An Overview of the Cultural Landscape: Political and Legal Losses

Consider the past fifteen years. At the federal level, start with Bowers v. Hardwick,⁹ proceed through a decade of judicial resistance to equal protection claims,¹⁰ move on to the political and military brouhaha surrounding "don't ask, don't tell,"¹¹ and culminate with Congress's unambiguous statement of disrespect in the Defense of Marriage Act ("DOMA").¹² At the state level, the "no promo homo"¹³ creed that inspired so many statutory prohibitions and constitutional initiatives in the 1990s¹⁴ held its power into the new millennium. LesBiGay rights lost ground in state ballot initiative campaigns in the 2000 elections. Nebraska and Nevada slammed gay marriage by whopping majorities. Maine dug in its heels against legal protection for LesBiGays in housing, employment, and other civil rights. And even Vermont, hailed the year before as a pioneer in the recognition of civil union status for LesBiGay couples, jerked the reins of power from the state. House Democrats who had passed the controversial bill, and nearly overthrew the governor who had signed it.¹⁵

In a real sense, all of this is inevitable. A confluence of forces makes it unlikely that LesBiGays will wield any effective power in the majoritarian politics of America's democratic republic. Even if LesBiGays are as numerous as the most optimistic estimates would have it,¹⁶ their geographic dispersion, with the exception of a few major cities, dilutes their potential political power. Moreover, the fragile ties that might bind LesBiGays together in single-issue politics are easily fractured by voter affiliation with other competing interests, including economic, gender, racial, or religious concerns. Energy available for single-issue measures is often squandered defending against anti-gay laws and ballot initiatives.