50 years in 50 weeks: 1992, Bush loses

  • by BAR staff
  • Wednesday September 1, 2021
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Photo: Courtesy B.A.R. Archive
Photo: Courtesy B.A.R. Archive

LGBTQs were partying in the Castro on election night 1992, as it became clear that Republican President George H.W. Bush would be defeated by Democrat Bill Clinton. Of course, Clinton, who campaigned as a friend of the community, famously made two blunders: caving to the right with the hideous Defense of Marriage Act, which prevented same-sex couples from receiving myriad benefits that heterosexual couples enjoyed; and bowing to military brass with his "compromise" "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy that saw gays and lesbians tossed out of the armed services because of who they are. It would take the courts decades to finally unravel DOMA (2013's Windsor ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court) and a Democratic-controlled Congress to finally pass DADT repeal in 2010, which was signed by another Democratic president, Barack Obama. To see the issue, click here.

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