Ruby-Sachs: Is Laura Bush giving us too little too late?

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Laura Bush is touring with her new memoir. Inside are all sorts of Bushy juicy tidbits, but the interviews about the book have recently focused on her admission that she believes gay committed couples deserve the same legal rights as everyone. It’s incredible really, that the first lady from an administration famous for pushing for a Consitutional amendment banning gay marriage would come out for gay marriage.

Or maybe it isn’t.

We have seen a numbers of conservative politicians have come to Jesus moments after they are out of power. Colin Powell supported the repeal of DADT after his administration fell. John McCain’s wife came out for gay rights after the election run was over. And now Laura Bush decides that it is safe to admit that she disagreed with her husband when he used his Presidency to attempt to combat the gay rights movement.

The first question is, what does this do for them? The answer, they get the benefit of a progressive label, even if their position isn’t particularly radical, because of their previous conservativism. The alienation they might experience amongst the more conservative base doesn’t matter because they are risking nothing. Basically, they get all the credit with none of the risk.

The second question is, what does this do for them? Joe Solomnese from the Human Rights Campaign thinks it indicates a shift in the hearts and minds of Americans. I think fighting for hearts and minds, while important and valuable, has very little real value. What if we had waited for the hearts and minds of the racist Southern governors during the civil rights movement? We would never have made the strides in equality that we take for granted today. The same is true for gay rights. We don’t need Laura Bush’s heart and mind, we needed her to stand up when her voice had some power.

It’s not that Laura Bush should not vocalize her support for equality. She should. But we should hold off congratulating her for seeing the light. The gay community can turn around and say, “good thing you have your head on straight, wish you had a backbone to go with that quick analytical ability you are so keen to show off.”

It’s just not sufficient to believe in equality. You have to do something about it too.

*Credit for all the good ideas in here goes to Jane Saks – who is among the breathing!

[1] http://www.365gay.com/wp-content/uploads/blog-laura-bush-top.jpg

Laura Bush says she supports gay marriage

Former first Lady Laura Bush told Larry King this week [1]that she is in favor of gay marriage – a very different position than her husband, the former president.

She and her husband “disagree” on the issue, she told King.

“There are a lot of people who have trouble coming to terms with [gay marriage] because they see marriage as traditionally between a man and a woman,” she told King. “But I also know that, you know, when couples are committed to each other and love each other, that they ought to have, I think, the same sort of rights that everyone has.”

She added, “I understand totally what George thinks and what other people think about marriage being between a man and a woman. And it’s a real, you know, reversal really for [them] to accept gay marriage,” but she thinks that legalization is coming, she said.

Laura Bush is making the talk show circuit while promoting her memoir “Spoken from the Heart.”

[1] http://larrykinglive.blogs.cnn.com/2010/05/12/laura-bush-supports-gay-marriage-abortion/?iref=allsearch

Palin book goes platinum

(New York) “Going Rogue” has gone platinum.

HarperCollins spokeswoman Tina Andreadis said Tuesday that just two weeks after publication, Sarah Palin’s memoir has sold 1 million copies. The print run for “Going Rogue” has been increased again, to 2.8 million copies. The original printing was 1.5 million, then moved up to …

Milwaukee archbishop comes out in memoir

Former Catholic archbishop of Milwaukee comes out

(New York City) A Roman Catholic archbishop who resigned in 2002 over a sex and financial scandal involving a man describes his struggles with being gay in an upcoming memoir about his decades serving the church.

Archbishop Rembert Weakland, former head of the Milwaukee archdiocese, said in an interview Monday that …

Former Catholic Bishop Of Milwaukee Says He’s Gay

NEW YORK — A Roman Catholic archbishop who resigned in 2002 over a sex and financial scandal involving a man describes his struggles with being gay in an upcoming memoir about his decades serving the church.

Archbishop Rembert Weakland, former head of the Milwaukee archdiocese, said in an interview Monday that he wrote about his sexual orientation because he wanted to be candid about “how this came to life in my own self, how I suppressed it, how it resurrected again.”

Called “A Pilgrim in a Pilgrim Church: Memoirs of a Catholic Archbishop,” the book is set to be released in June.

“I was very careful and concerned that the book not become a Jerry Springer, to satisfy people’s prurient curiosity or anything of this sort,” Weakland told The Associated Press. “At the same time, I tried to be as honest as I can.”

See Former Catholic Bishop Of Milwaukee Says He’s Gay