Republican Party and LGBT Rights
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It’s Okay, Some of My Best Friends Are Bigots
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The End of the Road for Carrie Prejean
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People Who Live in Glass Houses Shouldn't Make Pornographic Sex Tapes
Five Gay Rights Questions Oprah Winfrey Should Ask Sarah Palin
Published October 28, 2009 @ 06:53AM PT
Sarah Palin is about to go rogue. On November 17, the former Republican Vice Presidential candidate and current star of the GOP speaking circuit is set to launch her first book, Going Rogue. She's dabbling with some speaking engagements to support the book -- most notably attending an extremely anti-gay college in Missouri that actually disciplines students for holding hands with someone of the same gender -- and the day before the book launch, Palin will sit down on the world's most famous couch, right next to Oprah Winfrey.
There's no word on whether she'll Tom Cruise it up and jump up and down, but it's certainly bound to be one of the more interesting hours of television this Fall season. Oprah was a huge Obama supporter, so that already creates some fun tension, and then we all know how Sarah Palin gets when the TV cameras turn on (the Katie Couric that will live in infamy comes to mind...).
Since Oprah will have the biggest GOP celebrity on her set, here's hoping that the issue of LGBT rights comes up at least once. Given Palin's rhetoric on the subject, it would be nice to see someone press the former Governor to ask her why she thinks the way she thinks about many things related to gay and lesbian Americans. Perhaps Oprah is the person who can do it. Here are our five gay rights questions that we'd like to see the Queen of Daytime Television ask the Queen of the Republican Party.
Wanna Place a Bet on Gay Marriage?
Published October 21, 2009 @ 02:00PM PT
Place a conservative commentator on the spot, and you're likely to get them to say the darndest things. Case in point, NY Times conservative columnist Ross Douthat was a featured speaker at an n+1 panel in New York last night, and he was asked about the issue of gay marriage. His reaction?
Conservative opposition to gay marriage is a losing argument.
Douthat himself does not get all warm and fuzzy about the idea of gays and lesbians marrying. He opposes same-sex marriage on religious grounds. But he's also wise enough to know that his line of thinking isn't where the arc of this country's history is heading. Opposing gay marriage now is almost like opposing the repeal of Jim Crow laws fifty years ago. Eventually the court of public opinion is going to decide this matter, and the court of public opinion belongs to advocates of marriage equality.
Douthat also spoke with the Observer after the n+1 event, and added that if he were a betting man, he wouldn't be betting against gay marriage.
"The secular arguments against gay marriage, when they aren't just based on bigotry or custom, tend to be abstract in ways that don't find purchase in American political discourse. I say, ‘Institutional support for reproduction,' you say, ‘I love my boyfriend and I want to marry him.' Who wins that debate? You win that debate," said Douthat. "If I were putting money on the future of gay marriage, I would bet on it."
Another conservative has come around that marriage equality is a matter of "when," not "if." Maybe part of that "when" happens this November in Maine, if gay rights supporters can make the state the first to fight back against a ballot measure that bashes gay marriage.
Sarah Palin and Colleges that Ban Homosexuality
Published October 21, 2009 @ 08:07AM PT
She may no longer be America's most well-known Governor, but Sarah Palin is still making the rounds as if she's the cream of the crop of the political world. In a few weeks she'll be releasing her book, "Going Rogue," and in the lead-up plans to do a number of speaking engagements -- from Milwaukee to Missouri.
But looking at her tour schedule, one might wonder why she's giving face time at a university that bans homosexuality, and treats LGBT students as if they were carriers of the plague. The pitbull with lipstick is due to speak at the College of the Ozarks in Fort Lookout, Missouri, and the college has an official handbook that says in big letters, 'We discriminate against LGBT people.'
Technically, the quote is, "College of the Ozarks is guided* by a long-standing traditional biblical worldview which reflects the understanding that human sexuality is a gift from God...Misuses of God’s gift will be understood to include, but not to be limited to sexual abuse, sexual harassment, sexual assault, heterosexual misconduct, homosexual conduct, or possession of pornographic materials."
Now, every private entity has their right to fill their codes of conduct with whatever bulls*it they want it filled with. But for an academic institution -- supposedly dedicated to higher learning, no less -- to still tie homosexuality in with sexual abuse and pornography, makes me think that the College of the Ozarks is still operating under an 1890s curriculum.
During last year's Vice Presidential debate, Sarah Palin said this in regards to gay rights: "I would be...tolerant of adults in America choosing their partners, choosing relationships that they deem best for themselves."
