Demographics. A simple word that everyone in America will come to love or hate. Why? The fundamental election principles in America are no longer valid. No longer are white Americans the head of the electoral process.
Do I say that gleefully? Yes. I am happy that politicians will be forced to address the diverse needs of every American, whether they are African American, Asian, LGBT or Latino.
Oh the great tableau of America. We are finally living up to America’s creed of “a government of the people, by the people, for the people; whose just powers are derived from the consent of the governed.”
Well the governed have spoken and they will continue to speak. Our history tells us that so many were not able to speak. The only group in America that has always had the right to vote is white men who were property owners.
Granted in 1787 with the ratification of the U.S. Constitution, any male property owner at least 21 years old controlled the United States. The rest of us were just chopped liver or chattel.
With the passage of time, all men were able to vote. Of course, in theory minority men could vote beginning in 1870 with the passing of the 15th Amendment. But those pesky poll taxes, literacy and religious tests always seemed to disqualify anyone who was not white.
Voting has always been about demographics. At first it was, “How do we ensure that only white men can vote?” Then it was, “How can we ensure that only the votes of white men and women count?” In 2012, the demographic map fundamentally changed.
In order to win the presidency of the United States, a candidate needs to sew a patchwork of political groups: white women, LGBT people, Latinos, African Americans and Asians. All groups that have been oppressed in the past. As they say, “Payback is a bitch.”
I wonder if the LGBT members of GoProud and the Log Cabin Republicans have become a little bit reflective. You are supporting a political party that at the moment has nowhere to go but down. A party that did not want you as a member. I would hate to be you at an LGBT cocktail party, “Look, there’s a gay Republican.” The assembled guests burst into laughter, or worse, verbally abuse you.
Demographics: characteristics of a population. That’s what a presidential candidate needs to fundamentally understand to win votes. When only white people voted, then only white people mattered. But just like fall foliage, America is changing colors.
America’s creed also says that the country is “a perfect union, one and inseparable; established upon those principles of freedom, equality, justice, and humanity for which American patriots sacrificed their lives and fortunes.”
Freedom, equality, justice and humanity. If only we could live up to these principles each day.
Are you free if you cannot marry the person you love? Are you equal if you can be discriminated against for being transgender? Is it just for you to pay taxes on your domestic partner benefits? Where is the humanity in denying every gay man the ability to give blood?
The diverse tableau of America has finally reached the whitest realm; politics.
And there will be no turning back.
STAMPP CORBIN
PUBLISHER
San Diego LGBT Weekly
