Lost Causes

Virginia Postrel from the January 1993 issue

(Page 2 of 2)

To gay-rights supporters, the Colorado vote in particular looks like a win for bigotry. The measure's sponsors were, certainly, anti-gay. But lifting anti-discrimination laws is not the same as mandating discrimination–by either the state or private citizens. And the margin of victory came from voters who saw anti-discrimination laws not as statements of equal rights but as guarantees of special privileges. These swing voters were anti-regulation, not anti-gay.

None of this is to suggest either that the majority is always right or that the American electorate has suddenly swerved from its historic pragmatism to adopt even a vague libertarianism. In the face of Bill Clinton's victory, even if seen as George Bush's loss, such conclusions would be the height of stupidity.

Americans still expect too much from government. But respect for convictions and for private life–whether religious, moral, sexual, or economic–also runs deep in our character. This election affirmed that respect. And for those who care more for principle and policy than party or personality, that is good news.

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