SAN FRANCISCO -- A gay-conservative ad
campaign that says the gay civil rights movement should no longer push an agenda
that emphasizes "otherness" or that stresses a message of "virtual
victimization" in the aftermath of last September's terrorist attacks is running
into a wall of real-world circumstances undercutting its primary message.
The newspaper ad campaign headlined "United We Stand" began
November 26 in the Washington Post. It says that following the attacks on New
York and Washington, the notion that gay Americans are second-class citizens in
the eyes of the law has lost its relevancy.
In a recent interview with the Advocate, Rich Tafel said
"gay organizations are not sure how to respond" to the new message of unity
sweeping the nation and questions if the supposed "gay agenda" is still valid.
"We are launching this ad campaign to focus on a real
phenomenon all across the country, and it isn't just among gay people," Tafel
said.
"In communities everywhere, people are joining together to
support the war against terrorism," Tafel continues. "Though the struggle for
equality is never over in our own country, there is a growing realization that
what unites us as Americans is much greater than what divides us."
The Liberty Education Forum, which Tafel heads, began six
years ago as the Log Cabin Education Fund, and later as the Liberty Education
Fund. Tafel, who heads the Log Cabin Republicans, launched the new educational
think tank on July 21 to promote new ideas and new directions for the gay
community with what he calls a "centrist approach."
The Bay Area Reporter says that leaders of national gay
civil rights organizations have been "scratching their heads" over the
campaign's garbled message. "I can't tell you what the Liberty campaign is
trying to say," said Chad Johnson of the National Stonewall Democrats. "And this
is a think tank?"
The Liberty ad's assertion that gay men and lesbians are
"virtual victims" is especially puzzling since the stories of community members
killed in the attacks and the plight of partners who are pressing for equal
access to relief assistance have been widely reported.
"I am a little bit baffled by it. I am not sure, frankly,
what it is trying to get across to the community," said Cathy Renna of the Gay
and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. "I have been on the phone with real
victims who have real problems and can't get real benefits. That is the reality
we work with every day here."
Johnson is doubly perplexed over the timing and message of
the campaign given that Tafel himself signed on to a Stonewall statement
pressing the Department of Justice to treat gay partners fairly when
distributing funds through the federal September 11 victim compensation fund.
Since September 11, Johnson said, "Our struggle for civil
equality is now more vibrant and intense... The inequalities are more plainly
obvious and irrational as they ever have been."
David Smith of the Human Rights Campaign said, "One of the
byproducts of September 11 has been a very clear illustration of how a lack of
legal protections and equal recognition of our relationships causes enormous
human pain.
"We want equality," Smith continued. "It stems not from
victimhood but from a very positive self-image of where we want to see
ourselves. And that is as full and equal citizens under the law."