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THE VIEW FROM HERE - It’s not even a close contest. The Wokers are far more harmful to Gays than DeSantis. But for the Wokers, DeSantis wouldn’t bother with us.
Two unfortunate events got Gays entangled with the Wokers. (1) The AIDS epidemic decimated the male Gay leadership, allowing a more feminized orientation to assume too much control. Gays as opposed to Lesbians did not care much about marriage. We were concerned about military service and employment discrimination, which are Liberty issues. (2) The Human Rights Campaign is a major Gay group which in 1995 had foolishly adopted the Equal Sign. Thus, Gay marriage was mischaracterized as equality, oblivious to the fact that Liberty and equality are incompatible. HRC Logo
Under the feminized leadership, marriage superseded military service as the agenda of choice. No matter how often it was explained that military service always has to be the first right for which any group must fight, Gay Marriage was pushed to the forefront. Not surprisingly, Gay marriage was a flop until after Gays gained the right to serve in the military.
On July 6, 2011, a federal appeals court ruled in Log Cabin Republicans vs United States, 658 F.3d 1162, that Clinton’s Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy was unconstitutional. On September 20, 2011, the restrictions on Gays’ serving in the military ended. In 2003, in Lawrence vs. Texas, 539 U.S. 558, Justice Anthony Kennedy had placed Gay rights on the basis of Liberty with no mention of equality. Justice Kennedy was a Roman Catholic and appointed by Pres. Ronald Reagan.
“Liberty protects the person from unwarranted government intrusions into a dwelling or other private places. In our tradition the State is not omnipresent in the home. And there are other spheres of our lives and existence, outside the home, where the State should not be a dominant presence. Freedom extends beyond spatial bounds. Liberty presumes an autonomy of self that includes freedom of thought, belief, expression, and certain intimate conduct. The instant case involves liberty of the person both in its spatial and more transcendent dimensions.” Justice Kennedy, Lawrence v Texas.
Because Life and Liberty include defending one’s life, the lives of one’s family, and the nation, not allowing Gays to serve in the military denied their inalienable rights of Life and Liberty. Gays are “men” under the Declaration and “Persons” under the Constitution.
While GOP’s extreme religious right is pathologically prejudiced against Gays, historically Republicans have advanced Gay Rights based on Liberty. When consideration of Gay Marriage was timely, Justice Kennedy wrote the majority opinion. His opening paragraph was:
“The Constitution promises liberty to all within its reach, a liberty that includes certain specific rights that allow persons, within a lawful realm, to define and express their identity. The petitioners in these cases seek to find that liberty by marrying someone of the same sex and having their marriages deemed lawful on the same terms and conditions as marriages between persons of the opposite sex.” Obergefell v. Hodges, 576 U.S. 644 (2015)
Although Gay Rights were based on Liberty, the Wokers had been busily corralling Gays into the Identity Politics movement which is based on the non-inalienable and non-Constitutional right of Equality. By significantly exaggerating the threat of White Supremacists, Pelosi’s Identity Politics and the Wokers turned a tiny, but irrationally violent, fringe group into a political movement. As the Alt Right’s power grew, so too did GOP homophobia and anti-Semitism. Justice Kennedy stated that the freedom to chose one’s partner was a facet of the inalienable civil right of Liberty beyond the government’s reach. There is no sane reason to withhold civil marriage from same sex couples. They don’t even have to be Gay; selecting one’s partner is an individual Liberty. Historically, marriage has had more to do with property than with love. If one’s religion dislikes same sex marriage, then don’t get married to the same sex.
What if Wokers Had Left Gays Alone
Once, Gays become tainted with Wokeism, we become pawns in the Woker’s anti-White crusade. We need to free ourselves from Wokeism. Let’s look at the evolving name from Gays to LGBTQIA+. What’s the common element? Liberty! An individual’s self-definition is the most fundamental Liberty. right. December 6, 2021, Self-identification Is the Most Basic Liberty.
Woker Equality makes no sense within the context of LGBTQIA+. Equal to what? LGBTQIA+ Definition.Everyone under the LGBTQIA+ label are included in the Declaration’s “All men,” and the Constitution’s “Persons.” None of us differ from any other human being. Under the US Constitution, one may not be singled out by ascriptive status, and then, placed into some category for ill treatment or for special benefit. Society has a strong interest in stopping inter-group hatreds, and hence, when it encounters criminal actions which are motivated by intergroup hatred, a penalty enhancement is appropriate. Likewise, society has a stake to stop murder of law enforcement officers. Hence, crimes against police officers carry an enhanced penalty.
Alito and Thomas, however, only recognize judicial protection for actions which have been historically protected. Under Alito’s Dobbs Decision, 597 U.S. ___, inalienable rights and constitutional rights do not attach to individuals. For them, 1776 holds no significance. Accepting their logic, the government may not make laws against burning witches since history approved of burning them at the stake.
Because Wokers are based on making Group Outcomes Equal, they eschew individual liberty, which they believe is evil. For Wokers, it’s mandatory to attack people whom they have designated as the oppressors. In this regard, they are twinsies with book banning DeSantis. Ideas with which they disagree must be banned. People with whom they disagree must be culture canceled.
The GOP Right Wing follow the same approach with Transgender as Wokers did with White Supremacy. Both capitalized on an extremely small situation and they blew the situation all out of proportion knowing that the Other will respond with irrational vitriol. Wokers and Alt Right monetize hate to increase their own power. For them, polarization is a fund-raising ploy at the expense of innocent pawns. 4-18-21, Hate Money Stalks America. Without the Wokers using LGBTQIA+ as pawns, DeSantis and the other bigots in the GOP could not be passing “Don’t Say Gay” laws.
On the other hand, whom do we Gays have to blame other than ourselves? It’s a free country and we can re-register as Independent. Centrist GOP can do the same.
(Richard Lee Abrams has been an attorney, a Realtor and community relations consultant as well as a CityWatch contributor. You may email him at [email protected].)
