Log Cabin prez responds to Barney over "Uncle Tom" charge

Date: Tue, 11 Sep 2012 19:43:19 -0400
From: R. Clarke Cooper
Subject: Re: [NC] Barney Frank: Why I Called the Log Cabin Republicans
"Uncle Toms"

I sent the following to Politico upon departure from the NRCC rollout of 'Vanguard' House candidates:

"Congressman Frank, of all people, should understand the importance of perseverance when working within a party to achieve change - after all, it was not so long ago his party was indifferent at best when it came to respecting gay families. Leaders committed to LGBT equality know that every victory our community has achieved has required bipartisan advocacy and bipartisan votes, and winning support from Republicans will only be more important in the days ahead. Come January, Republicans will maintain a majority in the House and likely secure a majority in the Senate. Without Log Cabin Republicans working with fellow conservatives, LGBT Americans would be left without a credible voice within the GOP. Barney Frank's denial of Log Cabin Republicans success, particularly on 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' repeal and the freedom to marry in New York, is sad but unsurprising. It is time for him to pass on the baton to leaders better suited to a world where equality is not a partisan issue."

R. Clarke Cooper
Executive Director
Log Cabin Republicans

I'm not convinced Barney is right going after Log Cabin. 11 years ago, Log Cabin was worthless. Now they do seem to try to make a difference, and have with their lawsuit on DADT, among other things.
Read the rest of this post...

More on Barney, Log Cabin and Uncle Tom

Last week, Barney Frank referred to the Log Cabin Republicans as "Uncle Toms." Then he defended it. Now he's defending it again.

But my use of "Uncle Tom" was based not simply on the awful fact that they have chosen to be actively on the wrong side of an election that will have an enormous impact on our right to equality, both in fact and in the public perception of the popularity of that cause. If the Log Cabin Republicans -- or their even more outlandish cousins, the oddly-named GOProud -- were honestly to acknowledge that they let their own economic interests, or their opposition to strong environmental policies, or their belief that we need to be spending far more on the military or some other reason ahead of any commitment to LGBT equality, and on that ground have decided to prefer the anti-LGBT candidate to the supportive one, I would disagree with the values expressed, but would have no complaint about their logic.

The damaging aspect of the Log Cabin argument, to repeat the most important point, is that they may mislead people who do not share their view that tax cuts for the wealthy are more important than LGBT rights into thinking that they are somehow helping the latter by supporting Mitt Romney and his Rick Santorum platform.

Spot on. The danger is giving people the idea that they're somehow advancing gay rights, when they're not - but rather are setting us back. Barney's been known to bug me at times. But on this point, he's right.

Some have complained that in comparing the Log Cabin Republicans to Uncle Tom, I was ignoring the fact that they are nice. I accept the fact that many of them are nice -- so was Uncle Tom -- but in both cases, they've been nice to the wrong people.

Read the rest of this post...

Why do we ridicule gay Republicans?

From Rob Smith at HuffPo:

The truth is that as a community, we ridicule gay Republicans at every turn. We wonder how they reconcile their sexual orientation with supporting a party that is quite obviously contemptuous of it; we chuckle at every awkwardly worded press release sent out by the Log Cabin Republicans or GOProud after the GOP takes yet another draconian, anti-marriage-equality stance; and we use terms like "self-hater" or "sellout" to demonize those in our community who have decided to take a political route that is outside the norm.

It remains deeply unfortunate that for anyone who isn't a heterosexual white male, the choice between political parties remains such a stark one, but the idea that it is only they who have true freedom of choice is downright offensive, and that's the idea that we put across when we ridicule and demonize gay Republicans. Are we afraid of them because it's possible that they are what we could become? Is it so farfetched to imagine an exodus of wealthy, well-heeled gays to the Republican side of the aisle once the battle for marriage equality reaches its inevitable conclusion? I don't think so. In fact, I think that could very well be where the more influential and privileged among us are headed.

Why do we ridicule gay Republicans?

Um, because they're willing to elect people who hate them? People who want to ensure that they never get the right to marry? People who want to take their children away from them? People who think they're diseased, and perverted, and going to hell, and if they had their way we'd all be self-deported to a desert isle (or worse)?  Because in the end they have no self-worth and are actively working to harm rest of us?

Other than that Mrs. Lincoln, how'd you like the show?

Let's revisit one line from that post:

[T]he idea that it is only [heterosexuals] who have true freedom of choice is downright offensive, and that's the idea that we put across when we ridicule and demonize gay Republicans.

