Libertarian perspectives on gay rights

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The libertarian perspective on gay rights has been a topic of debate among libertarians, especially in the United States. Libertarians endorse many of the goals of the gay rights movement, for instance deregulation of private sexual conduct. However, they also oppose some goals, including laws prohibiting anti-gay discrimination in the private sector.

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[edit] Libertarian support for certain goals of major gay rights organizations

A libertarian theory or perspective on gay rights endorses many of the goals of the of the large gay lobbying organizations, such as HRC:

  • Repeal of all laws regulating sexual conduct among consenting adults in private (i.e. sodomy laws) and ensuring an equal age of consent.
  • End the usage of solication or loitering laws to harass gay people or gay-owned businesses.
  • Ensure that a professional license is not revoked on the grounds of sexual orientation.
  • Equal government treatment for gay immigrants and equal government protection from true crimes such as murder, rape, theft and assault.
  • Libertarians believe that the right of terminally ill people to use medical marijuana to help treat the nausea associated with cancer and AIDS medications is also an important issue for gay people. A gay libertarian named Peter McWilliams is often seen as a martyr to this particular cause.
  • Some libertarians support the end to discrimination based on sexual orientation in all government employment, especially in the armed forces.
  • Some libertarians support legalization of same-sex marital contracts, while others support ending government definition of marriage or respect of marriage entirely.
  • Some libertarians support allowing gay couples to adopt and have custody of children.

This has led to the rise of some libertarian organizations for gay rights such as the Gays and Lesbians for Individual Liberty, the defunct Libertarians for Gay and Lesbian Concerns and the Outright Libertarians. These organizations seek to persuade gay people that libertarianism or classical liberalism or Objectivism is the best perspective for the gay rights movement, as opposed to modern liberalism or socialism.

[edit] Libertarian opposition to certain goals of major gay rights organizations

In response, some have offered several reasons why they feel that libertarians should not be trusted to promote gay rights. They point to areas where libertarians tend to disagree with major liberal gay rights lobbies such as HRC and NGLTF:

  • Most libertarians believe that employment is a mutually voluntary association between employer and employee, which should offer both parties the flexibility to make their own decisions about whether or not to continue a relationship. They therefore believe that laws such as ENDA that create quotas or preferential hiring treatment for people based on any characteristic undermine that voluntary dynamic of mutual co-operation -- violating the individual rights of the employers to hire or not hire as they wish. Thus, libertarians affirm the rights of employers (and employees) to make employment decisions based wholly or partly on the grounds of race, ethnicity, religious affiliation, sexual orientation, job performance, or any other characteristic they so desire -- even when individual libertarians disagree with those criteria or decisions.
  • Most libertarians support the right of the Boy Scouts of America and any other private organizations, businesses and clubs to hire/fire/include/exclude whom they desire (of course, Libertarians generally feel that such groups should also not have access to public funds, resources, etc.). The Gays and Lesbians for Individual Liberty filed an amicus brief for the Boy Scouts of America before the United States Supreme Court in 2001, noting that a law that requires the Boy Scouts to include gay members could also require gay groups such as HRC or NGLTF to include anti-gay religious evangelical members.
  • Libertarians oppose all hate crime legislation and support the Constitutional system of law enforcement that mandates criminal law as a state and local issue (absent federal crimes that are listed in the Constitution itself).
  • Libertarians generally oppose government-supplied education (though some support government-funded school vouchers for the poor). Libertarians believe that parental decisions, rather than political rhetoric, should be the driving factors of education and that any educational decision that parents make that doesn't engage in the abuse of children is the appropriate one. Some have interpreted this to mean that libertarians believe parents have the right to send their children to an ex-gay camp, but many libertarians have noted that ex-gay camps are abusive and violate a child's fundamental right to not be abused. [1].
  • Some self-described libertarians (such as Republican Ron Paul) oppose legalization of same-sex marital contracts, others favor ending government definition of marriage or recognition of marriage entirely and support allowing individuals, couples, churches, affinity organizations, and other non-government social institutions to define it in their own way. They argue that such an approach moves family decisions back into family units and out of the hands of politicians.

An arguably major reason for liberal and libertarian variance on gay rights is the record of the liberal Democratic Party and its candidates promoted on issues of gay rights. Major votes on anti-gay laws such as DOMA and the anti-gay military policy were supported by prominent liberal Democrats including Paul Wellstone, Bill Clinton, and Hillary Clinton. Many of the criticisms made of libertarians, such as a few prominent candidates' opposition to marriage equality, can be equally made of the majority of Democratic party politicians -- for instance, none of the major declared Democratic Party candidates for president favors equal marriage rights under the law for same-sex couples. In contrast, it should be noted that major Libertarian Party candidates, such as 2004's presidential candidate Michael Badnarik, are outspoken advocates of equal marriage for same-sex couples.

