America Is Ready for Fresh Start on Gay Rights

Gay Rep. Barney Frank likes to tell the tale of the mother who reacts with love and acceptance to the news that her son is gay, but warns him: "Just don't tell your father. It would kill him!"

Frank's story illuminates a widely held misimpression, even among gay-friendly Americans — that other folks' internal thermometer toward gay people and our rights is stuck close to freezing.

But as the nation prepares for a fresh start with a new year, a new Congress and a new president, a recent Newsweek poll indicates that if politicians want to be in step with most of the public, they shouldn't run from their own gay-friendly feelings.

What makes the Newsweek poll especially valuable at this turning point is that the responses to its wide range of questions underscore that, other than on same-sex marriage, most Americans would warmly embrace steps by political Washington to pass laws to treat those of us who're gay equally.

A lot of that warming trend reflects how common it is now for Americans to know someone gay: Today, 78 percent say they know someone gay or lesbian, Newsweek found. Early in Bill Clinton's presidency, 1994, just 53 percent did.

Newsweek found:

— By 87 percent to 10 percent, Americans favor "equal rights" for gays "in terms of job opportunities."

— By 66 percent to 29 percent, Americans support allowing gays to serve "openly" in the military.

— By 67 percent to 27 percent, Americans support Social Security benefits for gay "domestic partners."

— By 73 percent to 23 percent, Americans favor "health insurance and other employee benefits" for gay partners.

And even in the area of couple recognition, most Americans favor some type of legal recognition: By 55 percent to 36 percent, the majority supports "legally sanctioned gay and lesbian unions or partnerships."

Newsweek also asked fascinating questions about morality going to the heart of the assumptions of the mom in Frank's story.

People were asked what is "more morally objectionable" to them, with a series of heterosexual situations compared with a "gay couple in a long-term, committed sexual relationship."

Viewed as more morally objectionable than the gay couple were an adulterous heterosexual (55 percent to 18 percent); an "unmarried heterosexual who has sex with many different partners" (48 percent to 21 percent); a heterosexual who has divorced more than twice (37 percent to 26 percent); and a "heterosexual who suddenly decides to get married in Las Vegas, but has the marriage annulled one week later" (48 percent to 24 percent).

Newsweek's revealing snapshot comes as gay leaders express concern that President-elect Barack Obama is getting off to a shaky start on gay issues.

Among positives: He invited a gay band to march in the inaugural parade and banned anti-gay or anti-transgender discrimination for appointment-level jobs.

But Obama missed a timely opportunity to appoint an openly gay person to his Cabinet.

And he picked pastor Rick Warren — who lent his celebrity to helping strip away gay couples' right to marry in California — to deliver his inaugural invocation.

Fresh starts are opportunities for big change.

And on basic gay issues, Americans are ready.

Deb Price of The Detroit News writes the first nationally syndicated column on gay issues. To find out more about Deb Price and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate web page at www.creators.com.

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