Chris Crain, Executive Editor of The Washington Blade, has a biting editorial concerning the Democrats' treatment of the draconian anti-gay constitutional amendment going down in Virginia.

Tim Kaine, the new Democratic governor, is supporting the amendment--which goes way beyond any gay marriage ban in any other state, and approaches and in some ways exceeds the scope of Colorado's unconstitutional Amendment 2. The Democrats punished Kaine for trampling on the rights of one of their core constituencies by anointing him with the coveted role of giving the official Democratic response to the president's State of the Union address.

Meanwhile, Governor Robert Erlich, the Republican governor of Maryland, took a baby step in the direction of equality by signing a bill that gives registered same-sex partners to make medical decisions on behalf of incapacitated partners.

The response of the National Stonewall Democrats to these events was to blast Erlich as a milquetoast and remain silent as a stone wall on Kaine.

After the 2004 election losses, I predicted the Democrats would respond by throwing gay people under the bus. based on the view of the tire treads from where I'm sitting, it looks like I was right.

Fortunately for Coloradans, our Democrats seem to be different. Instead of blaming us for the national party's problems, our Democrats have embraced the plight of the GLBT person and made equality a central issue of governance in the state, and are actively courting Republicans to support equality--and they are beginning to sign on.

The real milquetoast is the national Democratic Party, followed closely by the national Stonewall Democrats. Until the national party starts taking a principled stand on basic human rights, it will be completely up to the local parties to get the job done. Perhaps it's time for a western rebellion in the party?