In my previous post, I linked a piece at the left-wing site, “Think Progress,” but should perhaps have included the opening line of their piece, “During the Senate special election in Massachusetts, Republican Scott Brown was criticized for his lack of support for LGBT rights.” Note the passive construction.
Now, I’ll grant that that good man probably doesn’t support every item on HRC’s wish list, the standard measurement for determining one’s support of “LGBT rights,” but then again, I don’t support most items on that list, as I dare say would a fair number of gay Americans, at least the majority of those of us on the right side of the political spectrum. So, technically, Amanda Terkel, who penned the post, was right.
That said, his absence of support for HRC’s agenda does not make Brown “anti-gay” (as some gay activists have suggested). Indeed, in his interview with Barbara Walters, not only did he show a great deal of flexibility on Don’t Ask/Don’t Tell*, he has also repeated recently a position he made clear in the campaign. He believes that gay marriage is settled law in the Bay State:
And on the marriage issue that you brought up, it’s settled here in Massachusetts, but I believe that states should have the ability to determine their own destiny and the government should not be interfering with individual states’ rights on issues that they deal with on a daily basis.
California and other gay leaders may denounce Scott Brown and he may not be the HRC ideal (well, to do that, he’d have to change his party affiliation), but he has not criticized gay people and has shown an openness on gay issues (consistent with conservative principles) that I wish we would see in all Republicans.
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*If people know ways I can lobby him to support repeal, I would be delighted to do so.