Gay Rights, Political Expediency and God

New York Bill on Gay Rights Is Set for Vote. The Republican-led New York State Senate will vote for the first time on landmark gay-rights legislation in December after having blocked its passage for decades. By James C. Mckinley Jr.. [New York Times: NYT HomePage]

New York Governor George Pataki, who is facing a serious challenge in his re-election bid from the Independence Party candidate, Thomas Galisano, has been promising for years that he would sign gay-rights legislation, but the Republican-led Senate has consistantly refused to bring it to a vote.  Over the last 18 months, he's told gay-rights activists that he would coerce the Republican leadership to bring it to a vote, and now seems to have finally gotten his way. Expectations are high that once the Senate has a chance to vote on the bill, it will pass and be signed into law.

While this is obviously a political ploy on the part of Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno to help his party have a better chance at keeping the Governorship of New York, the important outcome will be if gays and lesbians have their rights legally secured throughout the state.

In an odd bit of irony, the Houston Chronical is reporting today about the efforts a Texas Republican is taking to derail the election hopes of a fellow Republican who is running for Justice of the Peace.  The article notes:

[Republicans Urged Not to Vote Straight] GOP political activist Dave Wilson has a message for fellow Republicans -- If you vote straight, you vote gay.

Wilson is sending Republican voters an automated telephone message telling them not to vote a straight Republican ticket because it includes a gay candidate. [Houston Chronicle Home Page]

Yeah, you read that right.  Wilson is calling Republicans in one of the Houston Judicial districts to urge Republician voters to vote against Alex Wathen because he's gay.  And he's doing this even though the party leaders would rather that he not - because having Republicans vote a straight Republican ticket helps all of their candidates.  Instructing them not to vote straight Republican, they fear, could weaken other candidates as well.

As Harris County GOP Chairman Jared Woodfill said:

"Why would Dave do this?" Woodfill said. "I mean, I agree with him on the homosexual issue, and the party position on that is clear."

"But it is wrong for Republicans to send the message not to vote straight ticket," he said. "The straight ticket helps all of our judicial races in Harris County."

Why would Dave do this?  Perhaps it has something to do with the official Texas Republican Party platform for 2002, which goes beyong taking a political stance against gay rights and instead goes straight for a carefully worded moral stance that comes close to being against gays, themselves.

The platform says that:

 homosexual "behavior is contrary to the fundamental, unchanging truths that have been ordained by God, recognized by our country's founders and shared by a majority of Texans."

Oh, is that all?

It's sad that in one state, gays are not only being politically maligned, but have apparently offended one of the major political parties to the point that they felt it was necessary to insert a plank condemning homosexual behaviour because it is contrary to the truth of God; and in another state gays are finally having a chance to have their rights enshrined in law, but only because the Governor's re-election bid looks like it might be in danger.

I can only hope that one day the Texas Republicans will figure out that it really doesn't matter what that think God has ordained or forbidden, God has no place in the making of political policy or the passage of laws; and that one day gays will no longer have to hope for a tight election race in order to finally have assurance of their rights.