Who's Missing in Action in the Gay Marriage War?

The battle for same-sex marriage rights in the states this year is destined to be a very nasty fight. While the Pew Research Center finds that support for same-sex marriage has increased sharply since its last poll in 2004, groups such as Focus on the Family (FoF) and the Family Research Council (FRC) will spare no expense in their efforts to stamp out non hetero relationships everywhere on the continent.

In Tennessee, two famously anti gay lawmakers will be leading the campaign to pass Amendment 1. State Sen. David Fowler is already on the payroll of the Family Action Council of Tennessee (FACT), an organization associated with Focus on the Family. FACT is apparently the 33rd FoF affiliated state organization. Fowler will not be running for re-election this fall. The white conservative Christian suburbanite says that the mission of his new job is exactly the kind of work that motivated him to run for public office.

As executive director of FACT, Sen. Fowler (R) is pleased that he is now able to work full time on his heterosexuality forever campaign because advocating for the heterosexual family is his "first love."

The Republican will be moving to Nashville to better wage war on the rights of the GLBT community. Nashville is a city with a very large and thriving gay community.

Fowler's partner in the heterosexism forever campaign is Rep. Chris Clem. This other white conservative Christian suburbanite, famous for failing to pass his Anybody But Gays Can Adopt Bill, is also stepping down from public office. Rep. Chris Clem will serve on the board of FACT.

No word yet on whether Rep. Clem (R) will also be moving to Gomorrah.

The heterosexist efforts of Fowler and Clem will not merely be supported by out of state organizations. I guess it goes without saying that the rabidly anti gay lawmakers will be able to count on the support of the entire state Republican machine.

But in the other corner, we have the Tennessee Equality Project (TEP), the group leading the Vote No on Amendment 1 campaign. While TEP can surely count on the support of a host of out of state civil and human rights organizations, there is no chance that the organization will have the support of the State Democratic Party. After all, if it weren't for democrats, the so-called Marriage Protection Amendment would never have passed. There are some progressive democrats in this state, but they receive absolutely no support from the democratic governor.

At no time has the democratic governor bothered to speak out against bigoted legislation. Governor Bredesen did not speak out against the anti gay marriage amendment, the anti gay adoption bill, the anti gay foster parenting bill, nor even the anti gay civil union and domestic partnership bill.

There are a few notable exceptions, such as Rep. Beverly Marrero, but standing on principle is something Tennessee Democrats are not known for. But are Tennessee Dems any different from national Dems? And wouldn't the map pictured above look different if Dems at least showed up for the fight?

Cross posted at Tennessee Guerilla Women.