Agenda, Gay

From Homolexis Glossary

The backlash expression gay agenda gained popularity in the 1980s among rightwing opponents of gay rights, who claimed to detect a unified plan among gays and lesbians to achieve their aims. The concept trenches with the trope of Conspiracy. This perception ignores the contention and divisiveness that have repeatedly bedeviled gay and lesbian groups, hindering the formation of a single list of desiderata.

Some differences are caused by politics, as some have sought to achieve their aims by demonstrations, zaps, and other overt interventions, while others prefer to work quietly behind the scenes. Outsiders often perceive US gays and lesbians as liberal Democrats one and all. However, between a quarter and a third are Republicans, represented by the Log Cabin group. Furthermore, it is often difficult to inscribe a new item on this putative agenda. For example, when the gay-marriage movement arose in the mid-1990s, the mainstream gay rights groups pointedly ignored it. Only later did they rally round it.

As a matter of principle gay advocates would agree that having a single agenda would be a good idea, but found it hard to achieve this unity in practice.