The
Republican Rag
In the light of Senator Santorum痴 remarks equating
homosexuality with bigamy and incest, it seems clear that the 11th Commandment
of the Republican Party remains: Thou shalt diss gays.
An Advocate.com
exclusive, posted April 22, 2003
By Lewis Whittington
I love it when my sexuality is likened to sins by
politicians. It makes me feel alive, fearless, and oh so, so gay. I mean gay,
fabulously, in the new and the old sense of the word. Who can forget Trent
Lott痴 aria about homosexuality being akin to alcoholism? I thought, Sousy,
you池e really going to burn in Republican hell if they stay in power. Thank
God!
Now a similar prickly gay controversy has been ignited by
U.S. senator Rick Santorum, a Pennsylvania Republican who told the Associated
Press this past weekend that homosexuality is no better than bigamy, incest,
and adultery. Well, he痴 right, really擁f he痴 talking about those
documented cases of bigamous homosexuals having sex with his children and the
neighbors.
But for the rest of us gays, he痴 taken a wrong
political turn at the intersection of Queer Street and Homophobia Boulevard,
where nobody is going to pick him up. I don稚 even think Jesse Helms himself
would have made such a costly political blunder.
The issue came up for Santorum when he was asked about
the impending decision by the U.S. Supreme Court on the constitutionality of
sodomy laws. The case of Lawrence v. Texas concerns two gay men who were
arrested for having sex in one man痴 home after the police were called to
the scene by an anonymous phone call. Texas is one of a few states whose
antiquated sodomy statutes apply exclusively to homosexuals, and many court
watchers think that inequity alone might be enough to sink the law. In a
statement to the AP, Santorum suggested that maybe the U.S. Constitution
doesn稚 cover homosexuals預nd that, in fact, it promises no one any
privacy whatsoever. And that痴 a good thing, he said.
的f the Supreme Court says that you have the right to
consensual [gay] sex within your home, then you have the right to bigamy, you
have the right to polygamy, you have the right to incest, you have the right
to adultery,? said the senator. 添ou have the right to anything. All of
those things are antithetical to a healthy, stable, traditional family?. It
all comes from, I would argue, this right to privacy that doesn稚 exist, in
my opinion, in the United States Constitution.?
Oh, really, Mr. Santorum? I would suggest that you that
you read that document again. The Constitution預nd the Bill of Rights and
the many amendments that have followed擁s based the democratic ideals of
individual freedom. As the Declaration of Independence put it, our Founding
Fathers believed that everyone deserves 斗ife, liberty, and the pursuit of
happiness,? not a cop in every bedroom. Although Mr. Santorum痴 stream of
consciousness might be refreshing in an age of scripted politicians (or should
I say 都criptured? politicians?), one wonders whether he is deliberately
inept, conspicuously malicious, or just a garden-variety opportunist.
Certainly, gay rights initiatives have been completely
stymied since September 11, 2001, and they are not currently part of the
language of either Republican or Democratic political landscape. But the way
Santorum lumps things together into immoral soup speaks to an undeniable
political ineptitude in this era of media exactness.
At his age, he has without a doubt been privy to
run-of-the-mill gay people publicly, politically, and personally, and it痴
alarming that he can think that he can get away with such divisive tactics.
The Human Rights Campaign, a gay rights advocacy group, called Santorum痴
remarks 杜arginalizing or attacking an entire segment of the population.?
Now let痴 dissect his political judgments against gays.
Everybody, from beloved relatives to popes and presidents to kings and even
queens (my kind and his kind) has committed adultery, for many reasons預nd
like consensual gay sex, that痴 not the government痴 business. Who cares
besides Oprah? As for bigamy or polygamy, well, it痴 hard to declare a
public contract of marriage to multiple spouses in the privacy of one痴
bedroom. That痴 not polygamy; that痴 an orgy. Again, not the
government痴 business.
What I really take exception to is Santorum comparing
homosexuality to incest, with the distinct implication of child abuse. Can he
say 田onsenting adult?? Throwing incest in there, when everyone will hear
菟edophilia,? plays directly to the Republican Party痴 extreme right
wing, whose single agenda is to cast gays as predatory pedophiles who want to
recruit their sons and daughters into a life of sin. Hearing Santorum, the
third-highest-ranking member of the GOP Senate leadership, it struck me that
some people don稚 know where politics, legislation, and religious creeds
stop and personal, secular decisions begin.
At the 2000 Republican convention, held in Philadelphia,
I attended a 堵ay-friendly? shindig hosted by the gay group Log Cabin
Republicans. As the only visible Democrat at that event, I was told by the
local Log Cabin president, David Greer, that gays would be welcome among
鍍he top echelon? of the party, which would include George W. Bush (whose
official response to Santorum has been to decline to comment預 tacit
endorsement). At the same time the gay party faithful were congratulating
themselves on breaking the pink barrier within the Republican Party in 2000,
down the street on the convention floor the Republicans were cleansing the
party platform of any language that would be inclusive of gay rights issues,
legalities, or concerns.
Santorum痴 remarks are a reminder that Republican
homophobia is alive and well and thriving in Washington.
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