You bet it's offensive that one party hates us and the other doesn't so we don't have a real choice come election time. But that's not our fault. It's the fault of the party that hates us and gives us only one choice.

Sometimes the message is distasteful because it's true. Read the rest of this post...

Signorile sandbags GOP Cong Schock on whether he's gay

I wrote last week about how Mike Signorile cornered the orientationally-embattled GOP Congressman Aaron Schock on the GOP convention floor, and asked him whether he's gay or not. Schock was not amused, called the question ridiculous, and then stormed away.

Schock is quite anti-gay legislatively, while being quite gay culturally.

GOP Congressman Aaron Schock of Illinois, the subject of persistent gay rumors since he took office in 2009, said on Thursday that questions about his sexual orientation and how it might relate to his antigay voting record and positions are “inappropriate and ridiculous” and not “worthy of further response.” He also stated, “I’ve said that before,” when asked if he is confirming that he is not gay, and added, “You can look it up.”

Perhaps one of the reasons people wonder whether Schock is gay is because he answers questions about dating as a closeted gay man would. This from Details:

Schock is hoping his romantic prospects will improve too, once he settles in. He's the only one of his siblings not married with children, and is similarly an outlier among his friends. "I had a group of five or six guys, and we hung out and traveled—ski trips and stuff," he says. "They slowly got picked off—married, married, married." His pals try not to dog him about his love life. "I think he's got enough pressure as it is," says Shea Ledford, a concrete worker who's been Schock's good friend since high school. Indeed, there's been enough speculation about Schock's confirmed-bachelor status that, as far back as 2004, a Chicago newspaper asked him whether he was gay (his response: "No . . . I'm not."). But D.C. receptions and fund-raisers where the other attendees are, as Schock notes, "two and three times my age" hardly make for a ripe pickup scene. Neither do the baby-kissing events back in Illinois. "There's no line of young ladies at my door every morning," he says. "Maybe when they read my Details profile . . . "

Yeah, just too busy to find the right girl. We've all used that line. I'm not saying that Aaron Shock is gay. I'm saying that Aaron Shock acts an awful lot like a gay. And in my experience, they're often the same thing.

Read the rest of this post...

Anti-gay GOPer Aaron Schock refuses to answer question: Are you gay or straight?

Cong. Aaron Schock (R-IL),
closeted heterosexual.

Some would like us to believe that anti-gay GOP Congressman Aaron Schock is simply a closeted heterosexual.

You know the type.  Men who are so uncomfortable with the fact that they really like girls, that they avoid the question all together of whether they're straight.  Whenever asked if they're straight or gay, they run rather than answer the question, lest anyone find out that they're really heterosexual.

Yeah, right.

Those guys don't exist. There is no such thing as a closeted heterosexual. The last closeted heterosexual we found in the GOP was former party chair Ken Mehlman, and we all know how that one turned out.

So when anti-gay GOP Congressman Aaron Schock was asked by Mike Signorile at the GOP convention if he's gay, Schock stormed off and refused to answer, saying it's "ridiculous and inappropriate" to ask.

Why? I'm not afraid to say that I'm gay. And I've never met a straight guy in my life who was afraid to say that he was straight. We're to believe that Schock is straight, but so offended by the question - so offended, why exactly? - that he refuses to even answer it.

I can imagine questions that are so offensive that I wouldn't answer them. Whether I'm gay or straight isn't one of them. And it certainly isn't one of them if you're a straight man in the Republican party who's being talked about as possibly the next Illinois governor.

So Aaron Schock is now a closeted heterosexual.

Right. Read the rest of this post...

GOP Rep. Aaron Schock is opposed to gay marriage

UPDATE: Schock was asked at the GOP convention if he's gay, and he stormed off, refusing to answer the question.  So he's a closet heterosexual.  Right.

GOP Rep. from IL Aaron Schock said last night on local PBS in Chicago that he's opposed to gay marriage. I think it's finally time we had an honest and open discussion about what this guy's sexual orientation really is. Because if he wants to play the anti-gay card, then he makes his own sexual orientation an issue. He needs to directly answer and put to rest all the talk about him being gay. Read the rest of this post...

Musto on gay GOP self-loathing

Michael Musto:

Just when you assumed gay self-loathing had been deposited in the dead-chicken bins, along comes a new wave of self-flagellation aimed to throw us under the hate truck. At a time when gays have made significant progress and other people are fully available to do all the hating, some gays crazily want to join in!

