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HOME NEWS Knoxville Chattanooga Tri-Cities Statewide Regional National International WEATHER Forecasts Environment VIEWS Opinions and Editorials Commentary FEATURES In-Depth Our Lives Entertainment Books and Flicks PHOTOS LETTERS Knoxville Chattanooga Tri-Cities Points In Between SPIRITUALITY SPORTS CLASSIFIEDS ADVERTISING LINKS ABOUT US CONTACT	State of the Union: Sea Change? by Jason Cianciotto After watching the State of the Union address, I realized that the most important thing about the speech for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) Americans was what was NOT in it. For the past three years, President Bush has used this speech as an opportunity to speak out against marriage equality through veiled language about the “tradition” or “sanctity” of marriage. This time, there was absolutely no mention of it. The difference can’t be overstated. It represents a sea change in the way he and other conservatives are communicating to their allies on the religious right. This is another manifestation of the growing split in the Republican Party over “contentious” social issues such as same-sex marriage and stem cell research — a split that will only expand as the 2008 presidential election draws nearer. In the meantime, I think that anti-gay political and religious leaders don’t quite know what to do about this new cold shoulder from their party of choice. On the day of the speech, Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council (FRC) fired two warning shots over the bow of the president’s ship. He included a message in the daily e-newsletter to FRC members in which he claimed that there were a number of “pro-family” issues the president should address in this new Congress. He also published an “Open Letter to President Bush” calling for attention to the social issues that are the hallmark of the religious right, including opposition to marriage equality. This message came out just after we learned that Rep. Marilyn Musgrave and Sen. Wayne Allard, the sponsors of the constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, do not plan to reintroduce the amendment in the coming year. As others have proclaimed, what a difference an election makes! It’s amazing that Perkins is now writing to the president as if he is an outsider. I can't help but view this as a window of opportunity for LGBT Americans, now that “family values” rhetoric seems to have, at least for the moment, moved off the table. Has attacking LGBT equality been pushed to the back burner? Supporters of marriage equality can celebrate the fact that their personal relationships are no longer being used as anti-gay fodder in the president’s most important speech of the year. Those who’ve criticized the gay rights movement’s focus on marriage over the past few years can celebrate that important issues like access to health care are no longer taking a backseat to calculated attempts to divide the electorate. Of course, this doesn’t mean progressives can rest on their laurels; there are other things the president didn’t say. For example, his new domestic priorities fail to help Americans with the greatest need, including those who are lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender. His plan to make health care more affordable and accessible doesn’t address the fact that Americans who are unable to afford insurance in the first place will have no use for a retroactive tax deduction. And what about the fact that I have to pay taxes on the health benefits my husband receives from my employer because our relationship is not legally recognized by the federal government? Where is a revision of the federally funded abstinence-only education, which promotes ignorance and fuels a continuing AIDS epidemic, or protection in the so-called “No Child Left Behind Act” for our LGBT youth, who are regularly bullied and harassed out of public schools? Is President Bush aware that, according to his own government statistics, up to 1.6 million youth run away or are homeless annually and that more than half a million of those are LGBT youth? So yes, “family values” rhetoric has fallen off the edge for this moment, and that’s good — but at the same time, we must remember that concern for equality for our community isn’t even on the president’s (or his conservative cohorts’) table. Jason Cianciotto is the research director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Policy Institute.	\ Register for Equality Herald email updates

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