03/13/2004: "The enemy of my enemy is...my enemy?"

In Chicago, gay activists apparently are so determined to get what they want, when they want it�NOW!�that they are no longer capable of recognizing their friends, or so it appears from this Chicago Sun-Times article:

Angry gay activists surrounded Cook County Clerk David Orr at a busy downtown intersection Thursday, screaming at him and pushing until police pushed back.

The effort to bring more attention to gay marriage rights turned physical at Madison and Dearborn, with Orr caught in the middle.

Orr had joined dozens of other elected officials and community leaders in signing an open letter to U.S. Rep. J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) condemning the idea of a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage, as President Bush is proposing.

That, of course, earned him the wrath of the crowd:

From there, Orr and others joined a rally of about 125 people at Federal Plaza, but when protesters saw Orr�long a champion of gay rights�they turned their anger to him.

That's because Orr's office issues marriage licenses, but he won't issue licenses to same-sex couples until there is legal backing.

"Justice delayed is justice denied," the crowd chanted.

"Sign licenses not letters," the crowd chanted at Orr and at two openly gay officials�state Rep. Larry McKeon (D-Chicago) and Ald. Tom Tunney (44th)�who signed the open letter to Hastert and who then came to support the rally.

So apparently being a "champion of gay rights," or gay yourself, means nothing if you haven't done anything for us in the last 15 minutes. Nothing like delayed gratification.

"If we're going to get justice in this town, we're going to have to fight the Democratic Party in Chicago," said Andy Thayer, a protest organizer chanting at Orr. "If we think we're going to sweet talk the Mayor Daleys of this world into doing the right thing, we're being naive. When we're talking about equal rights under the law, you're either with us or against us.

"Don't stand in our way and say, 'Oh, give us a few more years.' It's past time for that. And don't be fooled. We do have our Clarence Thomases of our movement."

Now there's an insult for you.

Not everyone in the gay community insists on juvenile caterwauling and public displays of temper as the height of activist chic. Some actually recognize the rule of law, and seek orderly change that will achieve the maximum results while alienating as few of the vast heterosexual majority as possible. However the debate over gay marriage turns out, I hope for the sake of civility that the latter can be heard over the screaming of the emotional four-year-olds.