Liberalism, Libertarianism and Gay Rights - The Atlantic

Contents:

• WHEN REAGAN SAID GAY
• GAY RIGHTS MOVEMENT
• LIBERALISM, LIBERTARIANISM AND GAY RIGHTS
• CALIFORNIA SCHOOL BOARD ADOPTS SOCIAL STUDI TEXTBOOKS THAT CLU GAY RIGHTS AFTER WARNGS OM ERNOR

WHEN REAGAN SAID GAY

In 1975, Ralph Rai, helped to create the "Libertarian For Gay Rights" uc wh the party, and subsequently published "Gay Rights: A Libertarian Approach". The send LGBT rights anizatn to operate om a libertarian perspective was the Libertarians for Gay and Lbian Concerns.

One of s activi was the productn of a lavenr pamphlet, to distribute at gay pri events, that explaed the libertarian perspective on LGBT rights.

GAY RIGHTS MOVEMENT

Elimatn of regulatns specifyg homosexualy as a jtifitn for nyg or revokg state licens (for doctors, lawyers, teachers, hairdrsers, etc. Regnn of the right of a homosexual parent to be nsired for ctody of his or her natural child, and of the child to choose the homosexual parent as guardian.

Equaly of treatment of gay people regard to ernment service, cludg particularly membership the armed forc. In the 1990s this anizatn was joed by the classil liberal-libertarian LGBT rights anizatn lled the Gays and Lbians for Individual Liberty. Found 1998, the anizatn is also affiliated wh the Libertarian Party of the Uned Stat and tak many of the same posn that the Libertarians for Gay and Lbian Concerns did the 1980s.

However, that beg said, ’s tertg to pot out that the LP platform has supported gay rights sce the 1980s, s before the Democrats.

LIBERALISM, LIBERTARIANISM AND GAY RIGHTS

While I would never claim that most dividuals of that party are disgenuo their support for LGBTQ rights, the party self holds up gay people like my racist uncle holds up his one black iend.

CALIFORNIA SCHOOL BOARD ADOPTS SOCIAL STUDI TEXTBOOKS THAT CLU GAY RIGHTS AFTER WARNGS OM ERNOR

I've been argug wh some people on Redd and for some reason they all thk that Libertarians are all homophobic and hate the LGBTQ+ muny (They don't re that I'm Bisexual but whatever). Dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill by crics, the legislatn would mandate that “classroom stctn by school personnel or third parti on sexual orientatn or genr inty may not occur krgarten through gra 3 or a manner that is not age appropriate or velopmentally appropriate for stunts acrdance wh state standards.

”By permtg parents to sue school districts that fail to enforce s vague provisns, the act would effectively bar classroom discsn and dividual exprsn on a wi range of subjects not necsarily limed to homosexualy and genr inty.

Gay stunts and the children of same-sex upl, for stance, would likely be hibed om talkg about their liv, and teachers uld face the wrath of angry parents simply for discsg historil events volvg gay people, such as the adly 2016 attack on a gay nightclub bill’s proponents sist that the measure has nothg to do wh harmg the digny of gay dividuals but rather is aimed at ensurg age-appropriate sexual tn.

“The bill that liberals accurately ll ‘Don’t Say Gay’ would be more accurately scribed as an Anti-Groomg Bill, ” Ms. In 1988 the Brish Parliament passed a measure preventg lol thori om “promotg homosexualy” or “the teachg any mataed school of the acceptabily of homosexualy as a pretend fay relatnship. Ten years later, the Rsian Duma unanimoly passed legislatn “for the purpose of protectg children om rmatn advotg for a nial of tradnal fay valu” prohibg the dissematn of “propaganda” of nontradnal sexual Asenc-Rhe/Tampa Bay Tim, via Associated PrsWhile brandg gay people as child molters has been a staple of right-wg rhetoric around the world, there has long existed a stra of Amerin libertarian nservatism that ems the legal enshrement of such prejudic as an vasn of privacy and a dangero enhancement of state power.

”Much like the current Florida bill, the Briggs Iniative was ambiguoly word, such that would have permted the firg of not jt gay teachers but also anyone who spoke out on their behalf.

The measure was part of a natnal backlash agast the advancement of gay rights that began the prev year wh a mpaign by the Florida Cs Commissn spokwoman and gospel sger Ana Bryant to repeal an ordance Miami’s Da County that prohibed discrimatn on the basis of sexual orientatn. A Field poll published September 1978 found 61 percent of California voters supported banng gay teachers, a figure nsistent wh natnal proponents of Proposn 6 lookg at what seemed like an unobstcted path to victory, those opposn wonred what one of the state’s most popular Republins, s former ernor Ronald Reagan, thought about the measure. In 1967 a newspaper lumnist acced him of firg two gubernatorial ais after disverg their participatn “a homosexual y”; Mr.

After takg a beatg the prs, he eventually admted to firg the ais and publicly lled homosexualy a “tragic illns” that “should rema illegal. Reagan, wh his Hollywood background, was more faiar wh gay people than the average Amerin and that the former actor was an advote for limed ernment and dividual rights.

Reagan’s senr ais, himself a closeted gay man, to make the se agast Proposn Mixner persuad the ai to arrange an dience wh his boss.

Reagan’s own language: “Anarchy, ” he told the former ernor, who had ed that word to scribe mp unrt at Berkeley, would be unleashed classrooms statewi as stunts lodged spur charg of homosexualy agast their teachers.

” He ma a more substantive se his syndited lumn published a week before the electn, refutg the claim that gays had a greater propensy to be child molters and the nard that they joed the teachg profsn to rec imprsnable Electn Day, voters rejected Proposn 6, 58 percent to 42 percent, a nearly exact reversal of what the polls dited jt two months earlier. Reagan monstrated regard to gay teachers was sorely lackg durg his princy, when he spent years ignorg the AIDS crisis, refg even to mentn the name of the disease killg thoands of gay men until his send Ms.

Bryant’s nox Save Our Children mpaign of the late 1970s, today’s effort at stigmatizg gay people fds popular backg, wh some 51 percent of Amerins supportg laws to ban classroom discsns of sexual orientatn. But moral panics, by fn, eventually lose their steam, and Republins of nscience should not let the passns of the moment overwhelm their stated mments to dividual rights, personal privacy and limed Kirchick is the thor of the forthg book “Secret Cy: The Hidn History of Gay Washgton. ”A versn of this article appears prt on, Sectn A, Page 25 of the New York edn wh the headle: ‘Don’t Say Gay’ Is Nothg New.