Rep. Barbara Lee Wins Top Slot Among House's Most Pro-Gay
The website ThinkProgress last week rounded-up the seven most anti-gay U.S. Representatives. This week they've followed up with a tally the most pro-equality Representatives.
California Congresswoman Barbara Lee comes in first, thanks to her co-sponsorship of 23 out of 27 pro-LGBT laws. Though D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton also backed 23 pieces of legislation, she is a non-voting member and therefore not part of the 11.
The other ten are all Democrats: Reps. Tammy Baldwin, Keith Ellison, Bob Filner, Raul M. Grijalva, John Lewis, Carolyn Maloney, Gwen Moore, Forney "Pete" Stark, Edophus Towns and Lynn C. Woosley.
You can read the break down of who's done what over at ThinkProgress.
Rick, advise you google Godwin's law.
But to address your point:
"The fate of black people from 1933 to 1945 in Nazi Germany and in German-occupied territories ranged from isolation to persecution, sterilization, medical experimentation, incarceration, brutality, and murder. However, there was no systematic program for their elimination as there was for Jews and other groups. Prior to Hitler coming to power, black entertainers were popular in Germany, but the Nazis banned Jazz as ‘corrupt negro music’.[22]"
So, it's not the Africans in Germany got off easy. But the bigger historical picture is that there really wasn't such a thing as being "out" until Magnus Hirshfeld et. al, and the creation of the modern concept of homosexuality, which I would say was just a reification of previously hidden identity. You couldn't have had a systemic campaign against gays before the 20th century because there wasn't explicitly such a thing. Those who were gay just did things like enter the priesthood, like the son of the certain beloved American justice. So, having to live a closeted life as a priest or monk might suck, but it's not like being captured and sold across the ocean into slavery. (although those nuns who were bricked up in cathedrals had it pretty bad, I must admit) Sure in history some were horribly mistreated for their "crimes against nature" but that's what those were considered at the time, it's different from an entire race being considered subhuman and enslaved. And the scale was not as vast; for all we know the Salem witches weren't lesbian, they might just have been unconventional. As unfair as it might make a comparison seem, sexuality is something that could be hidden or contained, race was not. It doesn't make racism or homophobia right, but it makes them different.
Still, funny to see you suddenly start singing your grievances. Reassures me to know you have a soft side LOL.
Posted by: St. Theresa of Avila | Jul 3, 2012 5:01:20 PM
Besides, I was only addressing perceptions anyhow. Who endured greater historical injustices seems like an argument only a liberal would be interested in, Rick, so be careful LOL! The point is it doesn't really matter, but some African-Americans think their struggle was greater. Fine. I don't care, I don't take it personally. Acknowledge it for what it is and say, "we can't change who we are, either". The only semi-homophobic thing I've personally ever heard from an African-American coworker was her belief that gays have "no right" to compare what they've been through to what blacks have been through. My point wasn't whether that's a just thing or not think, my point was people do think it. Realpolitik.
Posted by: St. Theresa of Avila | Jul 3, 2012 5:16:35 PM
How did this turn into a race blog post. Well I guess I can see why.
Posted by: Billy | Jul 3, 2012 5:29:52 PM
If you're into supporting political ally, you might consider supporting Pete Stark. He is in the biggest battle of his political career. It quite likely that he will lose his seat in November. He's always been a progressive - if not aggressive -- voice for us.
Posted by: Karl | Jul 3, 2012 8:01:57 PM
There are a lot of good people on this list, including a genuine civil rights hero John Lewis. However this list is just as bogus and meaningless as the last one.
Posted by: andrew | Jul 3, 2012 10:21:59 PM
"How did this turn into a race blog post. Well I guess I can see why."
Any post on towleroad that has ANYTHING to do with black people, whether that black person is anti-gay rights OR pro-gay rights, turns into a "race blog post".
On another note, some white gay men seem to think that NO black American, descended from black American slaves, should ever be homophobic. These white gay men apparently think that black Americans should automatically "support" them and their movement, unconditionally, and are especially outraged when that doesn't happen.
When a white person is homophobic it is seen as part of the human condition. It is understood by LGBT rights activists that homophobic white people are to be patiently persuaded to change the error of their homophobic thinking AND the laws that reflect that thinking.
But black Americans, descended from black American slaves, are not allowed the same humanity as white people. Black Americans are supposed to automatically know as if by MAGIC (since they/we are descended from slaves) that homophobia is wrong. But black people, having human failings just like white people, need the same "persuasion" on gay rights issues that white people have been receiving from LGBT rights activists since the so-called Stonewall Rebellion in the late 1960s. Why can't some people "see" that?
Posted by: elg/edwin | Jul 3, 2012 10:50:21 PM
i would have voted for john lewis. he was among the first to support, and one of the first to equate gay rigts movements to black rights movements... and bring that story back to his largely black constituency.
Posted by: bandanajack | Jul 4, 2012 12:04:49 AM
@ELG/EDWIN - Exactly!! I've made your point numerous times to white men and women and I've never been as eloquent. Kudos!
Posted by: mboaz | Jul 4, 2012 12:10:19 AM
Rick,
- I was in Barbara Lee's CD for 8 years, and Keith Ellison is a good friend of a good friend. Their pro-LGBT positions seem pretty damn genuine to me.
- The horse-trading / party discipline argument is unconvincing. If a legislator is pro-LGBT and party discipline trumps their convictions, then their sympathies don't do us much good. In fact, the whole point of exercises like this is to apply pressure, however modest, that might reverse the equation.
