Gay Rights a Tricky Issue for Tea Partier - WSJ

Contents:

• BEFORE THE IRS HARASSED THE TEA PARTY, HARASSED GAY RIGHTS GROUPS
• GAY RIGHTS A TRICKY ISSUE FOR REPUBLIN
• THE TEA PARTY: MORE ANTI-GAY THAN ALL SENRS
• WHEN THE TEA PARTY WAS GAY
• SUNDAY TEA DANC, A PROUD GAY TRADN WORTH REVIVG
• GAY RIGHTS AND THE TEA PARTY
• TEA PARTY SILENT ABOUT GAY MARRIAGE
• GAY RIGHTS
• TEA PARTY SUPPORTS REPEALG GAY EDUTN IN CA BEE CONSTUTN NOT TGHT ENOUGH, SAYS RIGHT-WG LEAR

BEFORE THE IRS HARASSED THE TEA PARTY, HARASSED GAY RIGHTS GROUPS

”It wasn’t the end of the IRS takg a discrimatory tone toward nonprof groups that alt wh homosexualy, however. In 1996, the Gay and Lbian Adolcent Support System, a group voted to helpg young people al wh harassment and prejudice due to their sexualy, applied for tax exempt stat.

GAY RIGHTS A TRICKY ISSUE FOR REPUBLIN

In rponse, an IRS official wrote that the group uld be viewed as “tendg to enurage or facilate homosexual practice and propensi by the young and imprsnable, ” and asked the group to “scribe tail the procr and safeguards place to assure that unselors and participants do not enurage or facilate homosexual practic or enurage the velopment of homosexual attus and propensi by mor dividuals attendg your programs. Even after beg told to stop g polilly tilted methods of screeng the groups for review 2011, the Ccnati IRS office charged wh reviewg the applitns reversed urse early 2012 and went back to screeng based on the group’s are two big siari wh the IRS’s stggl over groups alg wh homosexualy s’ most clear-cut siary is that when legal standards around nonprof groups’ tax treatment is vague, leav far too much power the hands of tax llectn burecrats. “Polics is not an exact science, ” the IRS’s own guil say, unrstatg here’s a send siary wh the anti-gay IRS s of the past, though this one is harr to prove.

They’re human begs, after ’s easy to believe that the IRS officials volved craftg the ments quoted above the tax treatment of groups alg wh gays were, on some basic level, a ltle skeeved out by gay people. He is a tax lawyer who wrote the article for the “Journal of Taxatn of Exempt Organizatns” om which the scriptns of the IRS’s issu around gay-foced nonprofs this piece are rived.

THE TEA PARTY: MORE ANTI-GAY THAN ALL SENRS

My own view is that they are hard-le Christianists a different outf - powred wigs, mkets and red cheeks - and are outliers on issu of morny - racial tegratn, women's rights, gay equaly. 52 percent of TPers and 52 percent of GOPers want no rights whatever for gay upl, eher civil unns or civil marriage. Moreover, on civil marriage for gays, TP support is at 17 percent, pared wh 42 percent support for Partiers and Republins are more anti-gay than all the poll pots: mori e out strongly favor of legal gay relatnships wh 79 percent of Latos and 62 percent of Ain-Amerins favor of eher civil marriage or civil unns.

And y, TNC, a greater proportn of wh oppose regnn for gay relatnships than blacks. Majory oppose gay marriage or civil unns. general to oppose legal regnn of gay marriage or civil unns.

WHEN THE TEA PARTY WAS GAY

Before there was glterg and flashmob dancg, there was Arthur Evans and the Gay Activists beg gay was still a crime this untry, Arthur Evans cid that bigotry was s own crime and he was gog to ll out. Evans and others showed up at the offic of Harper's Magaze Manhattan to prott an article had published sharply cricizg gay people and their liftyle.