Many libertarians point out that libertarian policies on marriage equality and other basic legal treatment tend to go much further the civil unions and ENDA/employment quota compromises offered by Democratic Party campaigns in delivering equality under the law, and contend that criticisms of libertarian positions on gay rights cannot be made by candidates and organizations that don't believe in equal treatment under the law in such basic areas. They often view ENDA, hate crime laws, and other legislation as window dressing that doesn't address fundamental unequal treatment by the government today in marriage, family, immigration and other areas where Democrats and Republicans alike generally oppose gay equality.

[edit] Conservative-libertarian connection

Just as libertarians share common perspectives with liberals on social issues (notably, abortion and government treatment of gays), they also share common perspectives with some conservatives. On issues such as the Second Amendment, taxation, free markets, and "states' rights," many libertarians and Republicans find common ground. Some argue that conservatives and libertarians speak a similar political language that places a high value on limited government, personal responsibility, free markets and disdain for anything that they consider to be socialism or political correctness.

However, libertarians (and Libertarian Party members) also break with conservatives on many issues -- including outspoken criticism of the war in Iraq, opposition to the USA Patriot Act, opposition to anti-gay bills and laws such as the Federal Marriage Amendment, and other large swathes of policy. Thus, many argue that efforts to paint libertarians and conservatives as similar or the same are inaccurate -- and they point to conservative taunts of "liberaltarian" that are often used by the right to claim that libertarians are really liberals in disguise to underscore their argument.

[edit] Gay Republicans and Libertarians

Gay Republicans agree with the Republican Party on issues of taxation, trade and foreign policy, and gun control. Libertarianism has provided a theoretical framework for gay Republicans to advocate a gay rights movement that they feel should be closely aligned with a belief (shared by conservatives and libertarians) in lower taxes, free markets, and limited government. Hence many gay Republicans such as Andrew Sullivan and organizations such as the Log Cabin Republicans and the Independent Gay Forum address gay rights from a perspective that is clearly libertarian in character and often differs from how gay liberals and moderates view gay rights; the writers at the Independent Gay Forum endorsed the libertarian position that the Boy Scouts of America should be free to exclude gay men as scouts and scoutmasters. Gay Republicans have also endorsed the libertarian perspective in opposing hate crime legislation, though their perspective on marriage more in line with that of liberals, in that they demand all of the over 1,100 rights currently extended to straight married couples, including those which are incompatible with libertarianism. [2]

The connection is not always smooth in other ways, as the more orthodox gay libertarians affiliated with the Gays and Lesbians for Individual Liberty and the Outright Libertarians accuse gay Republicans of selectively invoking a libertarian perspective in an effort to move their own party into a more socially libertarian position, and not to support the Libertarian Party or advocate election law reforms (especially ballot access law reforms) that would help the Libertarian Party be a viable alternative to the two major political parties.

[edit] Democratic-libertarian connection

Libertarians frequently have common ground with a significant number of Democrats, too, on issues such as Separation of Church and State, free speech, etc. Both Democrats and libertarians want to ensure that people remain free from groups such as the Moral Majority and the Christian Coalition. Hence, the Democratic Freedom Caucus is a semi-libertarian group within the Democratic party. There are a significant number of Stonewall Democrats in the caucus.

The "libertarian Democrat" movement, launched by The Daily Kos, represents an effort by liberal Democrats to reach out to libertarians (and Libertarian party members) on areas of perceived common ground, including strong support of civil liberties and support for equal treatment for LGBT people under the law.

[edit] Internal debate among libertarians

On certain gay rights issues Libertarians have been unsure as to what their official position should be and how much pressure they should put on Libertarian candidates to support these positions.

In 1992 conservative activists in Colorado got Amendment 2 on the statewide ballot that would have prohibited the local or state government from passing any sort of civil rights legislation, including protection for gays. As this amendment would have included the private and public sector, many Colorado libertarians were unsure what their position should be and in the end the Colorado Libertarian Party was unable to take any position on this amendment that was struck down by the United States Supreme Court in 1996.

In 2000 the Vermont Supreme Court ordered the state to provide civil unions for gay couples as an alternative to the legalization of gay marriage. The court ruling prompted the lone libertarian legislator in Vermont to side with the conservatives that made an unsuccessful attempt to impeach the justices for their ruling. The Vermont Libertarian Party endorsed civil unions and revoked their previous endorsement of the state legislator who went on to run for office as a Republican. Libertarians debate if a limited government would provide any sort of legal protection to a marriage, and if so there is debate as to how that should apply to gay couples.

In 2001 California voters passed a ballot measure that defined marriage as a union between one man and one woman. The California Libertarian Party officially opposed the ballot initiative, but critics noted that many Libertarians running for office in California supported the ballot measure and did not get any sanctions from the state party as had happened in Vermont. It should be noted that Democratic and Republican candidates across the state also supported the measure and were not sanctioned by their parties either, and the proportion of Democratic candidate support was similar to Libertarian candidate support for the bill.

[edit] External links

  • Official Libertarian Party position on LGBT equality
    • Current Sexuality and Gender plank of national platform [3]
  • LBGT libertarians
  • Gay Republicans That Invoke Libertarian Principles
    • Lavender But Not Pink [8]
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