I'm talking about the wave of gay Republicans who grovel before the enemy, making lavish excuses for politically repellent candidates—you know, the Romney/Ryan ticket—who would gladly turn us into a subordinate class without any semblance of full equality. There's no one more self-loathing than the oxymoronic "grubs" (gay Repubs) who rally to the defense of power-crazed bigots, spinning them as champions of decency and fairness who happen to be grossly misunderstood. No, wait, that's nothing new. For 30 years, there have been Log Cabin Republicans, though they at least try to work within the system to change the party's attitudes and have managed some good deeds here and there. But the pip-squeaks over at the more conservative group GOProud—who spun off from the Log Cabins—have only been organized since 2009, so their pigheaded attempts to sell us down the river still have a rank newness.

This is the organization that decided Paul Ryan was "a bold and inspired pick," a guy who can lead us back on "the road to fiscal solvency." (Oh, good! He can get us out of the mess set up by the last Republican administration.) They also cite his vote in favor of ENDA five years ago (though right before that, he'd joined a movement to kill it), as well as a couple of other gestures, completely leaving out his votes against hate crime protection and same-sex adoption and in favor of Don't Ask, Don't Tell and Defense of Marriage. This intently selective representation of someone who could shatter lives is like a paint-by-numbers portrait that leaves out the swastika. "Paul Ryan opposes discrimination against gay Americans," lied GOProud, shamelessly. And James Holmes is a patron of the arts!

Read the rest of this post...

Gay GOPers to hold Tampa convention party at fetish site w/ Paul Ryan imitator

Artist rendition of next week's event:

No homophobic GOP vice presidential candidates were harmed in
the creation of AMERICAblog's artist rendition (Fetish photo via Shuttertstock)

Well this should be fun.

And hey, I got nothing about a good fetish party. I do think, however, that if you're trying to kiss the GOP's gay-hating ass - like the sponsor of this party, GOProud, is doing - then you might want to avoid having an impersonator of your anti-gay, anti-sex candidate at a venue that regularly holds fetish parties.

The Edge has the deets:

The list also features GOProud’s HomoCon 2012 at the Honey Pot. "Male Revue Upstairs in the VIP Room Featuring Paul Ryan Look-alike!" the ad reads. GOProud is a group of gay conservatives who will host their HomoCon convention during the RNC. EDGE reported that the event features a number of conservatives speakers, including the editor of the conservative news and opinion website Breitbart, Dana Loesch, who has made anti-gay remarks in the past.

Will the Paul Ryan look-alike be clothed?  Because the Honey Pot is the monthly venue for the biggest fetish party around.

Via a recommendation on the Facebook:

One of the best local fetish parties around. Tons of fun, play spaces have a good feel,and the DMs are some of the best.

And FourSquare:

Second Saturday each month upstairs you will find the bay areas best Fetish Club. Its the real thing, equipment to use, toys to buy, and entertainment to watch.

And here's a better description of the event:

So this weekend was the once a month Fetish Circuit and this Slutzy Girl attended. The club night is hosted at the Honey Pot in Ybor City. Fet Cir take over the upstairs floor. It is a great event that starts really as you arrive. Ybor is lively and full of fun and unusual people. As you arrive at the club, the line for the Honey was snaking around the corner of the building, but this is not where the fetish are crowd are going. Head to the front of the line, hop the rope and say you are for Fet Circuit and in you go. Banded at the door you then head to the back of the club to Fet Cir, banded and paid you head upstairs.

It is a great location, great bar tender, tvs all around the place with porn movies playing. One area hosts some local vendors and my eye was taken by a pair of fabulous heavy red floggers. yummy. As you walk around, people are milling around, finding friends new and old. A number of rope suspensions are going on. In one corner two girls are suspended in web like rope work and look amazing, the long hair of one of the girls is even tethered to the frame.

Further back in an intense flogging scene is going on, a man tied to a St Andrews Cross is receiving some well deserved scening from his Domme.

Working my away around the club, I chat with the DJ for a bit, and the music is loud and great. Perfect for scening. As the evening goes on I see more flogging, more rope play and a number of people on spanking benches, being spanked, flogged and whipped. It is a great place to chat and understand a new technique from an experienced person. The club is run extremely well, Edwin does a wonderful job at organizing and bringing this event to us each month.

I'd love to know if the Romney/Ryan campaign has a comment on this?

And local Tampa readers, please go and get us some photos :) Read the rest of this post...

Gay bathhouse offers GOP conventioneers free passes (seriously)

Isn't that sweet of them.