"You knew that this article would ntribute to the opprsn of homosexuals! " he yelled, acrdg to the 1999 book "Out for Good: The Stggle to Build a Gay Rights Movement Ameri" by Dudley Clenden, a former reporter for The New York Tim, and Adam Nagourney, a current Tim reporter.

SUNDAY TEA DANC, A PROUD GAY TRADN WORTH REVIVG

Evans and the Gay Activists Alliance takg over the New York Cy Marriage Bure 1971. To gay lennials the ia of gog to a bar while light out is unheard of; fact, gog to a gay bar to meet new people and socialize is almost unheard of.

But to generatns of gay men ’s what we did, what we looked forward to, where we created Communy. Sadly tea danc, once an tegral part of the Gay Communy, have all but died out. Our iends at recently posted a terrific article by Will Kohler*, “The Very Gay History of the Almost Lost Tradn of the Sunday Tea Dance.

GAY RIGHTS AND THE TEA PARTY

“Gay people, of urse, were still largely unrground the 50s, but was the discreet speakeasi that social (nonpartnered) dancg was evolvg. In the event of a raid, gay men and lbian women would quickly change partners to mixed-upl. By the late 60s, gay men had tablished the Fire Island Cherry Grove and also the more subdued and “closeted” P (off of Long Island, New York) as a summer rort of sorts.

TEA PARTY SILENT ABOUT GAY MARRIAGE

It was illegal at that time for bars to ‘knowgly sell alhol to homosexuals’ and bis many of the venu there were not licensed as ‘night clubs’ or to sell alhol.

*Will Kohler is a noted LGBT historian, wrer, blogger and owner of A longtime gay activist, Will fought on the ont l of the AIDS epimic wh ACT-UP and ntu fightg today for LGBT acceptance and full equaly.

GAY RIGHTS

Nservative talk-rad host who ran as an pennt ndidate 1994 agast Eunice Groark, a Republin and the first female litenant ernor of Connecticut back beme submerged hot water 2005 when, as Tampa mayoral ndidate, he opposed lol gay rights march, and urged elected officials to vote agast his exce at the time was that his opposn was not down to discrimatn, but the "issue was spendg public dollars to advote or advertise gay pri" went one further, too: "I oppose any kd of discrimatn any form" Stt is also a fellow-traveller of the tea party movement. To the accatn that the tea party is a cell for racists and homophob, Stt -- a black person himself -- replied that "the real basic platform of the Tea Party" is a dissatisfactn of high tax and big probably don't s well.

Sanchez' lleague at the Cato Instute David Lampo has taken upon himself to do the seemgly impossible task of brgg gay rights to the nservative right.

TEA PARTY SUPPORTS REPEALG GAY EDUTN IN CA BEE CONSTUTN NOT TGHT ENOUGH, SAYS RIGHT-WG LEAR

Though, further, he don't thk 'll be too his new book, A Fundamental Freedom: Why Republins, Conservativ, and Libertarians Should Support Gay Rights he c: A Montana Tea Party group recently kicked out one of s board members for remarks that seemgly ndoned anti-gay vlence. On the Republins general and gay relatnship regnn, Lampo c some very tertg figur: When to relatnship regnn for gay upl, as far back as 2004, a CBS News poll showed that 46 percent of Republins backed eher civil unns or same-sex marriage, and that support has ntued to grow.

A May 2011 survey by Public Policy Pollg showed a majory of Republins, 51 percent, favor of eher same-sex marriage (12 percent) or civil unns (39 percent) his Washgton Post piece he not a sea change Mt Romney, sidg wh homophobic anisatns to rally up the troops. The nservative Right are g round to gay rights -- even on issu such as perhaps there is somethg this. Perhaps this shows somethg tertg wh nservatism that appeals to gay marriage, rather than the stock cricism that nservativ and gay marriage are as opposnal as Jeremy Hunt and a ngregatn of nservative rabbis Arizona recently put : "Same-sex marriag have the same sense of hols and joy as that exprsed heterosexual marriag.