Comment: A Mitt Romney presidential win would be a disaster for LGBT Americans
Writing from the US for Pinknews.co.uk on the eve of Election Day, Laurence Watts makes the case that a Mitt Romney presidency would be a disaster for LGBT rights.
Although Barack Obama appears to have an edge in the swing states that will decide Americaās next president,Ā there is a real chance Mitt Romney could cause an upset tomorrowĀ by winning the White House for the Republicans. This, to put it bluntly, would be a catastrophe for LGBT Americans.
The difference between the two candidates on LGBT issues could not be greater. While Obama made headlines the world over in May, when he became the first sitting president to declare his support for same-sex marriage, Mitt Romney came out firmly against LGBTĀ equality in November 2011, in the midst of the Republican primary contest, when he signed a formal pledge declaring his opposition to same-sex marriage. The document he put his name to did more than just state his opposition to equality however; it laid out actions he would undertake should he win office.
Romneyās pledge was written and organised by Americaās so-called National Organisation for Marriage, a group founded in 2007 to work against the legalisation of same-sex marriage throughout the United States.Ā By lending his support to their campaign, Romney committed himself to: supporting a constitutional amendment defining marriage as being only between a man and a woman; defending the Defence of Marriage Act (DOMA) in court; only appointing Supreme Court judges and an Attorney General who do not believe Americaās constitution guarantees same-sex couples the right to be married; to set up a Presidential Commission to investigate āharassmentā of ātraditional marriageā supporters and; to support congressional legislation that would, to practical purposes, reverse the introduction of same-sex marriage in Washington DC, which passed the districtās legislature in 2009.
Put simply, the progress LGBTĀ Americans have made under Obamaās administration, which includes the repeal of Donāt Ask, Donāt Tell and the signing into law of the Matthew Shepherd and James Byrd Jr Hate Crimes Prevention Act, would cease and a gradual reversal of recent LGBT victories would occur.
The stakes can be fully appreciated by looking at just one of the promises Romney has made: to only appoint Supreme Court judges who oppose same-sex marriage. As I pointed out in a piece I wrote for the Huffington Post a year ago, potentially as many as three US Supreme Court judges, out of a total of nine, could retire or die in the next presidential term. Their replacements will be decided by whoever wins tomorrow. Thus whoever becomes Americaās next president will be in a position to shape Americaās legal landscape for decades to come and this would happen just as landmark LGBT civil rights cases, like those challenging Californiaās Proposition 8 and Arizonaās Diaz vs Brewer, begin arriving at the Supreme Courtās door.
Of equal importance is that we have an LGBT-friendlyĀ president in charge of the US governmentās executive branch when DOMAĀ is struck down next year, as it undoubtedly will be. At that moment, whoever is president will be free to instruct the federal government to recognise same-sex marriages in those states where it has been legalised. This would mean that more than 1,000 rights and benefits currently denied to legally-marriedĀ LGBTĀ Americans would finally be permitted, rights that include the husbands and wives of gay military personnel receiving spousal benefits, the rights of LGBTĀ Americans to sponsor their spouses for immigration purposes and the right to be taxed equally by the IRS as other legally-marriedĀ Americans. This will be a huge step forward for LGBT Americans and one that will only happen if Obama is president.
Moreover having an LGBT-friendlyĀ African-American in the White House has done wonders for promoting LGBTĀ rights within the USās African-American community, a cross-section of society that has typically resisted seeing LGBTĀ rights as civil rights because of entrenched religious beliefs. When President Obama came out in favour of same-sex marriage, giants such as Jay-Z, Fifty Cent and Will Smith likewise declared their support. Approval of same-sex marriage in the black community increased by 10%Ā overnight and that progress would be undone if Obama loses office six months after declaring his support for LGBT equality.
In summary then, youād think every LGBT American will be voting for Obama, right? Well, youād be wrong. There are those within Americaās LGBT community who will be voting for Romney because they are not āsingle-issue votersā, political speak for gays who donāt believe the furtherance of gay rights is the most important factor to consider when voting. Instead, they argue that having a strong military, a strong economy, minimal regulation on guns or being pro-life are more important issues. This is why I want to quickly address Obamaās presidency more widely before I close.
The most pressing issue for Americans in this election, like elsewhere in the world, is the economy, and to my mind Obamaās achievement on this front hasnāt been trumpeted loudly enough. Although the stimulus package that Obama orchestrated and the quantitative easing the Federal Reserve put in place are finally having an effect on the economy, Americaās unemployment level remains too high by national standards. Obamaās critics argue he hasnāt done enough for the US economy. This is rubbish. When one compares the USās response to the 2008 financial crisis and the subsequent recession to that of Britain or Europe more widely, Obama has done an amazing job.
America has avoided a double dip recession (unlike Britain) and is growing at a rate that makes European nations green with envy. Yes, Americaās ongoing incurrence of debt is too high and unsustainable, but the kind of stimulus Obama has put in place isnāt meant to be sustainable; itās meant to carry the economy through until the time that private sector spending takes its place. That is happening as business confidence slowly recovers. At that point the federal government can reduce spending and pay down its debt.
Moreover, as Commander-in-Chief, Obama has been responsible for the killing of Osama Bin Laden and for āwinning a warā in Libya without committing ground troops. This āsmart powerā strategy, a term coined by Hillary Clinton, replaced the āhard powerā policies of George W Bush, and Iām hoping we havenāt all forgotten where that got us.
Adding to this Obama saved the Detroit motor industry from certain and permanent bankruptcy, turned a $12bnĀ (Ā£7.5bn) profit on the bailout of Citigroup, an $18bnĀ (Ā£11.2bn) profit on the bailout of AIG and, most importantly through Obamacare, expanded healthcare coverage to more than 50 million previously uninsured Americans ā something even Bill Clinton was unable to do as president.
Romney has an impressive record to counter Obamaās but it is a record of self-enrichment rather than the job creation he has been more prone of. Romney argues that because of his private sector experience he is the expert when it comes to creating jobs. So far as Iām aware however, Bain Capital, the company he founded and once ran, wasnāt so much about creating jobs as making money: vulture capitalism not venture capitalism was the name of the game and it was a game he played very well with the help of Swiss bank accounts, Bermudan holding companies and Cayman Islands trusts.
There are some who believe Romney might govern more moderately than he has campaigned and that consequently he might not be that bad a president. This is not a risk LGBTĀ Americans can afford to take. While campaigning, Romney has looked like a man that would say anything you wanted to hear to win your vote, regardless of whether it was true or whether he believed what he was saying. Realistically he would be likely to govern as he has lived ā fully in compliance with the teachings of the Mormon Church, the same Mormon Church that funded Proposition 8 in 2008, outlawing same-sex marriage in California.
My advice to LGBT Americans is this: get out tomorrow and voteā¦ and make sure you vote for Obama.
Laurence Watts is a features writerĀ for Pinknews.co.uk