Gays in Fear of Democrat Backlash

delete rte from your off-topic cross-posts...

On 9 Nov 2004 23:00:09 -0000, Gays in Fear wrote:

Gays fear being blamed for Kerry loss

By NOREEN O'DONNELL
THE JOURNAL NEWS

In the finger-pointing over the Democrats' defeat last week, gay
activists are worried they are being made the scapegoats, especially
after former President Bill Clinton faulted Sen. John Kerry for being
too quiet in his opposition to gay marriage.

"If the Democrats end up feeling that the only way they can win is by
becoming more Republican than the Republicans, then what are we saying
=97 that we actually no longer have a two-party system," said Jerry
Goodman, the father of two gay children who is president of the
Stonewall Democratic Club of Rockland County. "We need to find another
way."

It was the Democrats who failed to define moral issues or make a
convincing case on the economy, lost jobs and health care, these
activists say. Moving too far to the right to try to broaden their
appeal will leave the party without a purpose, they say.

"Months ago, we all knew that if George Bush was re-elected, 'gay
marriage' would be blamed," Matt Foreman, the executive director of
the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, said in a statement issued
after the election. "A scapegoat is required. Offer up the gays."

As the country debates the role moral values played in Bush's
re-election, some pointed to anti-gay marriage amendments in states
like Ohio as a reason the president's conservative base turned out at
the polls, an analysis others dispute. In a speech Friday, Clinton
called on Democrats to show their party believed in faith and family
and work and freedom. Kerry, who is against gay marriage, should have
stated his opposition repeatedly in small towns and rural areas,
Clinton said.

If some were disappointed by Clinton's comments, others said they were
to be expected from the president who signed the federal Defense of
Marriage Act and devised the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy for the
military. The Defense of Marriage Act relieved states of needing to
recognize gay marriages in other states and put several federal
benefits and rights =97 including the right to inherit a partner's
Social Security benefits =97 out of reach of gays.

Nyack Mayor John Shields was among those who applied for a marriage
license in Rockland County during the push for same-sex marriages
after a court ruling that legalized the unions in Massachusetts. The
decision came as the presidential campaign got under way, guaranteeing
it would be a pivotal issue. Democrats need to take a stronger stand
on what they see as the moral issues facing the country, just as
President Bush was clear and unwavering on his positions, Shields
said.

And he worries about Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's opposition to gay
marriage in light of her front-runner status for the 2008 race. "The
Democrats have to stop denying rights and justice to everyone just in
order to get elected," he said.

Another of the so-called "Nyack 10" =97 10 couples denied marriage
licenses from the Orangetown town clerk and later sued and lost =97 Lisa
Bernard-Pearl of Tappan said that had Democrats defined moral issues
as advancing civil rights and gay rights or alleviating poverty, they
could have connected to a broader base.

Phyllis B. Frank, the director of Gay Pride Rockland, said the results
of the election =97 and the vast opposition to gay marriage in the
country =97 was sobering.

"Was the gay marriage issue used strategically in a way that
scapegoated this particular issue and this particular community?
Perhaps, yes," she said. "My thinking, however, is already moving
towards starting from where the people are, how do we, like resistance
fighters before us =97 those in resistance to what we believe and deeply
know is unjust =97 how do we move forward from here?"

http://www.nyjournalnews.com/newsroo...intongays.html

delete rte from your off-topic cross-posts...

On 9 Nov 2004 23:00:09 -0000, Gays in Fear wrote:

Gays fear being blamed for Kerry loss

By NOREEN O'DONNELL
THE JOURNAL NEWS

In the finger-pointing over the Democrats' defeat last week, gay
activists are worried they are being made the scapegoats, especially
after former President Bill Clinton faulted Sen. John Kerry for being
too quiet in his opposition to gay marriage.

"If the Democrats end up feeling that the only way they can win is by
becoming more Republican than the Republicans, then what are we saying
=97 that we actually no longer have a two-party system," said Jerry
Goodman, the father of two gay children who is president of the
Stonewall Democratic Club of Rockland County. "We need to find another
way."

It was the Democrats who failed to define moral issues or make a
convincing case on the economy, lost jobs and health care, these
activists say. Moving too far to the right to try to broaden their
appeal will leave the party without a purpose, they say.

"Months ago, we all knew that if George Bush was re-elected, 'gay
marriage' would be blamed," Matt Foreman, the executive director of
the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, said in a statement issued
after the election. "A scapegoat is required. Offer up the gays."

As the country debates the role moral values played in Bush's
re-election, some pointed to anti-gay marriage amendments in states
like Ohio as a reason the president's conservative base turned out at
the polls, an analysis others dispute. In a speech Friday, Clinton
called on Democrats to show their party believed in faith and family
and work and freedom. Kerry, who is against gay marriage, should have
stated his opposition repeatedly in small towns and rural areas,
Clinton said.

If some were disappointed by Clinton's comments, others said they were
to be expected from the president who signed the federal Defense of
Marriage Act and devised the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy for the
military. The Defense of Marriage Act relieved states of needing to
recognize gay marriages in other states and put several federal
benefits and rights =97 including the right to inherit a partner's
Social Security benefits =97 out of reach of gays.

Nyack Mayor John Shields was among those who applied for a marriage
license in Rockland County during the push for same-sex marriages
after a court ruling that legalized the unions in Massachusetts. The
decision came as the presidential campaign got under way, guaranteeing
it would be a pivotal issue. Democrats need to take a stronger stand
on what they see as the moral issues facing the country, just as
President Bush was clear and unwavering on his positions, Shields
said.

And he worries about Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's opposition to gay
marriage in light of her front-runner status for the 2008 race. "The
Democrats have to stop denying rights and justice to everyone just in
order to get elected," he said.

Another of the so-called "Nyack 10" =97 10 couples denied marriage
licenses from the Orangetown town clerk and later sued and lost =97 Lisa
Bernard-Pearl of Tappan said that had Democrats defined moral issues
as advancing civil rights and gay rights or alleviating poverty, they
could have connected to a broader base.

Phyllis B. Frank, the director of Gay Pride Rockland, said the results
of the election =97 and the vast opposition to gay marriage in the
country =97 was sobering.

"Was the gay marriage issue used strategically in a way that
scapegoated this particular issue and this particular community?
Perhaps, yes," she said. "My thinking, however, is already moving
towards starting from where the people are, how do we, like resistance
fighters before us =97 those in resistance to what we believe and deeply
know is unjust =97 how do we move forward from here?"

http://www.nyjournalnews.com/newsroo...intongays.html