The Militant(logo) 
    Vol.60/No.33           September 23, 1996 
 
 
Defend Civil Rights For Gays  

All supporters of democratic rights should condemn the passage of the antigay Defense of Marriage Act, which bans same- sex marriages, and the Senate's decision to continue to allow discrimination against gays in hiring.

These votes show the bipartisan character of the U.S. rulers' campaign to scapegoat and stigmatize a layer of the population. In May President William Clinton vowed to sign the bill, sponsored by then-senator Robert Dole.

Clinton made that announcement two days after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned an amendment to the Colorado constitution that barred local laws protecting civil rights for gays. At that moment it was the Democratic president, not the Republican-appointed judges on the high court, who led in pushing the reactionary antigay stance.

The rulers of Wall Street and Washington are trying to blame the social and economic problems caused by capitalism in its decline on the "breakdown of the family," which they claim is the fault of single mothers, homosexuals, and "welfare cheats." The "family values" campaign aims to reinforce the idea that health care, child care, education, and other social needs are the responsibilities of individuals, not society. It's part of the justification for moves led by the Clinton administration to begin dismantling Social Security and other social gains of workers.

The antigay measure rightfully outrages many workers and youth who see it as the state reaching into your personal life. These spokespeople for the rich have no more right to say who you can sleep with or marry than their predecessors did three decades ago, when "anti-miscegenation" laws barred interracial marriage in many states.

Socialist Workers presidential and vice presidential candidates James Harris and Laura Garza condemned the measure. "The attacks on the civil rights of homosexuals contained in the bill barring same-sex marriages, or laws like the Pentagon ban on gays in the military, cut away at the democratic rights that workers have fought for and need today to defend their interests," they said.

"The working class is the only social class that can take the moral high ground in the world today and lead humanity out of the economic and social catastrophe that becomes clearer to millions every day. Opposition to any restrictions on democratic rights, including the civil rights of gays and lesbians, is an essential banner in this battle."

We agree with this proletarian position.  
 
 
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