View from the left—the LGBT movement's energy deficit

Nothing more plainly revealed the fragility of executive actions than Justice Antonin Scalia’s unexpected departure last weekend. The news at once upended the order of the Supreme Court, immediately throwing key progressive constituencies awaiting decisions on President Obama’s immigration actions and Environmental Protection Agency rules into limbo.

It was a stark reminder of how critical the passage of “don’t ask, don’t tell” repeal was in 2010 during the waning days of the 111th Congress. Otherwise, the LGBT movement would likely have found itself similarly situated to other progressive constituencies—dependent upon executive power to make gains that have been challenged by Republicans at every turn. As I detail in Don’t Tell Me To Wait, repeal was the linchpin that cleared the way for the rapid succession of LGBT advances: from gutting the Defense of Marriage Act to the president’s evolution on marriage to securing marriage equality nationwide. Without repeal, the entire progression would have come at a much slower pace. Who knows exactly where we would even be right now.

But that singular legislative achievement which separated the LGBT movement from other progressive constituencies took something that is sorely missing from the movement right now—energy, an energy that’s completely lacking at both the leadership and grassroots levels of the movement. That deficit could cost us dearly at the federal level should progressives be lucky enough to elevate another Democrat to the White House in November. But it is already dealing us major setbacks in the states.

This week, South Dakota provided the movement’s first major national disgrace of the year when conservative lawmakers succeeded in passing first-of-its-kind legislation targeting transgender students for discrimination. If Gov. Dennis Daugaard signs the bill (which was still in question at the time of this writing), South Dakota kids will be prohibited from using restrooms that align with their gender identity. But that’s just the latest example of how we’ve failed the transgender community (and really anyone who’s gender nonconforming) since the marriage equality triumph last June. The first came last November when Houston voted down an equal rights ordinance after opponents waged a deceptive “no men in women’s bathrooms” campaign.

But beyond the particulars of the bills, what the defeats really highlight is the lack of vision that has beset our national groups. One LGBTQ listserv I’m on has tracked how many days it’s been since we lost Houston and our leadership has failed to articulate a national strategy to combat right-wing attacks on equality. It’s been 109 days.