I ranked Harkin close to dead last in 1992

[dsc]

only Bob Kerrey was ranked lower in my mind. Why? Harkin was horrible on gay rights. He didn't even favor the low level stuff such as gays in the military. Now he is in favor of marriage equality. I always loved Harkin's economic positions but his social ones not so much. It is amazing how far we have come in just 16 years.

[Captain Hilts]

1. The whole country has shifted dramatically on this issue. Too bad

people have shifted right on women's freedoms. Sexism's still okay.

[iamjoy]

2. Yeah, In Some Ways DADT Was Good

I mean, I don't remember the exact poll numbers, but an overwhelming majority were against gays in the military in 1992/1993. So President Clinton came up with this bone-headed compromise of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell." The policy was not only idiotic, it wasn't really just (fair) either. Politically it was a clever act of appeasement but it sold out gays while still angering conservatives. A lot of people in the middle were okay with it because well, to them gay people were okay as long as they didn't have to know about it.

Now, we've seen DADT in action and more people see the flaws in it. At this point, you even have military leaders saying gays should be able to serve openly. We've come a long way in 16 years, and while we have a long way to go, I'm not sure we could have gotten to this point without DADT. I hardly ever hear any one saying they shouldn't be allowed in at all, the worst is that we should keep DADT.

And as horrible as this may sound, those of us who favor same sex marriage must make peace with those who want marriage to be between a man and woman but still believe in some kind of civil union. To me it sounds a little like "separate but equal" - which in theory is bad enough and in practice often results in the former being followed and the latter ignored. However, if polling data is believable, roughly a third of the people in this country believe gays shouldn't have any rights at all. About a third believe they should have full rights and the remainder are okay with civil unions, but are reluctant to call a same sex union marriage. We need to get that last third (or most of them) on our side. Sadly, if passage of these referendums defining marriage are any indication, most of that middle ground third is being won over by the side who would deny any equality. So, I hope we can get some kind of civil unions approved now and within a generation, the idea of civil unions will seem bone-headed to the majority. At that point, the "conservative" position will be keeping civil unions while turning back the clock to deny all equality will seem radical.

People do change. Society does change. It just sucks that it takes so long. In the big scheme of things, 16 years isn't long at all, but if you're a twenty-something year old in love it seems like forever. If you're a child denied the right to a stable, safe and permanent home because the prospective parents happen to both be men or both be women it might as well be forever. If you're an 18 year old with the skills and willingness to serve and defend your country it might as well be forever for you too.

[SoxFan]

3. Tsongas overshadowed Harkin and Clinton

The GLBT community played a major role in Paul Tsongas' early success in the 1992 primary season. Tsongas was the one candidate who conducted a serious outreach to the New Hampshire gay community, and it definitely helped his effort.

[dsc]

4. I was a Tsongas man

even as I found his health care policy about the worst of the bunch but his gay platform was head and shoulders above the rest.

[Inspired]

5. The great thing about humans is that we have the ability to change.