Republican Platform: Same Old Anti-Gay Politics / Queerty

Republican Platform: Same Old Anti-Gay Politics / Queerty

New running mates John McCain and Sarah Palin are trying to present themselves as reformers.

Together, they say, their administration will clean up dirty politics and set America in a new direction. Looking at the Republican party's platform, however, it becomes increasingly clear the Grand Old Party's gay politics are the same stagnant, archaic politics.

While gay Democrats scoffed at the lack of LGBT in their party's platform, we're sure - or, we hope! - that the Republican party's lavender set will have something to say about two very anti-gay stipulations in their peers' platform. First and foremost, there's a little thing called "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," the discriminatory measure preventing out and proud homos from serving in the military. Based firmly in a tradition of bellicosity, the Republicans declare their support for the troops and pledge to make the armed forces stronger. But, in a brazen display of illogic, the party promises also to keep the gays far from the battlefield. It is, in their words, for service men and women's own protection:

We oppose reinstituting the draft, whether directly or through compulsory national service. We support the advancement of women in the military and their exemption from ground combat units. Military priorities and mission must determine personnel policies. Esprit and cohesion are necessary for military effectiveness and success on the battlefield. To protect our servicemen and women and ensure that America’s Armed Forces remain the best in the world, we affirm the timelessness of those values, the benefits of traditional military culture, and the incompatibility of homosexuality with military service.
Why, we wonder, are we incompatible? Because we're all limp-wristed pansies with overactive libidos, or something? Politics like that are not only exclusionary, they're short-sighted and based in stereotypes. In a word, such a stance is unpatriotic.

The anti-gay action doesn't end there. Once again, the Republicans have pledged to protect America's "families" from same-sex marriage, which they must view as a worst threat than terrorism. The party also goes further by coming out against gay adoption and smearing the Democrats for trying to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act. From the platform:

Because our children’s future is best preserved within the traditional understanding of marriage, we call for a constitutional amendment that fully protects marriage as a union of a man and a woman, so that judges cannot make other arrangements equivalent to it. In the absence of a national amendment, we support the right of the people of the various states to affirm traditional marriage through state initiatives.

Republicans recognize the importance of having in the home a father and a mother who are married. The two-parent family still provides the best environment of stability, discipline, responsibility, and character. Children in homes without fathers are more likely to commit a crime, drop out of school, become violent, become teen parents, use illegal drugs, become mired in poverty, or have emotional or behavioral problems. We support the courageous efforts of single-parent families to provide a stable home for their children. Children are our nation’s most precious resource. We also salute and support the efforts of foster and adoptive families.

Republicans have been at the forefront of protecting traditional marriage laws, both in the states and in Congress. A Republican Congress enacted the Defense of Marriage Act, affirming the right of states not to recognize same-sex “marriages” licensed in other states. Unbelievably, the Democratic Party has now pledged to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act, which would subject every state to the redefinition of marriage by a judge without ever allowing the people to vote on the matter. We also urge Congress to use its Article III, Section 2 power to prevent activist federal judges from imposing upon the rest of the nation the judicial activism in Massachusetts and California. We also encourage states to review their marriage and divorce laws in order to strengthen marriage.
The party also pledges that faith-based organizations who are "forced to abandon" their principles for political correctness face "religious discrimination." Anyone who reads this drivel and considers McCain and Palin to be reformers - well, they're just gullible.

With regard to the "Republicans recognize the importance of having in the home a father and a mother who are married" line. Now, we understand Governor Palin's 17-year old daughter shouldn't be derided for being pregnant out of wedlock - she lives in Alaska, what else is she going to do? - but the chasm between the party's pledge and the American reality couldn't be more clear.