- As a "far Left" type (who finds it hilarious to be equated to the liberal wing of the Democratic Party, but I digress), I'll tell you that I like lots of straight white guys. Several of my best friends are straight white guys (/irony). But the folks at Compton's and Stonewall, the artists and playwrights, the AIDS activists that broke things open -- many of them were far Left folks. And many of them were closely linked to the Black civil rights movement. Straight, moderate white men can be great friends and allies to the movement, no doubt about that. But let's be real about our history, here. This movement wouldn't exist without left radicals. And those radicals learned an awful lot from Black folks. We owe both groups of activists a great debt, and so do you. Without them, you wouldn't be able to toot your LCR horn incessantly here on TR. Credit where credit is due.
Posted by: Chris | Jul 4, 2012 1:05:12 AM
Rick and others of similar mindset:
Please explain these** poll results regarding Blacks' view on same-sex marriage. And why you'd - presumably - accept a 2008 exit poll result as "indicative" rather than this poll result?
** http://www.surveyusa.com/client/PollReport.aspx?g=da340173-97ce-40dd-b3d4-04fcbf48a74c
(scroll to bottom)
Posted by: bevnight | Jul 4, 2012 3:47:19 PM
Wonder if they didn't count Barney Frank because he's retiring this cycle. Glad Gwen Moore is on the list, because she beat an openly gay candidate in the 2004 primary, to win the seat in the first place. She owes gay the community reasonable support. Edolphus Towns won't be returning next term; he lost his primary.
Posted by: Christopher | Jul 4, 2012 5:07:18 PM
I AM GLAD NONE OF THE "pro-gay" REPRESENTATIVES ARE FROM ARKANSAS, MISSISSIPPI AND TENNESSEE - MY "NECK-OF-THE-WOODS."
Andrew Belonsky, THIS IS A CRITICISM, SIR. IF U. S. Rep. Barbara Lee HAS DONE THE MOST FOR, "gay-rights," WHY IS HER PHOTOGRAPH ON THE BOTTOM TIER OF YOUR CORTEGE? BY PLACING A CAUCASIAN MALE'S PHOTOGRAPH FIRST, YOU ARE IMPLYING, Mr. Belonsky, IT IS MORE IMPORTANT TO HIGHLIGHT NEGRO DISAPPROVAL OF HOMOSEXUALITY, THAN TO GIVE KUDOS TO YOUR GREATEST SUPPORTER - A NEGRO.
CHRISTOPHER ALLEN HORTON
Posted by: CHRISTOPHER ALLEN HORTON | Jul 4, 2012 5:47:14 PM
"ST. THERESA OF AVILA" (3 JULY; 5:01:20 PM),
I KNOW NOTHING ABOUT NEGROES IN Nazi GERMANY. AS A NEGRO MALE, I CONSIDER Nazi GERMANY AND THE CLAIM OF SIX-MILLION-DEAD HEBREWS TO BE PROPAGANDA. NONETHELESS, "ST. THERESA OF AVILA," YOUR COMMENTS ON Nazi-LABORATORY EXPERIMENTS ON NEGROES AND THE ABOLITION OF NEGRO JAZZ SOUND REASONABLE. I HAVE HEARD ABOUT THE LABORATORY EXPERIMENTS. YET, I DO NOT CARE ABOUT THIS ISSUE. TOO MUCH CAUCASIAN EMPHASIS - IN THE UNITED STATES - IS PLACED ON THE PLIGHT OF HEBREWS.
CHRISTOPHER ALLEN HORTON
Posted by: CHRISTOPHER ALLEN HORTON | Jul 4, 2012 7:07:56 PM
One of the saddest attributes of almost anything related to internet "free speech" is this phenomenon of people like this "Rick" moniker who haunts this website. Thankfully, "LittleKiwi" alerted me to the fact that, just like the minority of raving lunatics at the age old Speakers Corner in London's Hyde Park, you have to just ignore the crazy persons until they get back on their medications, and be choosy about towards whom you want to expend your efforts to be constructive in your comments even when they rise to the level of well-reasoned condemnation on the spectrum of thought as opposed to well-founded congratulations. Just plain and simply, this site would be much better off if "Rick" were posted with an asterisk indicating that Jerry Falwell was more sane as well as sympathetic to his fellow humans than him.
And, as a shout out to Andy and his tireless staff, I've got to say that the repeated rants by this "Rick" moniker makes it much less likely that I'll bother to post on a site infested by mere noisemakers and time-wasters of the "Rick" ilk. Not that I always agree with the heavy-handed and self-serving editing of comments on the HuffPost, but even having been stung by it myself because of Arianna Huffington’s ongoing political aspirations, such a gatekeeper might improve the quality of the fakers who love to tease and denigrate the majority of followers of your blog. Just a suggestion, a difficult one to implement agreed, but I view your blog so very much less often than before because of this so-called “Rick” and similar imitators who delight in wasting everyone else’s time with insults, non-sequiturs, racism and homophobia. Where are those “homosexual tendencies” of your masthead when it comes to an issue like this
Posted by: Tom Cardellino | Jul 4, 2012 7:17:45 PM
"ELG/EDWIN" (3 JULY; 10:50:21 PM),
GREAT COMMENTS.
CHRISTOPHER ALLEN HORTON
Posted by: CHRISTOPHER ALLEN HORTON | Jul 4, 2012 7:17:50 PM
"Fortney", not "Forney".
Posted by: Lee | Jul 5, 2012 4:08:02 PM