Date: Mon, 12 Dec 1994 13:32:25 -0500
From: David B. O'Donnell <atropos@aol.net>
To: Multiple recipients of list GLB-NEWS <GLB-NEWS@BROWNVM.brown.edu>
Subject: Dump Clinton [Editorial]

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The following editorial, written several days ago but updated tonight, will
be published in the January issue of The Letter, Kentucky's gay and lesbian
newspaper (copies $2.50):

THE LETTERTORIAL

DUMP CLINTON

It used to be that whenever politicians promised the gay and lesbian
community something before the election, only to ignore them
afterwards, our leaders would simply shrug and say, "Well, at least
he's better than [fill in the blank]," or "He DID hug that guy with
AIDS."

Until recently, of course, we didn't have much choice.  We took
whatever spoiled scraps the political system threw on the floor and
ate them as if they were filet mignon.  We might not like the smell,
but we were too hungry to admit we were eating garbage.

But thanks to Bill Clinton--ironically--those days are over.  So it is
with even more irony that we now believe gays and lesbians need to
look for somebody a little more trustworthy than President Clinton to
carry us through the rest of the 90s.

We all know that any issue with the "gay and lesbian" label on it is
automatically going to be controversial in this country these days.
But what are presidents for if not to lead, to take stands, to go
where no politician has ever gone before?  Clinton's still stuck in
some closet.

Sure, he's appointed a few publicly gay and lesbian people to
government positions, and he did make an effort--however pathetic--to
do something about gays in the military, until Sam Nunn yelled "boo"
and he hightailed it to the woods.  But his record on AIDS is just as
bad as George's, and now he's made it clear that even our parents
aren't welcome in his administration.  And now that he's fired his own
friend, Joycelyn Elders, to appease the religious right, we have to
wonder: what won't this guy NOT do for us now?

Has he become just another president imprisoned by his own advisors?
 According to Sean Strub, publisher of POZ, a magazine for PLAs, his
advisors have "proven themselves to be enemies of people with AIDS
because of their aggressive insistence that the White House stay away
from any gay or AIDS-related issues."  If true, it explains why our
advances under Clinton have slowed to a trickle.

It's a long slide from that stunning campaign appearance two years ago
in Hollywood in front of a gay and lesbian audience.  Nice
gesture--but that's it.  Now, with his recent support for a school
prayer amendment, we're beginning to see him for what he really is:
 something akin
to that cute woodlands creature with slick black fur and a white streak down
its back that's
nice to look at but will spray you with its odor if you get too close.

We don't need any more leaders like Clinton (if, indeed, "leader" is
an appropriate description).  He's had his chance, we've seen enough.
It's time to start looking for a bolder leader with at least a little
courage to steer us through the rest of the Gay Nineties.

Sorry, Bill, but read my lips:  you blew it.

--David Williams for the Editorial Board