Can the Republican Party be a place for LGBT people?

In this post over at Prop 8 Trial Tracker, Adam Bink raises questions about whether or not progressives should reward the four Republican state senators for voting with us on marriage equality, or if we can abandon them now that the vote is over.

My response:

We constantly speak about how there are LGBT people in all facets of life, and the growth of acceptance in every corner — not just our own — is what will secure our total equality. Yet, here we are jumping onto a bandwagon that says there is no place in the LGBT community for Republicans, even though we have suffered through years of the Republicans saying there is no place in their party for LGBT people.

We cannot simply dig our heels in and create a bubble. We cannot just convert people into this bubble, we have to ensure that people of all faiths and all political parties welcome LGBT people into THEIR circles as well.

The post about the Texas Republican party platform is evidence that we have to support moderate Republicans and LGBT conservatives in taking back their party which has been hijacked by the religious right. When the mainstream of the Republican party is taken back, that is when the religious right will be truly marginalized.

So, those four Republicans that voted for us earned our support and deserve whatever fight we can muster for them. We have to understand that we will never convert every district or every state to be Democratic, so we have to encourage growth and acceptance of LGBT people from the inside. These four Republicans are the beginning of something great — hopefully, a Renaissance within the Republican party, in which LGBT people can disagree on political issues like taxes, the size of government, defense, or other TRULY traditional Republican party platform pieces, and still be welcomed for who they are inside.

This is a truly frustrating part of our own community. We say that the LGBT cause should not be political; it is not about votes, it is not an “issue,” it is about humanity and justice. We need to work hard to make that a reality. Only then will we have true equality — a nation where you don’t assume things about LGBT people any more than you assume things about liberals or conservatives.

We cannot just banish the bigots to their house; we will not have won until we take the bigots’ house away from them.

Welcome to Veritas Files

As many have noticed, I’ve become increasingly vocal in recent years about causes important to me, specifically regarding social justice and equality.  A few days ago, someone told me that I should take all these Facebook posts and intellectual debates to a new home.  So, here we are.  Welcome to Veritas Files.  Veritas, meaning Truth, is not only the motto of my alma mater, Harvard University; it is a call to action, to seek truth and justice in all we do.

This blog seeks to do just that.  In fostering intellectual dialogue with each other, exposing inequities and discrimination, and forging social progress, we can make our nation and world a better place to live.

I will begin by re-posting some of those earlier dialogues.  I encourage you to join the discussion.  What’s important to you?