Still, nothing compares to the Onion's satire report on the gay hookers serving the GOP convention.
Read the rest of this post...

The Onion: "Tampa Bay gay prostitutes gearing up for flood of closeted Republicans"

Portions of the satire broadcast might offend some on our side. But the sketch is clearly done in sympathy with us, so keep that in mind. It's also incredibly well done and funny as hell.

Read the rest of this post...

The Log Cabin fetish

Years ago, in her hit "Sweet Dreams," Annie Lennox opened our eyes to the fact that some among us get off by being used and abused. Since then, S&M has gotten more visible, and even events like San Francisco's Folsom Street Fair have gone relatively mainstream.

Few fetishes are as odd or as kinky, however, as the increasingly visible "Log Cabin fetish" sweeping the nation.

Until recently "Logging," as those in the lifestyle call it, was a discrete affair. Gay men would quietly develop Fox News addictions, sitting for hours in the privacy of their own homes, whispering to O'Reilly and Hannity: "That's right... tell me I'm a BAD BOY!"

Loggers can also be found at GOP gatherings like CPAC, where they shine the shoes of men like Rush Limbaugh, Newt Gingrich, or Ann Coulter. But the high holy season of eroticism for Loggers has always been election day, when they could slink off into a voting booth and secretly pleasure politicians who compete to degrade them and their friends.

The recent Chick-fil-A "Anti-Gay Day" offered Loggers a unique opportunity to indulge their fetish. The humiliating scene, standing with hoards of dumpy homophobic bigots in tacky suburban fast food restaurants, gave these guys a real high. They'd watch the mouths spitefully choking down one fried chicken sandwich after another and could hardly contain their excitement.

As more Loggers come out into the light, they're beginning to resent their status on the lowest rung of the LGBT hierarchy. But despite their increased visibility there's little sign they'll be accepted anytime soon.

Their fetish is simply too extreme, even by the standards of San Francisco's notorious Folsom Street Fair, which denied the Loggers a "Chick-fil-A"-themed appreciation booth at the event.* According to those in the S&M community, what made the Log Cabin fetish unacceptable at what is usually such a tolerant event was the issue of consent, the lynchpin of S&M.

You see, an individual may consent to being flogged in public.  But no one is permitted to consent to our entire community being flogged in Congress and the White House for the next two to six years.

"Flogging impacts one willing participant," said an S&M Master. "Logging harms an entire community."
______________

Follow me on Twitter at @EmperorAndoe


* Note from John: Since irony is dead online, Log Cabin did not to my knowledge apply for a Chick-fil-A booth at Folsom.  Chris is just ribbing them for being so self-loathing as to endorse Paul Ryan, who is in favor of no gay rights legislation.  If that's not one messed up S&M fetish, I don't know what is. Read the rest of this post...

Gay Republicans endorse Ryan, who supports nothing pro-gay

Paul Ryan supports nothing pro-gay. He once - once - voted for ENDA, years back, then guess what he did? A few moments later he reversed his vote and helped kill ENDA. Funny the Log Cabin press release doesn't mention that little fact when they tout Ryan's support for ENDA.

I'm not asking Gay Republicans to endorse Democrats. But if they're actually in the game to make their party better, they need to stop supporting the worst anti-gay elements of that party. This is no better than what that other self-loathing GOP group would do. Log Cabin once pretended to be better.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: CASEY PICK
(202) 480.2601
Congressman Paul Ryan Strengthens the GOP Ticket

(Washington, DC) - Log Cabin Republicans statement in response to the announcement that Congressman Paul Ryan (R-WI) will join Governor Mitt Romney as the presumptive vice presidential nominee for the Republican Party.

"Congressman Paul Ryan is a strong choice for vice president, and his addition to the GOP ticket will help Republican candidates up and down the ballot," said R. Clarke Cooper, Log Cabin Republicans Executive Director. "As chairman of the House Budget Committee and author of the Republican 'path to prosperity' that provided the blueprint for serious spending cuts in this Congress, nobody is more qualified to articulate a conservative economic vision to restore the American economy and stimulate job creation.

At the same time, Congressman Ryan's 2007 vote in favor of the Employment Nondiscrimination Act and his consistent willingness to engage with Log Cabin on a range of issues speaks to his record as a fair-minded policymaker. Overall, while Log Cabin Republicans have not completed the endorsement process for the 2012 presidential election, this is a choice that all Republicans can be excited about, and which sends a good message about the kind of campaign Governor Romney wants to run, and the kind of president Governor Romney wants to be."

