http://blogs.usatoday.com/oped/2008/02/in-election-08.html

Rarely does one see the news grapple with LGBTQ issues in a powerful and meaningful way, but this week a USA today opinion piece by Bruce Kluger titled " In Election '08 is there a place for gay rights?" grapples with some of the complex issues LGBTQ Americans face going into the 2008 election. I have no intention of getting into a candidate war on this blog about who I think would be the best candidate, after all I honestly think that of the democratic choices both are pretty similar in terms of how they will or won't protect LGBTQ folks (after all it isn't like either of the top candidates has been brave enough to support marriage equality). That said, at least Hillary hasn't gone out of her way to invite "ex-gay" leaders to campaign for her.

Kluger's post grapples with the very real needs of LGBTQ Americans, the discrimination we face on a legal level, and the silences, which exist around that. He speaks passionately about the needs of folks and the way our issues have been overlooked, and interjects popular culture references from the likes of the L word discussing the ways in which as a community we have in some ways fooled ourselves through these mediated representations, and loose sight of the fact that we lack fundamental rights. As he argues " this significant step forward carries with it a liability: As entertainment executives conscientiously work to bring the gay experience into the mainstream in a non-political way, they also run the risk of neglecting the real-life struggles gays continue to face."

A great read for anyone interested in politics and way LGBTQ folks will be impacted, as well as a look at the power of the media and it's relation to the way we conceptualize the LGBTQ movement and politics.