BayWindows.com – Richard J. Rosendall
Red October used to be a fictional Soviet submarine imagined by Tom Clancy. This month it has been applied to the heat wave in the eastern United States. I think I will remember this Red October not for the unseasonable weather but for the storm of rage by many LGBT activists against Rep. Barney Frank and others over the federal Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA).
Late in the balmiest October in memory, we face the incredible prospect that LGBT organizations — if Rep. Tammy Baldwin’s transgender-inclusive amendment fails on the House floor — will seek the defeat of a gay rights bill that has been kicking around in one form or another for 33 years. It’s enough to make activists who know their history see red.