So much for Palin's tolerance. She'd rather support a university that disciplines students simply for holding the hand of someone with the same-sex.
(Photo courtesy of auburnxc's photostream on Flickr, used under Creative Commons license.)
Female Politicos Who Hate Gays Get Their Own Calendar
Published September 30, 2009 @ 08:46AM PT
If you'd like to induce a sense of nausea with your holiday gifts this year, head on over to the Clare Booth Luce Policy Institute, where you can pre-order a pin-up calendar featuring some of your favorite female anti-gay politicos. The calendar is the perfect gift for that brother-in-law who thinks, like Rep. Michele Bachmann (Miss November) does, that students will have to recite their commitment to gay marriage instead of the Pledge of Allegiance if the gays have their way.
The Clare Booth Luce Policy Institute is a think tank geared toward conservatives. But instead of showing the breadth and depth of conservative women, their calendar features rabidly anti-gay peeps that practice a politics seeped in homophobia. Instead of Meghan McCain, Dede Scozzafava, or heck, even Susan Collins, these calendar pages are filled with the likes of Phyllis Schlafly, Carrie Prejean, and Ann Coulter.
A few of the statements made by the featured women in the Clare Booth Luce calendar:
Ann Coulter: When she's not calling politicians like former President Bill Clinton a "faggot," she's busy saying that gay marriage is insane.
Phyllis Schlafly: She's made the case that marriage needs to be saved from the gay lobby, and has long called LGBT people immoral.
Star Parker: She's chastised African-American people who support same-sex marriage and the pro-LGBT policies of President Obama, and has suggested that sodomites be quarantined.
Michele Bachmann: Who can forget Congress's most outspoken wingnut. When Rep. Bachmann isn't saying that gay people are a threat to children, she's busy saying that schools are going to be forced to teach same-sex marriage. But never fear -- she says she loves homosexuals, she just hates their sexual dysfunction.
And there's plenty more where these came from. Also featured in the calendar are former Miss California Carrie "opposite marriage" Prejean, Bay Buchanan, and Michelle Malkin, among others.
This Pennsylvania Politician is a Hater. It's Time to Let Him Know.
Published September 26, 2009 @ 07:53AM PT
When you think of Pennsylvania State Rep. Daryl Metcalfe, it would probably be best if you let the following words float into your head: homophobe, radical, wingnut, and downright mean. Why? Well, when it comes to LGBT rights, Rep. Metcalfe has been an uncontrollable foe, opposed to anything that he can twist into fitting what he calls a "homosexual agenda." Case in point, he blocked efforts by the Pennsylvania legislature this week to recognize October as "Domestic Violence Awareness" month.
Why would a politician oppose a largely symbolic measure that honors victims of domestic violence? Because Rep. Metcalfe thought that doing so would be catering to a gay rights agenda.
This is a politician that, simply put, can't tell his ass from his elbow, nor decency from complete idiocy. He's so out of touch with the reality of Pennsylvania voters that a local paper even branded his last name a verb that means "wantonly engaging in acts of stupefying redundancy." They've certainly got the stupefying right.
Rep. Metcalfe has also been obsessed with getting Pennsylvania to ban gay marriage. He's a member of a small fringe team of legislators that crafted langauge for a marriage ban, and he's called LGBT people "not normal," "sinful," and said that he "chose" his heterosexuality. But the nice thing about Rep. Metcalfe is that he hasn't just kept his insanity focused on the gays. He's also gotten involved in bashing Muslims too (which means he fits the latest Pew Forum report on discrimination to a tee). Rep. Metcalfe refused to vote to honor the 60th anniversary of a Muslim group in Pennsylvania because "Muslims don't recognize Jesus Christ as God."
Huh...so I wonder what Rep. Metcalfe thinks of Jews, Hindus, and Buddhists, too?
Does it seem ridiculous that this man draws a salary from Pennsylvania taxpayers? Sure does. Local activists have already created a Web site, Dump Daryl Metcalfe, to try and draw attention to this man's homophobic and bigoted career. Now, here on change.org, you can add your voice, too, by signing an email campaign that goes directly to Rep. Metcalfe, to Rep. Samuel Smith (the Minority Leader of Pennsylvania's State House and the highest State House official in Rep. Metcalfe's party), as well as Rep. Sandra Major (the State House Republican Party Caucus Chair). It's time to send the message to these folks that Rep. Metcalfe's brand of hatred is both an embarrassment to the Republican Party, as well as an embarrassment to Pennsylvania voters.
