Back around the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell (DADT), I wrote a post thatI got a fair amount of flack about because it was understood as being negative towards the Democratic Party. That may have been a partially true analysis, however the real point I wanted to make was that partisan politics surrounding especially LGBT issues is shifting to the point where it may not be accurate to talk about it as if Dems are pro-Gay, and Republicans are anti-gay. Sure as generalizations this is true, but if we look past to the real specifics, this just isn’t the case when it comes to talk about individuals.

Today Pam’s House Blend published one of the most important blog posts that speaks to this point. It was a cross post fro the author, Ron Hill’s blog. I just want to copy and paste the whole thing here, but really, just follow either link to read his History of Social Conservatism. It is a very good read.Hill articulates, in this post as well as in others, the battle that is happening within the Republican party between the Social Conservatives and those, like Hill who see the Far Right Social zealots as destroying the Republican Party. And he isn’t alone. Meghan McCain is another vocal Republican who expresses similar views. What this suggests is that it isn’t the progressives/Democrats against the Republicans, but rather it is the progressive Democrats and the Fiscal Republicans against the Social Conservatives.

For me, this distinction is critical to grasp, although in reality, it may be too late for it to make much of a difference. The Social zealots have taken control in a big way, and it isn’t clear if they will lest any of that power go.

On Friday’s show, Rachel Maddow discusses the recent South Carolina debate of GOP presidential candidates, where the #2 pick was Rick “Man on DogSex” Santorum. He represents the social conservatives, but Ron Paul, who has scored the most fundraising following the debate represents the fiscal conservative/libertarians. The GOP is a party divided, so says Rachel. I tend to agree with her. But I think this analysis is also missing something. The Far Right Social conservatives are doing extremely well at the State level, and so if our focus is only on national politics we may miss the real damage they re causing and can cause in the future. It can look as if Obama may have the 2012 election won. but really a lot can happen in the next 18 months, and the devastation at the state level b y that point could have more bearing on the outcome than larger, more general philosophical differences.

For marginalized groups, like LGBT’s, what all this means is that we have to be fighting tooth and nail at every level against a Far Right social agenda, but rather than just fight against Republicans, we need to understand the divisions in that party and work with the libertarians to take the power away from the 

hypocritical

Social Conservatives.

So often, LGBT activists look to the Federal level. They want to see changes in Washington (Federal legislation) as a way to cut to the chase when states are all over the place in terms of Equality. But, if we fail to turn our focus on what is happening in so many states, there is far more to lose than we are truly recognizing. It is time to stop thinking in terms of Democrats vs Republicans and see the Far Right Social Conservative movement as the reran problem to defend against, and the fight is at all levels, but we are losing more heavily at the state level in many states across the US.