Thursday, Nov. 11, 2010

T-Party or T-Dance?

As I celebrate my 34th birthday and cautiously investigate the results of this year's election cycle, which swiftly shifted the country from blue to red - I think to myself: "Tea Dance or Tea Party?"

As many of you know the word "Tea Dance" or simply "T-Dance" refers to an afternoon or early evening dance party especially in the gay community. It seems to trace back to the Victorian Era where it evolved from the concept of afternoon tea. In gay lore, it's said that men would secretly meet on Sunday afternoons when pretty much everyone was in the closet. They would say that they were going for tea - which soon turned into the ever-popular afternoon club parties we now know as "T-Dances."

Then you have the lovely new Tea Party or as some jokingly refer to as tea-baggers (a whole other meaning in the gay community). It seems that the populist/Libertarian movement hasn't only pissed off LGBT people and our long-standing political partners, the Democrats. Republicans are jumping ship left and right and fighting against the machine, calling for less government and more individual rights and a stronger fiscal base. To quote Scott Rasmussen, an American public opinion pollster, "They [Tea Party members] think federal spending, deficits and taxes are too high, and they think no one in Washington is listening to them." But with the recent election, the Tea Party has definitely thrown a wrench into the Republican Party and there are even tales of a complete takeover come the 2012 Republican National Convention.

So it got me thinking, would the Tea Partiers go for a good ol' fashioned T-Dance? What does the emergence of a strong Tea Party and a Republican base (partially made up of its supporters) mean to LGBT rights?

Of course, like every good political movement you've got your crazies, your radicals and your blowhards like Carl Paladino, the Tea Party-endorsed Republican candidate for New York governor, who calls gay pride parades "disgusting" and says that being gay is "not the example that we should be showing our children," according to the NY Daily News. But even some Republicans said his statements were offensive and called on him to apologize. You also have Montana Tea Party leader Tim Ravndal who received national attention when he and some fellow Facebookers mocked Matthew Shephard's killing and recommended a return to gay hate crimes and killings. In response, however, Ravndal was canned by the Montana Big Sky Tea Party following the outright bigotry displayed, stating "We continually make it known that we will not tolerate bigoted dialog, behavior or messages at our functions, our meetings or within our ranks. If a person demonstrates bigotry relative to race, sex, ethnicity, etc. they are not welcome in our organization. The Tea Party movement is about standing up for individual freedom for everyone" - a very different message than what we're used to on the right.

People like Rick Tafel, founder of gay political action group Log Cabin Republicans, seem to think that the Tea Party could be the best thing to happen for fiscally conservative LGBT people. He told Morning Edition guest co-host Linda Wertheimer that "I think the rise of the Tea Party and the loss of moderates and independents has been a signal to the party that, hey there's a lot of people out there whose issues are fiscal issues, less government, possibly the military issues and probably pretty libertarian on a lot of social issues. The folks have been lost. And now they're coming back in different ways. They're finding their way back. And I think the social issues folks have lost."

Reports came in on Election Day from a number of different outlets that proved his point. What were people concerned about in this mid-term election? It was No. 1 across the board - the economy. Next up on people's voting minds was health care. But very few even mentioned the word gay or gay marriage, in an election year that didn't see one anti-gay marriage amendment on the ballot. Anti-gay rhetoric was significantly muted this year. Even in the Republicans' midterm-campaign "Pledge to America," it gives a gentle nod to "traditional marriage" but never explicitly use the word gay or homosexual - a stark contrast to recent years where so-called "gay" issues were used as political candy to get hardcore right-wingers to the voting booths.

LGBT voters also seemed to jumped ship during this recent election. According to The Edge Boston, "gay voters displeased with the Obama Administration's record on LGBT issues joined in with the rest of the electorate in making their anger known at the ballot box on Nov. 2." Exit polls suggested that Democrats lost about half of their LGBT support. CNN said that 31 percent of self-identified LGBT voters had cast their votes for Republican candidates, up from 19 percent in 2008.

It seems that Tea Partiers are asking what many of us have been saying for years. "Do these issues really matter?" I've often said that one day we'll look back and say "what was all the big argument over anyway?" when referring to Don't Ask Don't Tell and gay marriage.

When the economy still seems to be in the toilet and crookedness seems to be the norm, not only in Corporate America, but in the political arena, too, social issues don't seem to be as important. It seems that individual freedoms and less government control may actually speak for sexuality and individual freedoms as well. Either way, I think I've made my decision at least for today - there's a T-Dance calling and what the hell...it's my birthday. Have a drink for the future, no matter if it ends up looking red, blue or maybe even a little purple.

OUT & ABOUT

Nov. 29-Dec. 4 - The AIDS Memorial Quilt makes its way back to Myrtle Beach. The Coastal AIDS Quilt Project, Inc. will display sections of this internationally celebrated quilt to mark the 22^nd anniversary of World AIDS Day, to be held on Dec. 1. The AIDS Memorial Quilt is a 54 ton, handmade tapestry that stands as a memorial to more than 91,000 individuals who have lost their lives to the AIDS epidemic. A portion of the quilt will be on display at Coastal Carolina University starting Nov. 29. Visitors may attend the free display from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. daily.

According to a recent press release by Coastal AIDS Quilt Project, "sections of the quilt are continuously on display across the country in schools, places of worship, community centers, businesses, corporations and a variety of other institutional settings all in the hope of making the realities of HIV and AIDS real, human and immediate." The organization reports that South Carolina ranks tenth in the nation for new HIV infections (2008) and Horry County comes in at No. 24 in the state. Of the 20 states with the highest percentage of persons living with HIV, 11 are located in the Southeast.

In addition to the display there will be a candle light vigil at CCU's campus, starting at 5:30 p.m. Dec. 1. For more information on the upcoming display, call 902-8752. For more information on The NAMES Project and The AIDS Memorial Quilt visit www.aidsquilt.org or call (404) 688-5500.

Have a thought, comment or Out & About event? Send Chris Rudisill an e-mail to SouthernGayWriter@gmail.com. You can also follow along on Facebook.com @SouthernGayWriter for more news and events.