Sign the petition here if you'd like. And for more information, visit Dump Daryl Metcalfe.
Moving Republicans to Support Gay Marriage
Published September 22, 2009 @ 04:44PM PT
Can you be Republican and support gay marriage? The short answer to that is, of course. Look at Meghan McCain, Steve Schmidt, Dede Scozzafava, or heck, even Dick Cheney. But while a few voices in the wilderness have come out for marriage equality, most of the Republican Party toes a line that says no to same-sex marriage. But despite what Mike Huckabee, Mitt Romney, Sarah Palin, Tim Pawlenty, or Newt Gingrich might say about same-sex marriage, there's room in the GOP to change hearts and minds on this issue. And one commercial is doing just that.
The commercial comes from Truth and Hope, a media advocacy group that launched in 2004 to help support the Presidential candidacy of Howard Dean. It's an attempt to tell the story of one set of grandparents that are as American as apple pie, baseball, or Little House on the Prairie. What do these grandparents have to say?
Well, that they love their gay son. And his husband. And their adopted children.
And then there are lots of shots of cute babies.
It's possible that people just really like cute babies (much like people like soft puppies and fluffy clouds), which is why they watch this commercial and think "happiness." But as The Advocate reports, the commercial could also be swaying conservatives originally opposed to same-sex marriage to see LGBT families in a different light.
Upwards of 58 percent of Republicans described the ad (youtube clip below, and here) as extremely or somewhat effective. But that's not all. According to The Advocate, conservatives viewing this ad were actually inspired. As a group, opponents of marriage equality listed "inspiration" ahead of emotions like anger or embarrassment.
As Eugene Hedlund, the founder and chair of truthandhope.org, tells the magazine, that's huge news.
"The fact that one in five Republicans expressed happiness, and that the effectiveness rating over 50% with all three parties shows that we are on target with our message," Hedlund said. "Now it becomes our task to take this message to the airwaves, beginning in Maine...."
So does this finally mean that when it comes to advertising, LGBT groups are starting to gain the upper hand in how they sell the issue of equal rights? It's hard to say. But with numbers that look that good, Truth and Hope is definitely onto something.
(Photo at top of post courtesy of Drab Makyo's photostream on Flickr.)
Mike Huckabee is the Darling of the Anti-LGBT Right
Published September 19, 2009 @ 05:10PM PT
The GOP sure has a way of resurrecting their dead. Or rather, their losing Presidential candidates. There was Richard Nixon (lost in 1960). There was the first George Bush (lost in 1980). Bob Dole (also lost in 1980). John McCain (lost in 2000). And now there's former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, who while getting his clock cleaned in 2008 after a few surprise primary victories, has again emerged as a darling of the radical, anti-LGBT right-wing.
Huckabee won a 2012 GOP presidential straw poll at this weekend's "Value Voters Summit" in Washington, D.C., a gathering sponsored by the extremely anti-gay Family Research Council. Not only did he win, but he mopped the floor with the other candidates, beating them by more than 2 to 1.Huckabee's 28 percent bested Mitt Romney, Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, and Indiana Rep. Mike Pence (all of whom finished with about 12 percent).
What does this say? Well, perhaps not much, given that 2012 is three years away. But on another level, it's a sign that instead of learning from the drubbing that the GOP took in 2008 (and 2006), they're not backing away from extreme right positions on social issues that go against the grain of the American public. Huckabee was only too thrilled to echo that sentiment at the Value Voters Summit.
"There are so many people who have told us as conservatives that we should move to the center, on the sanctity of marriage or the sanctity of life," Huckabee said. "I'm not sure the center makes a whole lot of sense."
Huckabee is one of the most bigoted politicians in the Republican party. Huckabee has said he finds LGBT people to be aberrant and sinful. Huckabee has suggested that gay marriage would be the downfall of civilization. Huckabee is excited to be speaking at an organization in Illinois that has compared LGBT people to Nazis and has urged churches to respond to homosexuality as if it were on par with nazism.
Politics like that get you the top spot in GOP straw polls? Embarassing. Politics like that should get you branded the David Duke of the 21st century.
Instead Huckabee is celebrated among the religious right. If the GOP is willing to embrace Mike Huckabee, than they better be willing to embrace a man who calls LGBT people sinful, and a man who would rather speak at an organization comparing gay people to Nazis than an organization like the ACLU -- which he's also apparently comfortable trashing.
