Vassar Student: The Political Distractions of the Gay Marriage Debate
Opposing gay marriage isn’t a policy platform — by itself, at least.
Without naming any names, far too many Republican leaders are turning to incendiary rhetoric to address the be-all and end-all issue of our time, serenading together as the “firm advocates of traditional family values.” They cling to their Bibles and paraphrase the Word of God to resonate with religious voting blocs and shore up generous lobby groups, hoping to earn that treasured title of social conservative.
To serve as a sort of unified countermovement to those stubborn gay rights activists is their prerogative, and I’m certainly not criticizing the scores of Republicans who still value tradition and God’s Word. On the contrary, I’m with them on such issues — gay marriage, abortion, and the like.
But this whole gay marriage debate has distracted these very same social conservatives from the broader, more important task at hand. I say that the “should they or shouldn’t they be married” debate is the issue of our time because you cannot go a single day without hearing about some homosexual celebrity finally coming out or walking by a gay rally in your bustling city center. It’s everywhere right now — the radio, local news broadcasts, and it’s slowly entering the discussion in professional sports.
The gay marriage debate has been branded as the civil rights issue of the 21st century (fairly or not), and it’s definitely a hot-button one at this point. But it’s rapidly taking up the space, shoving comprehensive immigration reform and Keynesian economics and labor unions and any other possible policy debate to the periphery. Now, it’s commonplace for a Republican to devote just as much time to reaffirming his spiritual beliefs as, say, repealing Obamacare once and for all.
“Well, he’s for gay marriage.”
Nowadays, it’s almost like there are no other issues to be discussed. The first mention of a politician involves some social issue, like that’s all-important. Key Democrats and Republicans spend so much time arguing about gay rights and abortion that you seriously doubt their intentions and purpose on Capitol Hill. Politicians kill themselves over homosexuality instead of Syria or the Mexican border. They’re not fulfilling their duty, or their mandate.
It’s not right. There are more pressing subject areas — topics that should be hot-button but aren’t because of the LGBT mobilization. Yes, there actually are more important things in the world, if solely because the “marriage or not” debate doesn’t even affect that many people relatively speaking.
Republicans would be wise to unite and collectively divert the attention toward larger, more complex issues. For example, Obamacare is slowly coming apart at the seams, unraveling before our very eyes — with each passing day, the many flaws hidden in that cumbersome piece of legislation come to the surface, one by one. More and more people won’t realistically be covered, while more and more tax hikes threaten Americans across the country. The United States won’t actually have universal health care in practice, while the coverage provided will be costly for taxpayers.
Why not capitalize on these new developments, as they steal some of the space from the LGBT rights issue? Republicans would be wise to ignore gay marriage for a second and attack the most vulnerable positions of the Obama Administration, one that’s embroiled in multiple scandals and lacks any semblance of executive leadership. Now’s the time to employ big ideas and renovate the policy platform, while the opponent’s down and gasping for air.
Politics are all about perception, and the perception in many corners is that the Republican Party is only made up of old white men swearing and insulting gay rights activists — with the Bible in one hand and the Constitution in the other. However unfortunate and untrue, that image must be altered. And it will change when party leaders change the state of play, debating economics or health care instead of religion.
The Democrats landed the first punch last November, and it certainly resonated. It’s finally time for Republicans to strike back, without LGBT in the same sentence.
Comments
An interesting article, but written from the viewpoint of someone who considers appearance on par, or higher, with reality. One needs to be careful about appearance, but make decisions based on reality.