VIEWPOINTS
EDITORIALS. OPINIONS. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Coming Out Day wields
personal, political power
■ OUR OPINION: U
national event contributes
to the fight for gay rights
National Coming (Jut Day
has become a rallying point
for gay, lesbian and bisexual
people in the last d**< ade
Organizers designed the
event to counteract the feel
ing of isolation many young
lesbian and gay people
endure in an overtly hetero
sexual world.
The campaign has
worked, and each ()ct. JI.
thousands of non-heterosex
uni people leave their shame
and fear in the closet and
declare who they are to their
families, friends and co
workers.
As liberating as that
moment is for the individ
ual, the event indirecth
wields more political power
than (Jay Pride Day or the
March on Washington in
1903.
(aiming Out Day speaks to
the people.
bach time s gay man or
lesbian comes out. it forces
bis or her family to see gay
rights issues in a different
light; it increases the mon
itor of Americans who know
and love someone who is
gay or lesbian.
Suddenly, gay people stop
being one of them, and they
become one of us.
For politicians, popularity
equals power As morn peo
ple come out, more Ameri
cans are less likely to
believe the anti-gay rhetorit
spewed from their televi
sions and mailboxes.
Coming Out Day has been
responsible, in part, for the
increased politii a) and
social power of non-hetero
sexual people in the past
decade. That power will
play a part in the U S.
Supreme Court's decision
on the constitutionality of
Colorado’s Amendment 2
Amendment 2 sun ended
In repealing all city gay
rights' ordlnances in that
state and prohibited any
future laws that would
extend civil-rights protec
lion to lesbians and gays.
Tuesday, the Court heard
opening arguments on this
case, and its decision could
affei t anti-gay rights initio
lives across the country.
The amendment passed in
Colorado because of fear
and ignorance it passed
because not enough gays
and lesbians stepped for
ward and said. ' Morn, Dad.
I am gay. and 1 am not the
enemy."
By coming out. non het
erosexual people educate all
of us, and perhaps more
importantly, they make it
easier for the next genera
tion of gays and lesbians to
acknowledge who they are
without the fear of being
unloved.
Almost 20 years ago. the
first openly gay elec ted offi
cial in this country. Harvey
Milk, gave this challenge to
gay and lesbian people:
"livery gay person must
come out. As difficult as it
is. you must tell your imme
diate family, you must tell
your relatives, you must tell
your friends if indeed they
are your friends, you must
tell your neighbors, you
must toll the people you
work with, you must tell the
people at the stores you
shop in.
"And once they realize
that we are indeed their
children, that we are indeed
everywhere every myth,
every lie. every innuendo
will be destroyed once and
for all. And once, once you
do. you will feel so much
better."
It is just as true today.
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OPINION
U.S. on verge of getting third party
A few iMH'l'i ago on CNN s Dirr\ King
Live. Texas billionaire and sometime
politician H Ross Perot made an
announcement that could dramatically
niter the American electoral scene lor some
time That evening, he announced the formation
of a new politir.al organization. The Indepen
dence Party
Tills group is planning to elect a candidate for
only one position, the Presidency of the United
States As Perot told Time after his announce
ment. the new party is going to "build a war
chest of $60 million at least Why does it need
such a large pot? So that the candidate won't
have to go out with a tambourine ami lieg the
special interests for money.'
This turn of events liegs the following ques
tion. Is Amerii a ready for a third party ?
According to a recent Time/CNN poll of 1.000
adults. 54 pen cut of respondents said that they
believed the formation of the Independent e Par
ty is "good for the country
This number, while not astonishingly high, is
large enough to indicate that among a majority
of Americans then- is a genuine dissal is faction
with the current two-party system
Why is this? 1-et's take a look at each side.
The Republicans are great at cutting Medicare
and Welfare for the elderly and the poor. On the
other hand, when it comes to subsidies for rich
farmers and business people, they aren't so fru
gal This hypocrisy has not gone unnoticed by
the voting public, as Hob Dole will discover
when primary season begins
Then, there’s the Democrats, who have let not
only the Republican party (mat them in election
season, hut have let their own interna! struggles
cause an Ideological standstill The Democrats,
ns .Yens week columnist |oe Klein wrote, are a
mess They have no organizing philosophy, they
are a dwindling collection of fads and factions,
most of which are anathema to the American
middle The important thing to remember here
is that the "middle” in question is what can
make or break an election, and that this is when
Perot w ill attempt to position his candidate
One problem that the new venture may have
is its lack of definition Simply because the two
major parties are not working doesn't necessari
ly mean that voters disenchanted with them
will all fit into one category. Thus far, the only
issues that Perot has mentioned are that the
Republicans and the Democrats are both spe
cial interest parties." meaning that lobbying
influence must lie curbed, and that the federal
budget needs to be balant ad
Aside from that, it seems that anything goes.
As Nfwswfi'k reported on the group's first gath
ering in San Diego, "there was just us much sup
port in tiie crowd for Pat Buchanan and Jesse
Jackson as there was for Powell and Perot." It is
Quite likely that the same consensus problems
that have struck the two major parties could
affw t the Perot movement as well.
This brings up another point: who will the
Independent e Party elect ns its candidate? Obvi
ously, the first name brought up is Colin Powell.
who has expressed some reser
vations about working with
Perot. Others mentioned have
OPINION
mien retiring .Senator Hill
Bradley (D-N.J.), former (Con
necticut Governor Lowell
Wicker (one of the few people
who has actually won a major
office as an independent), and
of course, Ross Perot himself.
But, after Perot helped Clin
ton win the White House in 1992. the public has
not seen him as a political maverick, but a dis
ruption According to the previously mentioned
Time/CNN poll, only 27 percent of respondents
said that they would like to see Perot run as the
Independence Party's candidate, and remember,
that's 27 percent who would like to see him us a
candidate, not who would necessarily vote for
him.
The Independence Party, if it wishes to tie a
true power, must do its utmost to distance itself
from the ornery Texan. The voting public will
never forget his cartoonish fight against NAFTA,
his delusions about a Republican conspiracy to
break up his daughter's wedding; his entrance,
exit and re-entrance in the race or the rest of his
buffoonery during the 1992 election. If the
movement is to succeed, he must allow another
i andidate, a Powell or a Bradley, to take the
helm, and more importantly, the nomination for
the 1996 presidential election.
I he American people are starving for another
answer in politics, a group ora person who can
truly break the cycle of lobbying, over-burden
some taxation, overzealous spending and ideo
logical inconsistency, which is now the norm in
both of the major parties. Let's hope that the
Independence Party will attempt to lie a truly
new and unique political organization with real
solutions and a true sense of leadership, not just
a vehicle for Ross Perot's ego.
Primo A I Fontana, a senior majoring in eco
nomics, is a columnist for the Emerald.