So hate crimes legislation and employment non-discrimination are on the top of the Dems agenda while recognizing gay couples and repealing DADT remain in limbo.

I fail to find this surprising because the proposed ENDA and hate crimes laws amount to an increase in federal power over all of us. Granting some recognition to gay couples who are legally wed in their states and allowing open service by homosexuals doesn’t expand federal power.

The Democrats love power and worship big government; they are here acting according to form. What increases their power is a top priority; what doesn’t increase their power is a non-issue.

And the really sad thing — especially for those gays who habitually vote for the Democrats — is that the two top priorities will do far less for homophiles in American than the measures Congress can’t work up the gumption to act on!

(And remember this is a Democratic Congress that saw it’s Democrat majority increase! Yes, those Dems really do love the gay folk, don’t they?)

Employment non-discrimination laws only force employers to hide their prejudices. And in a country where most large employers already have policies to protect gay employees, what will a law that will exempt small employers accomplish? Not much.

As for hate crimes laws, just what are they supposed to accomplish. The actual crimes are already illegal. I’m sure such laws are as effective in stopping such offenses as rape laws are at stopping rape.

Measures like allowing open military service by gays and allowing people to sponsor their same-sex partners for immigration would be the US government ending its own official denigration of homosexuality. But never mind that, the Dems have to enlarge the federal government yet again.

The true priorities of the Democratic Party are being shouted loud and clear here.

I hate to make such a compromise but am willing to do so to ensure that DADT is killed.

It is generally accepted as fact that the reason Clinton got stuck with DADT was that he did not first get buy-in from the military. Had he done that, we may not be having this discussion now. The very best way to ensure that DADT gets repealed in a timely fashion is to first get the military to endorse that repeal.

The Joint Chiefs are preparing for this to happen, but it needs to be done with the correct safeguards in place for the sake of Gay military personnel, and for that matter, all military personnel. Rushing to get this done helps nobody, particularly Gay people because mishandling this issue again is a recipe for the same kind of disaster Clinton had to deal with. Worse, Gay people might not fare any better inside a giant military bureaucracy unprepared for their open service.

Granting Civil Union-like federal rights probably won’t happen this year, and lawmakers agree that the votes to repeal DOMA aren’t there.

The chances for repeal of DOMA and DADT are likely to be improved once a Hate Crimes Bill is passed. That legislation, if well crafted, might even ultimately necessitate the repeal of DADT, DOMA, and most other legislation that could be construed as anti-Gay or anti-any-other protected class.

The repeal of DADT might not be the first domino to fall in the unravelling of legal anti-gay social conservatism, but once it goes, the move towards full rights for Gay people will begin to accelerate in this country. As that happens, the legal exportation of bigotry against Gay people by the US will be considerably curtailed. This will finally bring the United States in line with the developed Western World.