Weapons of (Culture) War

Let’s face it: issuing a PRESIDENTIAL MEMORANDUM in favor of LGBT rights isn’t exactly legislation, but it’s a bold stance for Obama nonetheless. It commits the United States to one side of a global debate on various gay, lesbian, and transgendered issues, a debate that has yet to be resolved among Americans. 

Though approval of gays and lesbians HAS INCREASED over the years, there’s still a core of Americans who steadfastly refuse to validate LGBT issues. Two Republican presidential candidates rushed forward to CAPTURE THE HATE VOTE by condemning Obama’s recent support of the LGBT community. Rick Santorum spoke with his usual passivity, referring to the gay lifestyle as apart from what is traditional. Rick Perry was more cavalier about it, pitting gay soldiers against Santa Claus in a campaign ad. To Perry and others like him, Obama is “waging war on traditional values” by supporting gays and lesbians. 

Yeah, about that whole culture war thing… remember that conservatives raised their religious beliefs as a weapon against the LGBT community not long ago. Back in 2004, the question of the sanctity of marriage was Issue 1 on ballots across the country. Conservatives shamelessly flogged their “traditional values” to galvanize the vote and reelect a Republican president. And it worked. 

But when you elevate an issue to national scrutiny, it doesn’t go away so easily. Gays and lesbians remained visible long after George Bush’s second term began, on television, in advertising, in jokes, in the news. People took another look at gay relatives and coworkers. Obviously, such scrutiny worked in favor of the LGBT community over time. It worked so well, an American president finally spoke of their struggles to a global audience. 

So really, if there’s a war on traditional values, it’s because culture warriors wage it constantly, brandishing those values like so many knives. When religious beliefs are invoked on the national level, people get a chance to scrutinize those beliefs, maybe even see through them. Social conservatives would be wise to learn from this.