YES,
I
AM
A
21ST
CENTURY
HOMOSEXUAL
like
all
others:
I
am
waiting
and
holding
my
breath
for
the
United
States
Supreme
Court
to
recognize
my
rights.
Like
many,
I
mourned
the
re-election
of
George
W.
Bush
because
I
knew
it
was
bad
for
me,
if
for
no
other
reason
than
Supreme
Court
nominees
were
inevitable
over
the
second
term.
Despite
all
this,
and
despite
my
concern
that
Harriet
Miers
may
prove
damaging
on
gay
rights
and
abortions,
I
object
to
what
is
happening
to
Miers
right
now
as
a
nominee
for
the
Supreme
Court.
More
importantly,
I
object
to
the
lack
of
support
from
women
and
from
progressives.
There
is
little
to
be
said
about
the
right-wing
attacks
on
Harriet
Miers.
They
are
expected
and
unsurprising
in
their
tone,
rhetoric
and
analysis.
In
the
most
basic
way,
accomplished
women
who
have
achieved
stature
outside
the
ideological
constraints
of
the
extreme
right
are
a
threat
and
must
be
attacked,
undermined
and
ultimately
eliminated.
I
am
not
surprised
by
the
response
of
the
extreme
right
to
Harriet
Miers.
I
am
surprised
by
the
lack
of
response
of
women
on
other
parts
of
the
ideological
spectrum.
Who
will
speak
up
for
Harriet
Miers?
I
will.
There
are
many
things
she
is
not,
and
I
am
disappointed
by
those
shortcomings.
But
George
W.
Bush
is
not
Bill
Clinton,
Al
Gore
or
John
Kerry.
WHO
IS
HARRIET
MIERS?
SHE
IS
A
woman
who
has
worked
for
35
years
as
an
attorney,
primarily
in
a
large
law
firm
serving
corporate
clients.
Neither
of
those
environments
has
historically
been
supportive
of
women.
Even
without
knowing
her,
I
can
say
that
Harriet
Miers
has
encountered
in
real
life
the
discrimination
that
women
face,
and
she
has
persisted.
She
has
earned
respect,
prestige
and
position
in
the
world
of
men
in
Texas,
as
president
of
the
Dallas
Bar
Association,
as
a
member
of
the
Dallas
City
Council,
and
s
president
of
the
State
Bar
of
Texas.
Harriet
Miers
is
a
woman
who
advocated
for
equal
representation
for
women
and
people
of
color
in
the
institutions
in
which
she
served.
She
is
a
woman
who
has
served
her
community
through
a
variety
of
organizations,
most
strikingly
to
me,
Legal
Aid.
She
is
someone
who
believes
in
equal
access
to
legal
representation
for
people
who
are
poor.
At
one
time,
she
believed
that
gay
men
and
lesbians
should
have
the
same
civil
rights
as
non-gay
folks.
These
are
all
things
that
I
believe
in.
Most
importantly
she
has
acted
in
accordance
with
those
beliefs.
This
may
be
one
of
the
most
difficult
challenges
for
those
of
us
inside
the
Beltway
to
understand.
We
are
generally
impressed
by
rhetoric
and
ideas.
But
in
the
rest
of
the
country,
people
are
impressed
by
actions,
by
living
day
to
day
commitments
to
values
and
principles.
Perhaps
Harriet
Miers
is
one
of
those
real
world
people.
AT
A
BARE
MINIMUM,
HARRIET
MIERS
deserves
respect
for
her
accomplishments.
She
deserves
women
and
men
of
conscience
standing
up
and
saying
that
attacks
on
her
history
of
achievement
and
her
intellect
are
unfair;
they
are,
in
fact,
sexist.
Harriet
Miers
deserves
the
moniker
of
feminist.
She
may
not
want
it,
but
her
life
and
her
career
are
what
feminism
made
possible.
By
taking
advantage
of
it,
she
is
a
feminist.
Finally,
Harriet
Miers
deserves
a
full
and
fair
hearing
in
the
U.S.
Senate,
and
if
she
gets
it,
that
hearing
most
likely
will
result
in
confirmation.
Perhaps
she
will
be
the
swing
vote
that
changes
the
Supreme
Court
in
a
way
that
harms
me
personally,
in
a
way
that
serves
to
limit
my
rights
and
those
of
other
LGBT
Americans
for
generations
to
come.
I
do
not
know
what
the
future
holds
for
arriet
Miers
on
the
Supreme
Court.
What
I
do
know
is
that
I
must
stand
up
now
and
speak
out
for
her
against
these
attacks
by
the
right
wing.
That
is
my
duty
as
a
progressive
woman,
as
a
lesbian,
as
a
feminist.
This
is
how
I
believe
democracy
works.
