If We're a Nation of Cowards on Race, What are We on Sexual Orientation?

Earlier this month, Eric Holder received both widespread praise and condemnation for his comments that the U.S. has all too often been "a nation of cowards" when it comes to discussions of race.  Some, like Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, argued that what Holder was saying is that despite many years of civil rights progress, there are still racial divides in society and a hesitancy to talk about race in a way that's constructive and healthy.

Which has me wondering: If we're a nation of cowards when it comes to race, what are we as a nation when it comes to discussions of sexual orientation?

The answer?  Well, despite 50+ years of LGBT rights activism, our nation is all too often craven when it comes time to talk about sexual orientation, LGBT rights, and gender identity.  Just look back on this past week.  In Colorado you had an elected politician compare homosexuality to murder; you had the Catholic Church in New Mexico denounce efforts to allow gay and lesbian couples could share the same health benefits; you had 2,000 people show up in Hawaii to protest civil unions and the "sin" of homosexuality; you had a Utah politician say that gays and lesbians were the greatest threat to America; and you had someone beaten in a Seattle neighborhood simply for being gay (not to mention the arrest of someone for the murder of a gay immigrant in New York, and the conviction of a man found guilty of murdering a gay man in Florida two years ago).

All of that combined doesn't describe a nation of cowards.  It describes a nation of malice.

Attorney General Eric Holder is right: this country hasn't done a good job of talking about race and all things racial.  Our failure to do so has led to violence, discrimination, victimization, and continued stereotypes, despite whatever progress we've made in areas of racial justice over the past several decades.

But it's also time to hear Attorney General Holder say the same thing about our failure to talk about sexual orientation.  That our inability to talk about it - and the perpetuation of often violent, volatile reactions to anything surrounding LGBT issues - has resulted in violence, murder, discrimination, and continued stereotypes.  That an unwillingness to responsibly discuss LGBT issues - by both Republicans and Democrats - has delayed passage of the Matthew Shepard Act, results in unfair workplace practices regarding sexual orientation, and means that for the foreseeable future, LGBT couples will lose out on more than 1,100 civil benefits that are currently given to heterosexual couples.

Durirng his presidency, Bill Clinton called for a national dialogue on race.  It's time to have that dialogue.  But it's also time to have the dialogue about sexual orientation, too, and what it means to live in a country that predominantly favors equal rights for LGBT people in polls, but can't quite find the legislative and political muscle to make equality a reality.