Dent on Gay Rights

            Here goes Dent going against the Republicans again. Unfortunately, this didn’t make national news; but it should have. Democrats are trying to  pass a bill that ends discrimination in the workplace on basis of race, religion or sexual orientation;  known as the Employment Non Discrimination Act. The huge part of this bill is the part about sexual orientation. Republicans alike have a long track record of publically being against gay marriage and anything involving gay rights. Due to their conservative nature, they have always believed that a relationship should be between a man and a woman. This is a HUGE part of the Republican Party; a part on which they have refused to budge. When this bill started floating around, Boehner immediately said the he very much opposes the bill and he has no doubt that it will not pass the House (The Washington Post, 2013). Dent on the other hand, believes the bill should be brought to vote, and he even went as far to say that he would vote for it along with 35 other Republicans (The Washington Post, 2013). Dent said that he believes the American public wants to make sure people are not discriminated on based on race, religion and especially sexual orientation (The Washington Post, 2013). This is a very bold move for Dent. As I said before, Republicans do not approve of gay rights and Dent is blatantly going against them. As I discussed in my last post, some of Dent’s constituents thought he was being a little flakey because he would publically come out against the Republican Party but then was still voting with and supporting them. For some extreme Republicans, this may not go over well. But in my opinion, I think this was a really good move for Dent. He is a moderate for a reason, he agrees with the Republicans sometimes and not others. He’s not going around claiming to be an extreme Republican one day and an extreme Democrat the next. He calls himself a moderate for a reason. I think people have forgotten this with all the divisions going on within the Republican Party. I also think that this is a really good move for Dent because as time goes on, people are becoming more and more accepting of gay rights. Public opinion polls have showed that support for gay marriage is now over 50% (USA Today, 2013). Times are changing and it’s our representative’s jobs to know how people’s opinions are changing with them. Specifically for Pennsylvania, over 50% of people support gay marriage, and since Dent’s district tends to be pretty moderate, I’m sure the numbers for his specific district are similar (Thing Progress, 2013). This scenario has been happening a lot for Dent in recent months, having to choose between what his constituents want and what his party wants; but I think Dent really made the right decision on this one. Gay rights is a huge topic of debate these days, but it is clear that the American public is starting to lean towards it, and it’s time that the Republican Party hops on board.

References:

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2013/07/01/poll-supreme-court-gay-marriage-affirmative-action-voting-rights/2479541/

http://thinkprogress.org/lgbt/2013/10/03/2730711/poll-54-percent-of-pennsylvanians-support-new-marriage-equality-bill/

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2013/11/04/house-republicans-set-to-kill-enda/