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ISSUE INFOCUS > GAY RIGHTS The culture war, won?Lesbian and gay activists joined the mainstream during the Clinton years published April
9, 2001 |
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'There is a religious war going on in this country,' Pat Buchanan declared at the 1992 Republican National Convention in Houston. "It is a cultural war as critical to the kind of nation we shall be as the Cold War itself, for this war is for the soul of America." In his infamous "cultural war" speech, Buchanan attacked a number of groups--from feminists to environmentalists to supporters of abortion rights. But the archconservative presidential candidate and commentator saved much of his venom for the growing gay rights movement. He lambasted "militant'' homosexual leaders, who advanced the "amoral'' idea that gays and lesbians couples could be equal to heterosexual ones. He called Clinton the most "pro-gay" candidate in American history, and denounced the Democratic agenda as anti-Christian. "That's not the kind of change America needs, it's not the kind of change America wants, and it's not the kind of change we can abide in a nation we still call God's country," Buchanan said. But the change would come. In spite of the efforts of cultural conservatives like Buchanan, the gay rights movement flourished in the nineties. Unprecedented numbers of people came out as gay, lesbian, and bisexual. Gay lobbyists emerged on Capitol Hill, putting pressure on politicians in both parties to back off from their gay-bashing. New treatments reduced the number of AIDS deaths in the United States. Various municipalities and corporations put in place regulations that prevented discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, and sometimes even extended benefits to homosexual partners. Today, gay rights is in the mainstream. Corporations such as Subaru and Coors produce gay-friendly advertisements and actively reach out to the gay community. Magazine covers flaunt mugs of the stars of Queer as Folk, the new show on Showtime that chronicles the lives of gay characters. With the notable exception of members of the religious right, most politicians eagerly address gay audiences and sometimes accept their checks. How did we get from there to here? And what does the future look like for gays and lesbians, as the country embarks upon a new Republican administration? If we look at the record from the last ten years, it's apparent that two factors contributed to the growing acceptance of gay Americans: their growing self-realization and self-determination, and Bill Clinton. And in that equation rest the prospects of the community as it enters a new era in American politics. The culture war, won? |