Gay Marriage and Amnesty are the two main battles in the Culture War right now. Both issues are designed to further the Left’s never-ending and unrelenting quest to create a completely egalitarian society. And, right on cue, the Left has discovered an overlooked demographic that is supposedly in dire need of direct support from our federal government and is ideal propaganda for energizing the Left’s white liberal base: illegal immigrants who happen to be gay.
Three things are certain in our world—death, taxes, and a never-ending supply of new “victims” for the Left to rally around. No matter how far the Right retreats, the Left can always create a new cause and hurl charges of “bigotry” and “discrimination.”
The history of the modern Left is a long chronology of finding new classes of “subalterns”—Antonio Gramsci’s generic term for the oppressed. Once located, these “victims of oppression” can then be rescued by brave progressives fighting evil reactionaries. This familiar narrative plays out again and again in our society—and the latest chapter is a progressive twofer of illegal immigrants and homosexuals.
Seeing that liberals worship both groups, a merger between the two is a match made in heaven for furthering Leftist social reforms—and for fattening the paychecks of “nonprofit” progressive activists.
The Center for American Progress (CAP) released a report earlier this month that focused specifically on “undocumented” gays. Not surprisingly, the report concluded that America must dramatically transform both its immigration laws and marriage requirements in order to satisfy homosexual aliens.
The report, Living in Dual Shadows: LGBT Undocumented [By Crosby Burns, Ann Garcia, and Philip E. Wolgin, March 8, 2013], clams that there are over 267,000 immigrants living illegally in America who identify as either gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgendered. That is a little over 2.4% of the estimated 11 million illegal aliens in the US today. But this demographic, according to the CAP report, contains “society’s most vulnerable individuals.”
Why? According to the CAP report, the fact that “LGBT Undocumented” lack both a “path to citizenship” and federal recognition of their “bi-national same sex couples” leads to their marginalization.
Clearly, there can be no higher priority than federal intervention aimed at serving a population that refers to itself as “undocuqueers.” The newest client population is proudly out of the closet—and over the fence.
The plan proposed by CAP goes much further than anything the “Gang of Eight” is reportedly going to recommend.
Naturally, it already accepts a pathway to citizenship as a given, stating that, if anything, the pathway does not go far enough to help gay illegals. But in addition to demanding citizenship, the CAP report authors call for the U.S. government to end “discrimination” against bi-national same sex couples by passing both the “Reuniting Families Act” and “DREAM act”. Finally, the U.S. government should also repeal the Defense of Marriage Act.
What does the Defense of Marriage Act have to do with immigration issues—and why would its repeal help homosexual illegals? The report states:
One of the many reasons that Congress and the Supreme Court need to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act is to ensure that the government treats all families equally under existing immigration law. Congress can and should swiftly pass the Respect for Marriage Act, which would legislatively repeal the Defense of Marriage Act… [t]he repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act would then allow the federal government to treat all families equally for the purpose of family-based immigration.
Thus, the repeal of DOMA would serve as another justification for more chain migration through our foolish policy of “family reunification.” Behind the egalitarian rhetoric, CAP is simply determined to bring in as many immigrants as possible.
It seems fairly insane to restructure the entire American immigration system in order to make homosexual illegal aliens happy. The group is an utterly minuscule part of the resident population of the United States. Furthermore, at an estimated 2.4%, homosexuals are actually a smaller proportion of the illegal immigrant population than gays are in the general American population. (Gays make up an estimated 3.4% of the total US population and 4% of the total Hispanic population according to Gallup Polls.)[P1]
Nonetheless, the CAP report demands that our federal government rework its detainee policies in order to be more “sensitive” to the needs of homosexual illegals. Changes include: mandatory sensitivity training for detention staff; alternatives to detention exclusively for gay detainees; and shutting down facilities that don’t meet the strict standards that CAP wants enforced.
To an observer who knows the tumultuous American financial situation, these ideas seem absurd and preposterous. Why on earth would we spend more money just to accommodate individuals who broke our laws when we’re having enough trouble finding money to allow school children to visit the White House?
Besides the usual arguments for dispossessing the traditional American population, arguably the most loathsome segment of the report is the testimony of criminal alien Jose Antonio Vargas, poster boy for the George Soros-funded America’s Voice. America's most outspoken lawbreaker recounts how he came out as a homosexual in the middle of a high school history class after they had just watched a documentary on the life of gay activist Harvey Milk.
This anecdote pulls on the heartstrings of bleeding heart liberals. But to most Americans it serves as condemnation of our education system, as well as our nonexistent immigration policy. More than that, it reveals Vargas as the epitome of the leftist ideal of heroism. Instead of a man like Odysseus, a noble warrior bound by duty and exemplifying classical virtues, Vargas is a “hero” precisely because of his contempt for the American nation and his embrace of “victim” status.
The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Discrimination (GLAAD) actually had a presentation in 2011 on gay illegal immigrants entitled (wait for it) “Unsung Heroes.” In contemporary America, even during a time of war, to be honored as a hero simply requires calling yourself a “victim” and condemning traditional morality.
Of course, championing the “undocuqueers” fits awkwardly with the Treason Lobby's attempt to rally social conservatives to push Amnesty. Even with the blatant MSM cheerleading during the Supreme Court argument, social conservatives are not budging an inch when it comes to gay marriage and the Defense of Marriage Act. If the Left links homosexual activism with Amnesty, it could well jeopardize the support of the evangelical groups that the Left is trying to seduce into acquiescing in their nation-breaking immigration plans.
Evangelicals emphatically believe in the fantasy of the humble, religious migrant worker. But they will be less enthusiastic about the criminal alien dressing in drag in his spare time.
Senator Rand Paul touted the hard-working etc. MSM cliche in his Treason speech last week. But how would his speech have looked to his conservative constituents if he talked about real-world examples? Where is his Spanish-language paean to illegals like Jorge Gutierrez, a self-described undocuqueer, positively proud of how he and his peers are reshaping the Amnesty movement to be more sensitive to their needs?
What this all reveals is that the Left will never settle for temporary gains when they really desire more expansive change. If conservatives believe that they can temporarily halt the Cultural Marxist agenda by compromising on Amnesty, they are fatally mistaken. If evangelicals think they can buy a separate peace in the Culture Wars by selling out immigration patriots, they are only hurting themselves.
All Amnesty will do is allow progressives to bully Republican Congressmen into agreeing to more radical policies that they would have dreamed of ten years before.
If Amnesty passes this year, expect CAP’s plan to protect the “undocuqueers” to pass in the next ten.
And (social conservatives take note) expect Conservatism Inc., and the Republican Establishment, to support it.
Email Michael McGregor.
