It's exhausting just to keep up with the terminology as the academic gay left mounts its attacks on capitalism, the white male patriarchy, middle-class families, marriage and the sexual mainstream. If you asked gay persons whether gays are oppressed in present-day America and must fight for liberation, many would likely say yes. Yet this ignores the steady gains against superstition and hatred that gays have made over the last generation. If we could show the broad middle ground of American opinion that gays do not monolithically oppose them on a range of important economic and social issues, we might begin to win their trust and support. Yet many of our gay organizations and leaders still reflexively take stands that seem calculated to offend centrist opinion.
Further lessons remain to be learned.
The U.S. Census form doesn't, and probably shouldn't, inquire about sexual orientation. But that's not to say we can't shed light on the question in our individual responses for the benefit of future census analysts. A large number of current controversies hinge on whether public funds should be used to display or promote symbols or materials that offend some persons but which others support as promoting tolerance or virtue, or recognizing the contributions or heritage of their groups. One way of defusing this culture war might be to reduce the government's role in the support of advocacy, art, and public symbol-mongering generally. When President George W. Bush named Scott Evertz to head the White House AIDS office, thus becoming the first Republican president to name an openly gay appointee to a visible public post, a couple of interesting things didn't happen.