The Gs and the Ts

A new poll shows 70 percent of gay Americans are fine with excluding the transgendered from proposed federal employment protections for now. Since Bush will veto any pro-gay bills, this is more theoretically interesting than politically salient. I don't think the federal ENDA is going to make much of a difference in gay life, but I'm not against it as such any more. (I was more against making it the sole focus of the gay rights movement for the last two decades, at the expense of military service and marriage rights). I'm also in favor of maximal inclusion of people with gender conflicts or transgender identity. But politics is about compromise and persuasion. Just as I can live with civil unions as a temporary bridge to marriage, and I can live with a federalist diversity on gay couples, so I can live with an incremental approach to legislation. The gay left will have a cow.  But they have long been out of step with many average, non-ideological homos and lesbians. Persuade, and explain. Those should be our first steps. It's exhausting but necessary.