We have to start with the title, which might seem an overly optimistic statement. Do the battles not just go on and on? Kevin Naff clarifies a bit by saying that we have collectively won many battles but the fight is not over and the promise of equality remains fragile. His book is a collection of essays from over 20 years of writing in the Washington Blade.
It has been a remarkable 20 years for the LGBTQ community. Few thought we would see the Supreme Court rule in favor of marriage equality. Along the way, we won the right to private, consensual intimacy. Two horrible remnants of the Clinton administration — Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell and the Defense o Marriage Act—were reversed. The Federal Civil Rights Law was interpreted to include the protection of individuals from sex discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
Scratch the surface and you see the nasty fights, compromises, broken promises and setbacks that led to making these advancements a reality. Naff has a knack for sniffing out the sordid backstories behind the legislative failures and a few successes.
Naff draws blood from the tales of duplicitous politicians, in both parties, who are about as trustworthy as a turnip and less delicious. Former Maryland Governor and Mayor of Baltimore, Martin O’Malley, notably receives a smackdown for his twists, turns, reversals and undependable support. If Democrats are duplicitous, Republicans are usually worse. They all seem to see the light once the public and political winds begin to shift. There are not a lot of “profiles in courage.”
Adhering to journalistic principles to present the facts without bias is an inherent struggle for every journalist and one that Naff admits challenges him while covering issues that are of great personal significance. To his credit, he admits his own susceptibility when the events are too personal to ignore.
Naff was an early supporter of Hillary in 2007 and in 2016. He came around to O’Bama in 2008 and Biden in 2016. They all came around to supporting marriage equality, with Biden forcing O’Bama to move more quickly than his administration had planned. Lessons learned from that fight have affected ongoing policy debates and upended a slow, restrained approach that seemed more concerned with backlash than with equality.
Not so long ago, a portion of gays and lesbians were not gung-ho on fighting for transgendered rights. Though it has been brought up many times, the country has still not passed an Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA). Along the way, compromises have been proposed to jettison the “T” members of the LGBTQ community from inclusion in the act. After gays and lesbians won marriage equality, did we think it was over?
Politicians now pick on the trans community because it has become less effective for them to bash gay and lesbian married couples. Change continues as does the fight to shape the course for our future. Progress can seem elusive. Naff quotes Mary Bonauto, the brilliant attorney who won the Obergefell case for marriage equality, “We are in fight mode.” In another 20 years, we can compare notes.
Review by STEPHEN COY
Queerguru Contributor STEPHEN COY has been an avid reader all his (very long) life? and is finally putting his skills
to good use. He lives in Provincetown full time with his husband Jim, having finally given up the bright lights of
Boston and now haunts the streets mumbling to himself that no one reads anymoreLabels: ‘How We Won the War for LGBTQ Equality: And How Our Enemies Could Take it all Away, 2023, book review, Kevin Naff, Stephen Coy
