Out In The Mountains : News - National Groups Cautious about Bush Presidency

National Groups Cautious about Bush Presidency

by Barbara Dozetos

Vice President Gore has made his concession speech; George W. Bush has accepted the title of President-Elect. Were there important messages in the speeches for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Americans? Will there be fallout from the election controversy for gays?

“They struck the right conciliatory tone,” said Kevin McGruder, executive director of Gay Men of African Descent, “but I have issues that go beyond the speeches.” Problems with the voting process itself concern McGruder. “It isn’t just a matter of the right to vote,” he said, “but it seems in some cases, our voices aren’t heard, even when we do vote. There are systematic ways of eliminating them.” To hear these issues brushed aside as technicalities is frustrating, he said.

Bitterness about the process is a common reaction. “This election has made apparent what is common knowledge: our politicians, organizations, and courts no longer speak for us as Americans, but as only for one or another of an endless series of balkanized special interest groups,” said GenderPAC Executive Director Riki Wilchins.

The Log Cabin Republicans’ Rich Tafel had little to say about the controversy of recent weeks. Instead, he echoed sentiments heard in both Bush’s and Gore’s speeches calling for bipartisanship and healing. “It is time,” he said, “for the nation to unite behind our next president.” He said the close election reflects a nation not bitterly divided as some say, but closely aligned on “sound, centrist principles and beliefs.” Tafel called on the Republican Party to “rise to the occasion of this historic moment, …to reach out to all Americans from all walks of life, including gay and lesbian Americans, with open minds and open hearts.”

Daniel McGlinchey, political director of the National Stonewall Democrats, said, “Calls for unity are often fleeting, so we should act.” He urged gay Republicans to “use their inside track to the Bush administration to hold them to their word.” He promised follow-up from gay Democrats in the form of “vast and overwhelming support to pass public policies that give gay and lesbian Americans their full rights as citizens.”

In his speech, Vice President Gore reminded Americans that our similarities are greater than our differences. Acknowledging that, Wilchins says coalition is the key to moving forward now. “It is time for new movements that demand we build bridges to one another in stead of burn them,” she said, “that we stress our commonalities instead of our differences.” She believes GenderPAC, the national gender rights organization, can play a key role in that movement.

“We believe George W. Bush has little energy of judgment,” said McGlinchey, “so we don’t expect that he will directly attack gay and lesbian Americans.” However, he said, he isn’t convinced Bush would help defend gays from political attack or be proactive in their favor.

McGruder believes Bush genuinely wants to be inclusive, and expects to see symbolic gestures, but said more is needed. “Where are the policies? Those need to be articulated,” he said. Referring to the high visibility of minorities at the Republican National Convention and the expected cabinet appointments for Colin Powell and Condaleeza Rice, he said, “I don’t think these are entirely empty gestures.”

In short, McGruder says, “I’m not sure they know how to do what they think they want to do.”