how quickly they can forget one of their most dependable constituencies. I'm ashamed of their gutlessness.

Today I received my usual weekly e-mail from Wayne Besen, author and activist. In his column, Besen addressed this same issue and came up with a more moderate approach. (At least a more moderate one than I would have considered in my anger.) In his column, Time for a smart gay agenda, Besen wrote:

One lesson from the past is that if gay issues are haphazardly introduced they can be radioactive and sidetrack the Democratic Party's broader agenda. If the Democrats are seen as kowtowing to a controversial special interest group the moment they are in the majority it may jeopardize their ability to reach mainstream Americans.

On the other side of the coin, the gay community has been a loyal constituency group and our basic rights should be protected as a matter of morality. The way to reconcile this ostensible conflict is for major gay political organizations to have an early strategic powwow with incoming House speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

The gay leaders should offer to step back and make no demands for six months to let the Democrats establish a tangible record on bread and butter economic issues. The party must establish itself as one that represents all people and cares most about the concerns of average families.Once party leaders have built a reserve of political capital and are able to boast of bipartisan accomplishments they will have earned credentials with suburban families and can address gay rights without looking like they are pandering.

Democratic leaders should agree that for the GLBT community's six months of silence a major piece of legislation would be introduced in June. The most logical legislation would be the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA), which would prohibit job discrimination based on sexual orientation.

I don't like waiting for rights I should have already, but Besen's suggestion is one that I could live with. I am willing to give the Pussy- ... oops, I mean Democrats ... six months to build coalitions and make bipartisanship efforts on core bread-and-butter issues.

That gives them time to show they can lead. And it gives us time to figure out how we should respond if the Pussy-crats want us to keep moving to the back of the bus "just a little while longer ... maybe until after the next election ... but definitely by 2040 ... probably."

If that happens I hope we have a way to strike back and strike back hard. So Nancy and the Pussy-crats, you're on notice. The clock is ticking on your six-month "honeymoon." In every action the Democratic Congress takes for the six months after taking office, may they always hear a quiet little tick-tock, tick-tock in their ears.