A Little Consistency Please
This morning, in response to the recent protests and riots following the publication of those silly Danish cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice accused Iran and Syria of stoking Muslim anger and inciting violence against the West. That’s funny, because a week or so ago Rice seemed perfectly content to allow Iran (and several of the world’s most oppressive regimes) to stoke homophobia and encourage discrimination and oppression based on sexual orientation.
You’ll recall that last month the United States joined Iran, Zimbabwe, China, Cameroon, and other traditional rivals in denying the International Lesbian & Gay Association (ILGA) and the Danish Association of Gay & Lesbians a hearing to consider their applications to join the United Nations Economic & Social Council (ECOSOC).
The Republicans encourage fundamentalism when it suits them (like in Afghanistan in the 1980s or in Red States prior to the 2004 election). Obviously I condemn not only the violence committed by the rioters, but any regime that encourages such lawlessness. Anyone who has spent even a little time on this blog should realize that.
Therefore, the U.S. is right to condemn any nation that incites its population to commit violence. However, I would like also to have seen the U.S. condemn the violent oppression of homosexuals, by extending recognition to ILGA. Instead, the Bush administration sided with the very fundamentalists that it is now castigating. A little consistency would be nice for a change. But I guess that everybody knows burning down embassies isn’t acceptable. Apparently not everybody knows that oppressing homosexuals is also unacceptable.
It seems that Congressional Democrats agree. Forty-four Democrats and one Independent signed a written protest calling on Rice to publicly repudiate the United States’ decision to side with Iran over ILGA. They have encouraged the Bush administration to redeem itself by supporting pending applications to join ECOSOC by three other gay rights groups.
I know that I myself have the tendency to be rather hard on the Democrats for what I see as their lack of balls when it comes to GLBT rights. It is so refreshing to see so many legislators taking a stand on something that many would regard as outside of the mainstream. It is precisely this kind of genuinely progressive position in favor of equality that makes me proud to be an American.
Of course, one might argue that it’s easy to grandstand when it comes to the issue of ILGA’s participation on ECOSOC. The issue is far enough removed and acronym-laden for it to weigh all that heavily on the consciousness of most Americans. I only hope that when the issue of GLBT rights hits closer to home (and with fewer acronyms), the Democrats will themselves opt for consistency.
You’ll recall that last month the United States joined Iran, Zimbabwe, China, Cameroon, and other traditional rivals in denying the International Lesbian & Gay Association (ILGA) and the Danish Association of Gay & Lesbians a hearing to consider their applications to join the United Nations Economic & Social Council (ECOSOC).
The Republicans encourage fundamentalism when it suits them (like in Afghanistan in the 1980s or in Red States prior to the 2004 election). Obviously I condemn not only the violence committed by the rioters, but any regime that encourages such lawlessness. Anyone who has spent even a little time on this blog should realize that.
Therefore, the U.S. is right to condemn any nation that incites its population to commit violence. However, I would like also to have seen the U.S. condemn the violent oppression of homosexuals, by extending recognition to ILGA. Instead, the Bush administration sided with the very fundamentalists that it is now castigating. A little consistency would be nice for a change. But I guess that everybody knows burning down embassies isn’t acceptable. Apparently not everybody knows that oppressing homosexuals is also unacceptable.
It seems that Congressional Democrats agree. Forty-four Democrats and one Independent signed a written protest calling on Rice to publicly repudiate the United States’ decision to side with Iran over ILGA. They have encouraged the Bush administration to redeem itself by supporting pending applications to join ECOSOC by three other gay rights groups.
I know that I myself have the tendency to be rather hard on the Democrats for what I see as their lack of balls when it comes to GLBT rights. It is so refreshing to see so many legislators taking a stand on something that many would regard as outside of the mainstream. It is precisely this kind of genuinely progressive position in favor of equality that makes me proud to be an American.
Of course, one might argue that it’s easy to grandstand when it comes to the issue of ILGA’s participation on ECOSOC. The issue is far enough removed and acronym-laden for it to weigh all that heavily on the consciousness of most Americans. I only hope that when the issue of GLBT rights hits closer to home (and with fewer acronyms), the Democrats will themselves opt for consistency.
posted by Sandouri Dean Bey at 5:23 PM
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