by Kilian Melloy
Tuesday Feb 1, 2011
During her father’s presidency, George W. Bush daughter Barbara and
her twin sister Jenna made headlines for their party-girl antics.
Now, Barbara Bush heads up a non-profit and has declared herself
in favor of inviting everyone to another sort of party; Ms. Bush
has called for marriage rights for gay and lesbian families.
Barbara Bush, 29, is featured in a video released by the
Human Rights Campaign (HRC), reported the Associated Press
on Feb. 1. In the video, Ms. Bush, a resident of Manhattan,
says that she is a "New Yorker for marriage equality." The AP
article noted that her father supported an amendment to the
United States Constitution that would have targeted gay and
lesbian families for exclusion from marriage.
New York state does not offer marriage to same-sex couples,
but will honor marriages granted to gay and lesbian families
in other jurisdictions. Equality advocates, buoyed by the
election of Gov. Andrew Cuomo--an outspoken proponent of
marriage equality--hope to see New York join the five states
that do grant gays and lesbians legal access to marital rights
and protections.
"I’m Barabara Bush, and I’m a New Yorker for marriage equality,"
Ms. Bush says in the 22-second video, which announces via text
that "New Yorkers support full marriage equality."
"New York is about fairness and equality," Ms. Bush continues,
"and everyone should have the right to marry the person that they love."
"Barbara Bush joins prominent Republicans like her mother Laura Bush
as well as Dick Cheney and Ted Olson as supporters of marriage
equality," stated the HRC, reported CNN on Jan. 31.
CNN also noted that the children of other conservative politicians
have spoken out for full family parity, including Meghan McCain
and openly lesbian Mary Cheney, daughter of the former vice president.
The difference in viewpoints toward the civil rights of gay and lesbian
families may reflect a larger generational divide. Polls show that support
continues to grow for full legal and social equality for sexual minorities,
in issues ranging from marriage equality to military service by openly gay
and lesbian patriots. One consistent factor has been the greater acceptance
toward GLBTs by younger Americans.
A major part of that shift is thought to be increased visibility of out
GLBT Americans. A Feb. 1 AOL News article says that while a student at
Yale, Ms. Bush had gay and lesbian classmates--a simple fact of life that
remained the case when she entered the work force in the fashion world
before establishing a non-profit. The New York Times, in a Jan. 31 article,
quoted an openly gay college friend of Ms. Bush, C. Brian Smith, as recalling
that during her student days, Ms. Bush "was loved by the gay community at Yale."
"No matter what party they belong to, young Americans believe in basic
fairness and equality," noted the HRC’s Brian Ellner.
The AP noted that the HRC has posted videos online of other celebrities
endorsing marriage equality, including Robert F. Kennedy, Jr, Whoopi Goldberg,
Kenneth Cole, Mayor Bloomberg, Moby, Julianne Moore, and married actors
Kyra Sedgwick and Kevin Bacon.
