All too Easy

This week the blogs are all alight with the coming out of Ken Mehlman, President Bush's former campaign manager and architect of his homophobic 2004 campaign. Melhman has been a vocal opponent to gay rights and strong supporter of George Bush Juniors efforts to write a ban on gay marriage into the U.S. constitution. He was Bush's Political Director during his first term and Head of the Republican National Committee from 2005-07. He has stumped the campagn trial in opposition to gay rights and marriage equality and actively worked against the gay community because he was getting paid very well to do so.

Well, now he is coming out claiming that he knew he was gay...despite public denials...but that he was, "not comfortable with that part of himself" which is his one sentence summation for why he worked for one of the most homophobic administrations in recent history. It's also the defacto excuse for why he went to such lengths to make sure that America stayed focused on the "gay menace" for the Bush administration....because he wasnt "comfortable with himself"....yeah...I'm sure the position of power and fat paycheck didn't hurt either.

But now he's out and its a big deal...well I have a song for Ken...find it after the jump..




I'm changing the lyrics a bit to  reflect the story...

"Comin out it was easy....cause I know I won't have to sacrifice"

It sure seems easy now....when the Republican party is becoming split within their own party about acceptance of gays, when you are no longer employed with the express purpose of stagnating gay rights for your overlords...and when you find it politically advantageous to come over to the Pro-marriage camp now that public opinion is shifting in favor of it. It's easy to come out when what you stand to lose is minimal.

The problem here is that Mehlman's sexuality was a very poorly kept secret. Mike Rodgers of Blogactive has been blowing the whistle on Mehlman for years. Even Bill Mahar outed Mehlman on air in a segment that got cut from airtime and buried in an avalanche of White House denials. Both of these incidents were documented in the movie Outrage. So, we already knew Mehlman was gay and most of the work of coming out had already been accomplished, usually in the face of Mehlmans vehement denials.

Now...one the one hand I know that coming out to yourself is very difficult and that some of us just can't do it until well into our adult lives. I fault no one for that. That Ken Mehlman took a long time to accept himself is plausable. What is NOT plausible is using that to explain his actions under the Bush administration.

Nor is acceptance of himself an adequate explanation for his sudden step back into the public light. As the nations attitudes have slowly shifted to above  50% mark for support of gay issues, so have conservatives begun to shift away from using gays as a wedge issue to define them from Democrats. Republican politicians and pundits alike, being politcally savvy, have noticed the change in the wind and moved to capitalize on it. With people like Ann Coulter...how was way over the top against gays before...now coming out in support of gays, more and more conservatives are making a sudden about face. This change in attitude need not be confusing when you see the poll numbers for public support of gay marriage. Republicans are positioning themselves to look like the good guys when full marriage rights are finally won. They are hoping that we will forget all the rhetoric and the fear of us they engendered in the American public. They are hoping we will forget how much they profited from that as well. They want to sweep in late in the game after having done no work to support the gay community, in most cases working to harm us, and them claim credit when the fight is over.

This is why its easy for Ken Mehlman to come out now. It may be hard for him to say the words out loud...it may be hard to face those who are now pointing out the obvious hypocracy...but facing harsh criticism is his biggest loss. In fact he stands to gain more now by putting himself back in the limelight and recasting himself as a defender of the gay community. He may end up in a nice job at the HRC or Log Cabin Republicans or GoProud. Indeed, he is now opening his rolodex of contacts to the fight for marriage equality and many people are cooing with happiness over this fact welcoming him out of the closet.

The problem with this is that he will need to do alot to take responsibility for the actions he took under President Bush. Its not enough to come out in public and say "I regret all that". Too many people have suffered along the way. Now he needs to work for that recognition. Like Larry Craig, or Roy Ashburn...its easy to say.."oops! I'm sorry for all the work I did to destroy the rights of other gay people even though I myself am gay" and then be expected to be embraced with open arms. The dog has simply been beaten too much to trust your outstretched hand. Its gonna take alot of work and accepting alot of the blowback from his previous efforts against us.

I don't believe that anyone is beyond redemption. I need to believe that...its just something peculiar about me and what I know about human beings. We all have the potential for horrible actions, even if we never act on that potential. I've seen this all to clearly in my own life. As a young man, I was very fundamentalist and had nothing but horrible things to say about gay people. I was also in deep denial about myself. How ironic that I now sit here, married to a man and blogging for gay rights. I have made many mistakes in my life and I know how important forgiveness and acceptance can be. We get, after all, what we give. But I am not sure we are ready to see Ken Mehlman in that light. What Ken Mehlman did under President Bush was incredibly and willfully selfish...so much so that I don't think he can fully comprehend it when confronted. He sold out his own sexuality and the lives of others while at the same time expecting to be able to act on that same sexuality. He profited from working against the rights of others on the basis of a trait that was also integral to himself. Now...he wants to be accepted for that trait. I also suspect that this sudden urge to come out is not limited to an amazing moment of epiphany but that he also smelled the change in the wind and is attempting to capitalize on it.

So before we talk about acceptance...before we talk about redemption...the work he did against the gay community needs to acknowledged and atoned for. Don't just open the rolodex to HRC...tell us the real story about who said what in the White House and who is responsible for the events that occured. Roll up your sleeves and get dirty...we know you are capable of that because you did it for Bush. Make us believe that this is for real. Forgiveness...redemption...acceptance...all of these can be given without condition, but all of us must face responsibility for what we have done with our lives and act to remedy those things. We must repair the damage we have done. Mr. Mehlman is no different...nor am I. Thats the part that isn't so easy.