No Time to Back Down

Time to (wo)man the barricades. (Artist: Kathe Kollwitz)

Ladies, gentlemen, variations thereof, and none of the above, it doesn't take me a lot to make me actively angry. I threw the remote at my TV and started screaming during a 40 minute anime that failed to live up to my exacting artistic standards. The rendering was awful, the voice acting was stale, and the inconsistencies in the incredibly simplistic plot almost made me flip a table. Here's the thing, though: It only lasted 40 minutes. Those feelings of rage, helplessness, and injustice were only valid for less than an hour. If worst comes to worst tomorrow, I could be feeling like that for the next four years. Ladies, gentlemen, variations thereof, and none of the above, welcome to The Day Before the End. Welcome to the Day Before Election Day.

No matter what your views are on the Middle East, the economy, China, or immigration, we all know which candidate has the best interests of the LGBT community at heart. Let's not forget that the hate group the National Organization for Marriage has officially endorsed Mitt Romney. (Interestingly enough, their new tactic seems to be to call us bigots. That's like saying that fighting back against a mugger who takes your wallet and tries to kill you is first degree battery.) I'd like to explain something about Governor Romney that my non-American readers are probably confused by. Governor Romney can't be said to hold a particular position no matter what. People do change their minds on issues, but it honestly seems impossible to pin Romney to a specific position that he held mere days earlier. Our best quantum scientists are as of yet stymied.

Pictured: Schrodinger's Politician

Don't worry, this confuses my country(wo)men as well. The Republican candidate is well known for making statements and walking them back later. Which would seem to be against his own religion, but whatever. What do I know, I'm a godless dyke. Luckily for the American electorate, we have a record of how Governor Romney would lead the nation, and it has something to do with the reason I've been calling him  "Governor" Romney instead of just "that guy". From 2003 to 2007, he was the governor of Massachusetts, the first Republican governor in 20 years. He had an all-time approval high of 61 percent (which is actually pretty impressive), but ended up at 34 percent and the 48th favorite governor out of 50. (Well, at least he has his personality. And money. Really just a lot of money.) Not surprisingly, Mass went right back to Democratic governors after Romney left to pursue the presidency. As for gay parents, when the Bay State legalized gay marriage in 2003, Romney kicked and dragged his feet in a manner most unbecoming to an elected official. 

Can I digress for a second here, please? I'd just like to point out that in 2003, Massachusetts, a reliable Democratic state, was legalizing gay marriage. In ever-Republican Texas, 2003 was the year that gay sex was made legal. And this wasn't even through legislation, the Supreme Court forced them too. I just want to point out the difference in ideology here.

Getting back to the point, Romney could at least be described by a reasonable observer as a moderate. Sure, he balanced the budget by trying to raise fees on basic services like mental health, but he also closed corporate tax loopholes. He passed a comprehensive healthcare reform bill that the Affordable Care Act is modeled after. I can safely say that a President Romney would never stand up to the Right like that. He has promised to "repeal Obamacare on Day One". I'd like to remind you that Obamacare is the direct descendant of Romney's own wildly popular plan. But the Republican Party hates it, so it has to go. 

On gay parents Governor Romney had this to say in 2005:

"Some gays are actually having children born to them," he declared. "It's not right on paper. It's not right in fact. Every child has a right to a mother and father."

And piles and piles of money untouched by Uncle Sam, right? Notice how he doesn't specify that every child has a right to a good, non-abusive, mother and father.  Speaking personally, I'd rather have a right to loving parents that are gay as the day is long than just a mom and a dad who may or may not beat children to a pulp, and I'm reasonably sure that most little child abuse victims in America would agree.

This is no longer the moderate governor who was able to charm a long-blue state, guys. Mitt Romney has gone full Republican, and the Republican is losing the plot at an alarming rate.

I understand that a lot of people on the Left are disillusioned with President Obama. The unemployment rate is under 8 percent, but barely, Guantanamo Bay is open, we're still in a long, costly war, and marriage equality, job equality, and housing equality seems far away. I understand that queers that are heavily  involved in other aspects of this election, like military intervention in other countries or the economy may decide that it would be better for them not to vote than to vote for a candidate that, say, increased drone strikes.

But I assure you that the other side is far less idealistic.  You have to remember that the people who hate us really, really hate us, and they will vote for Zombie Hitler if he'll put us back in concentration camps. I wish I was fucking kidding. And sure, Mitt Romney isn't quite that insane, but they'll sure as hell take what they can get and hope, not without reason, that he'll bow to their pressure eventually. President Obama isn't perfect. But take a look at the graphic below.

In addition, Vice President Joe "All Balls, No Filter" Biden has characterized transgender rights as "the civil rights issue of our time". Does Mitt Romney even know trans people exist? I mean, on one hand, he can't hate a group he's not aware of. On the other, what exactly is he going to do for the trans community other than throw you to the wolves?

I urge all LGBTQIA people and our allies to take this into account in the voting booth today.