Much has been written about the Tea Party and there is disagreement about how grass roots it really is, but even if a major part of the force that created it was AstroTurf, there is a real grass roots backing that has developed. Real people went to the polls and voted, and that can not be disputed, even if many other aspects of theTea Party can be argued.

What if progressives could mirror the Tea Party and their success in shaping current politics? How might that impact the political landscape? Even if the coalition wasn’t as broad as all progressives, but limited to LGBTQ it could still have a real impact. A queer Tea Party might be the Latte Party, or the Chai Party perhaps. We can pick the name of the movement later, your suggestions are welcomed.

One way the Tea Party has been successful, has been in convincing average Americans that it is their government, and it is time for them to take it back from the politicians who care more about being re-elected than in real governing. On the other hand, LGBTQ voters have most often bought into the idea that we can go on living a relatively good life inspite of what is happening in Washington. For some, being second class citizens is close to enough. But things happen which demonstrate that it isn’t enough.  For example, my partner and I have been together for 14 years. We are a couple no matter if we we file joint income taxes or not. We own a home together. But if one of us dies, the other will have to pay inheritance tax on the other’s half of the house. A tax burden that might make it impossible for the surviving partner to keep the house. Today, as we are both healthy and alive it is easy to forget that. We can go along with our lives as if a lack of equality doesn’t phase us. But it does. It we want to see change, we must, must, must get more engaged and recognize that it is our government too, and time we actively worked to shape it tomeet our needs.

I do not believe that the Tea Party movement is all that large, however, it has had a big impact by emerging within one of the two political parties such that the GOP believed it had to pay attention to the Tea Party. Truly, the case can be made that the Tea Party and the GOP are one in the same, but they aren’t completely. Another argument can be made that today’s Tea Party is the old social conservatives in a new wrapping. I think this is one of the greatest accomplishments of the Tea Party: it isn’t totally clear who they are or where the boundaries are that separate them from the rest of the libertarian and/or conservative movement. What would happen if LGBTQ and/or progressive groups created a similar movement that emerged within the Democratic Party such that the party believed- really believed- that it had to take our issues seriously? What a difference could that make? We don’t need to be a huge movement, but large enough a d vocal enough to cause some waves.

The Tea Party also functions at every level of government and doesn’t focus their attention on looking for a singular leader to make it all happen. They, the Tea Party members will make it happen by getting lots of like minded people elected. So we see everyday people seeking public office. Imagine if thousands of LGBTQ persons across the country stepped up to get their name on ballots at every level of government? On the other hand LGBTQ activists (myself included?) often seek out and expect to find some singular hero within the existing political system to make it all happen. The Latte Party would change all of that.

Lastly, the GOP made a conscious effort to ride the Tea Party wave and without the GOP support, it is likely that the Tea Party would not have gone anywhere. How is it that LGBTQ/progressives can solicit the same type of support from the Democratic party?

Leave a message, and tell me what you think about a Latte Party!

photo by Cole Morgan as per creative commons license