May 08, 2009  |  By: KEVIN NAFF  | COMMENTS     

IN THIS NEW, unfamiliar era of fast-paced change, it’s tempting to shrug off our opponents as bigots or laughingstocks and sit back awaiting the inevitability of full equality under the law.

As gay rights opponents like Maggie Gallagher, Carrie Prejean and even Joe the Plumber become increasingly shrill and are widely mocked and dismissed by the mainstream media’s talking heads, it’s easy to be lulled into a sense that the culture wars are over.

Just look at new polling data released last week. A Washington Post-ABC News poll showed that 49 percent of those surveyed support same-sex marriage with 46 percent opposing. Just three years ago, 58 percent were opposed and 36 percent supportive. That’s a tremendous shift in a very short period of time. And the demographic breakdown of those moving in a pro-gay direction on marriage spells serious trouble for Republicans. There was a nine-point increase in marriage support among independent voters compared to 2006. The views of white Catholics and young voters also are shifting quickly.

Meanwhile, those opposing gay rights advances are looking out of touch. Miss California USA Carrie Prejean was pilloried for her inarticulate and inaccurate pageant answer to Perez Hilton’s marriage question. The right immediately seized on this unlikely political spokesperson, organizing a news conference last week in Washington in which reporters were more interested in Prejean’s breast implants than her policy views.

This week saw the return of Joe the Plumber, who told an interviewer that he wouldn’t let his gay friends anywhere near his children.

It’s easy to laugh off these sideshow developments, but complacency now will lead to disappointment and squandered opportunity.

Supporters of LGBT rights must remain vigilant and guard against overconfidence. Several disturbing events last week clearly illustrate the need for visibility and forceful advocacy.

HERE IN WASHINGTON, longtime gay rights supporter Marion Barry developed amnesia and came out publicly against a same-sex marriage recognition bill that he co-introduced. His announcement at a rally organized by anti-gay “Bishop” Harry Jackson and attended mostly by black opponents of gay marriage stunned local activists. Just how many of Jackson’s followers actually live in D.C. is unknown, but the image of a crowd of black churchgoers facing off against a mostly white gay male contingent of activists represents a challenge not to be underestimated. D.C. is a majority black city and the well-funded right-wing groups, led by the Family Research Council’s Tony Perkins, are poised to make an example of the D.C. Council if it proceeds with marriage legislation as expected this summer.

Barry led the crowd in a chant last week, “No to same-sex marriage!” Just one year ago, in June 2008, Barry broke his long silence on the issue of a same-sex marriage bill, announcing his support at a Gertrude Stein Club meeting.

“I don’t think you should make that question a litmus test,” Barry said. “But if a bill like that were to come up, I would vote for it.”

Barry’s support of gay rights goes back to the 1980s and ’90s, when he was viewed as one of the nation’s most pro-gay mayors. In 2005, Barry met with black gay leaders following a fiery, homophobic sermon delivered by prominent minister Willie Wilson and sought to defuse the situation. Barry denounced the sermon, saying he was “horrified” by Wilson’s crude references to gay sex.

But that was then. Now Barry not only opposes a marriage bill, but he is actively working to derail it.

AS THE BARRY drama unfolded, more anti-gay invective spewed from the Capitol, as House lawmakers debated the hate crimes bill. Conservative Republican members stooped to appalling levels of rhetoric in their attempt to sabotage the measure. Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah) employed the old “lifestyle choice” slur to assail the bill. But the most egregious attack came from Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.), who said it’s “a hoax” to think that gay college student Matthew Shepard was killed in 1998 because of his sexual orientation.

If you thought such blatant bigotry and homophobia were passé and politically incorrect in the Obama era, think again.

And speaking of Obama, last week brought another disappointment, this time out of the White House. The official White House web site was updated and the much-lauded section on civil rights and LGBT rights severely edited.

A White House spokesperson told the Blade that the site edits do not reflect any policy changes. 

“As with most web sites, periodic changes are made to whitehouse.gov, and recently we overhauled the issues section to concisely reflect the president’s broad agenda ...