There Must be a Presidential Election Soon

So here we go again. As the next presidential election looms in the U.S., the gay community is either being courted or exploited for political gain. Whether it be Hillary Clinton stating that the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" military policy her husband settled for is a failure and needs to be abolished, or Ann Coulter pulling out the "F" word in her characterization of John Edwards, a married democratic candidate for President, or the Pentagon's top General Peter Pace calling homosexual behaviour immoral, it is clear that the gay community will be at the forefront of many a political debate.

For me, as I attempt to be politically and "community" aware, I wonder where this all leads! I recall the press conference that our current President Bush held about two years ago now, standing on the white house gardens before the American public calling for a constitution amendment banning gay marriage. He knew that this was pure politics. Such a calling would placate the Christian Coalition, and yet ultimately have no legs as Congress would never allow for a amendment to our precious constitution that actually discriminated against a class of American citizens.

When the actual debates begin, we can be assured that one of the questions posed to each candidate will be whether they support gay marriage. Of course, we know that the democratic "contenders" will skip around giving a firm solid answer. We can expect what we have heard in the past, that it is a state issue and not a federal issue. On the Republican side, the response to the same question will tell us which candidates are being supported by the Christian right.

Funny thing is that when I sat down to come up with the three most important issues for me as a gay person for this election season, they were:

(1) resolve this war
(2) universal healthcare
(3) get the homeless off our streets.

Does that mean that my "agenda as a gay man" is the same as a majority of most Americans? I can only resolve this internally by the fact that I believe that as much as each individual is different, we are really the same in our basic needs and desires. Sure I strongly believe in gay marriage, gay adoption, AIDS Funding and education, but as my mom always says, "let's get back to basics!"

It is sure to be another interesting political year and I look forward to seeing how each candidate navigates his or her way through the process. It's also nice to see, whether good or bad, that our little community of gay people are already getting the attention of all!