Tommy Thompson: A Poor Choice for HHS Secretary
Ezekiel J. Krahlin
Tommy Thompson: A Poor Choice for HHS Secretary
By Elizabeth Toledo
Executive Director
National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
The first time I picketed in front of the Reagan Building in
Washington, D.C. was in protest of a visit by Wisconsin Gov. Tommy
Thompson. He had signed some of the most misogynist legislation in the
country, including the most restrictive anti-abortion legislation
implemented since the Supreme Court in Roe v Wade recognized abortion
as a constitutional right in 1973. He also engineered Wisconsin's
onerous welfare law, which kicked off the trend that resulted in
punitive measures at the federal level -- measures that made
scapegoats of many lower-income people who lacked access to
educational opportunities, job training and affordable child care.
Imagine then my surprise to pick up several publications that serve
the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community and read an
uncritical analysis of Thompson, whom President-designate George W.
Bush has nominated to be Secretary of Health and Human Services.
Replace Donna Shalala with Tommy Thompson? The dismal reality of the
presidential election has begun to sink in. The question arises, what
vision and leadership will we in the GLBT movement provide over the
course of the next four years? Is it enough to say that Tommy Thompson
is not as bad an appointment as Bush could have made? Is it enough to
say that the nomination of Sen. John Ashcroft to be attorney general
is somehow mitigated by the nomination of the pro-choice and pro-GLBT
New Jersey Gov. Christine Whitman to be head of the Environmental
Protection Agency?
Let's give credit where it is due. As chair of the committee that
drafted the Republican Party platform last summer, Thompson did lead
the effort to remove some -- not all -- of the GOP's anti-GLBT
language. (A measure condemning recognition of same-sex relationships
remained in Thompson's draft, and other discriminatory measures were
later placed back in the platform after religious right activists
wrestled the document away from the Wisconsin governor.)
Thompson also has been a positive advocate for AIDS funding. He
strongly supported the Ryan White Care Act and he sought Medicaid
waivers for HIV-positive people, who are not normally eligible for
Medicaid until they have developed AIDS symptoms.
That's two marks in favor of Thompson - and in opposing Thompson's
nomination as Secretary of Health and Human Services, the National Gay
and Lesbian Task Force does not trivialize their importance.
But a principled and progressive GLBT movement for social justice must
demand better.
As Coretta Scott King recently noted at NGLTF's recent Creating Change
conference, one of the stories behind the November 2000 election is
the unprecedented coalition-building. "In a way, we have just had an
object lesson in the power of coalition unity," Mrs. King said. "I
think we have just seen the future of American democracy flash before
our eyes last Tuesday (Nov. 7). The coalition that gave Al Gore a
popular majority can surely be as powerful as the New Deal coalition
that transformed America in an earlier era."
Quoting the immortal words of her husband, Mrs. King said, "We are all
tied together in a single garment of destiny...An inescapable network
of mutuality...I can never be what I ought to be until you are allowed
to be what you ought to be."
So in envisioning a broad-based, progressive coalition, I think we
must think of those who have suffered and will suffer under a
Bush-Tommy Thompson agenda. Based on his record, how would we expect
Thompson to treat poor GLBT people who need social services? If he
punishes poor women for having too many children, how do we think he's
going to treat GLBT parents who need help providing for their kids?
How will his support for a pro-heterosexual-marriage agenda in welfare
policies impact our community? How will his support for privatization
of our public schools impact the employment rights of GLBT teachers at
private schools? Or the right of GLBT kids not to get harassed and
kicked out of those schools?
On the issue of abortion, what will it mean to have our top health and
human services officer reject the fundamental right to privacy? If he
has the right to interfere in a decision to control our reproductive
decisions, what else can -- and will -- he do to control our bodies?
I believe the GLBT community ought to consider issues like
reproductive health and poverty a central part of our concerns for
many reasons. After all, a significant portion of our community
grapples with these issues in their personal lives. And there are
homophobic policies and practices in the institutions that control
these services.
But even for those GLBT activists who reject a more inclusive agenda,
there ought to at least be a mention of Thompson's record on these
social issues. Does anyone really believe that a politician who treats
women and poor people with such disrespect will hold our community in
esteem?
A movement must have a set of values -- otherwise we are just a
disconnected group of people who are outside the norms of
heterosexuality. I urge us to embrace a set of values that represents
the struggles of every segment of our community. Let's thank Tommy
Thompson appropriately for his few gestures of support. But let's
reserve "praise" for a nominee who has earned it.
---end of article
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