President George W. Bush's decision to back a constitutional amendment banning gay marriages is one of those decisions that may soon be filed under "seemed like a good idea at the time." And, like his decision last May to land on an aircraft carrier in a flight suit and give a speech in front of a big banner reading "Mission Accomplished," his decision to launch a culture war against gays could easily turn into a millstone around his neck by the end of summer.
There are many reasons for this, but the biggest one is that the Republican National Convention in going to be held in New York City. The events of September 11 unified the country across cultural fault lines as one America; the controversy over gay marriage will undo what little of that unity remains. New Yorkers will recall one thing, and recall it clearly: They are New Yorkers. And Bush and the national Republicans who will descend on their city are the ultimate in bridge-and-tunnel outsiders who fail to understand what the city is about. Bush and Co. hoped to gain politically from the city's suffering on that horrible, horrible day in September. But they have failed to understand that New Yorkers are an irascible, independent, free-spirited lot -- and I'm quite confident they will not allow Bush to praise them out of one side of his mouth while impugning their values out of the other.
New York City recognizes gay marriages performed elsewhere, such as in the Netherlands and -- soon -- Massachusetts, as legally binding domestic partnerships (though not as marriages, per se). Bush's proposed constitutional amendment would undermine existing New York laws. Moderate Republican New York Governor George Pataki, who recognizes which state he governs and where his future interests lie, came out in opposition to the proposed constitutional amendment Thursday. Liberal Republican New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced the day before that he also opposes the ban . The mayor of New Paltz, New York, Jason West, has announced plans for a ceremony Friday in which he will perform marriages for four gay couples . The New York Daily News, meanwhile, has decried the ban. "President Bush is dead wrong to push for an amendment banning same-sex marriages," the paper's editorial board wrote. "Tampering with the nation's founding document for that purpose would be a disaster, no matter how pleasing it might be to Bush's political base in an election year….Mr. President, leave the Constitution alone."
Former Republican Mayor and national hero Rudy Giuliani signed domestic-partnership legislation in New York City in 1998, which was seen as a pretty progressive thing to do in the pre-civil unions era. Though he has clashed with New York's gay community, Giuliani has also marched in gay-pride parades and dressed up in drag on national television for a skit on Saturday Night Live -- which is, after all, filmed "live from New York." To raise money for disaster relief after 9-11, Giuliani agreed to an onscreen drag cameo on Showtime's Queer as Folk. And when Giuliani's marriage to Donna Hanover was breaking up, he moved out of Gracie Mansion, the mayor's residence, and in with a wealthy gay couple and their shih tzu.
Giuliani is also the chairman of the Republican National Convention. His thoughts on the gay-marriage amendment? "I don't think you should run a campaign on this issue," he told the Daily News earlier this month. "I think it would be a mistake for anybody to run a campaign on it -- the Democrats, the president, or anybody else."
New York is home to many of the most active gay organizations in the country. The Lambda Legal Defense Fund, whose lawsuits on behalf of the rights of gay couples have led to countless companies and jurisdictions initiating domestic-partnership programs, is based in New York. And Bravo's Queer Eye for the Straight Guy has been filmed largely in New York.
Bush is thus entering the lion's den by having the Republican Convention in New York. He has turned the city into enemy territory in the culture war. And as a wartime president, he should know the foolhardiness of parachuting into the heart of enemy territory without the aid of friendly locals.
Garance Franke-Ruta is a Prospect senior editor and writes its Campaign Dispatches blog.