Date: 8/11/2012
Copyright 2012 Log Cabin Republicans

Read the rest of this post...

Op ed: The GOP is not purely anti-gay (but it's leaders are)

The rank and file may not be.  But the folks running the GOP are.  And that's all that matters.

There's an op ed in the LA Times that's trying to argue that Republicans are not as monolithically anti-gay as they may seem.  And I'm sure that's true.  Republicans aren't as monolithically conservative as they may seem.  But that doesn't stop conservatives from running the party, and cutting moderates out of every leadership post and every major party or policy decision.

The problem with the Republican party is that it's only as diverse as its leadership.  The GOP is not the Democrats.  Democrats are cats, running every which way with 1,000 different viewpoints on what we should do today.  Republicans are North Korea - sure there are a lot of people who "probably" have varying views, but if any of them publicly express those varying views they'll get their heads chopped off.

While you have Democrats of all stripes willing to speak up and voice an opinion, moderates no longer exist in the GOP.  And to the extent they do exist, they sit back and shut up like good little drones, rather than doing something, anything, to help push moderation in their own party.

You can fault the Democrats for many things, but not having a strong liberal and conservative wing (DLC, Third Way) is not one of them. Read the rest of this post...

Freedom to Marry launches conservative pro-marriage group

The Daily Beast:

On Tuesday, the organization launched Young Conservatives for the Freedom to Marry, an initiative to mobilize Republican supporters of marriage equality. It’s also hired a Republican lobbyist, Kathryn Lehman. In the 1990s, while serving as chief counsel for the House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on the Constitution, Lehman helped write the Defense of Marriage Act. Since then, she’s come out as a lesbian and turned against the law but retains her conservative connections. “We’re spending about half of our lobbying time and resources meeting with Republicans,” says Freedom to Marry’s national campaign director, Marc Solomon. “It’s a central part of our effort.”

A closeted lesbian helped write DOMA. Woosh. Read the rest of this post...

Meghan McCain slams GOProud

Granted, GOProud is the Ann Coulter of gay groups - trying to stay relevant through outrage. But they are getting press, so it's important to expose what they really are. From Mike Signorile:

"I am a Log Cabin Republican member,” she said. “As far as I’m concerned, GOProud is a rogue group that has publicly said very nasty things about me, very nasty things. And they're the type of gay Republicans that I think exacerbate the stereotype. Ann Coulter is who they had speak at one of their conventions and was touted as some kind of icon, a woman who uses gay slurs on televsion. In gay Republican circles, GOProud are not respected. They do not like me and I do not like them."

Read the rest of this post...

Signorile on what motivates GOProud and Mary Cheney

Mike Signorile:

I'm still not sure any of these terms quite captures what exactly motivates Mary Cheney and GOProud. It's one thing to work within the Republican Party to change it, and I've often supported the work of groups like the Log Cabin Republicans in doing so. But to actually endorse a candidate who calls for stripping you of rights seems totally crazy and pathological -- unless perhaps you don't believe the candidate will ever do such a thing. And that is actually what gay Republicans who are voting for Romney will tell you privately. In fact, several such gay Republicans who are listeners to my show have called in to say as much.

Now, whether or not Romney would really push for a federal marriage amendment, his speaking out in favor of it is damaging simply because he emboldens anti-gay forces and helps to inject hate into the political discourse. So, no, I don't believe it's an excuse to vote for him just because you believe he's stringing the Christian right along, telling them he'll push for a constitutional ban on gay marriage even though he will drop it once elected. But it does explain why GOPers like the Cheney family, hedge fund billionaire Paul Singer, and others who publicly and proudly support marriage equality would still support Romney. They don't believe he's anti-gay. They actually believe he's the flip-flopper he's shown himself to be, and in this case they see that as an asset. Or, to be more honest, they believe he's a liar.

Read the rest of this post...

Dan Savage on meth abuse, sex addiction, and gay Republicans - a simply brilliant must read

Dan Savage writes of GOProud, a newish gay Republican organization that recently endorsed Mitt Romney after admitting that they'd have endorsed any GOP presidential candidate, regardless of who it was (a bizarre admission for any group that claims to be a "gay rights group," even a Republican one).

Dan's post is brilliant. He talks about homophobia and how it destroys gay lives, while the haters then use those destroyed lives to justify our further oppression, only ruining even more lives in the process.  He then segues to GOProud.

Read the entire thing.  Please.  Here's a snippet:

The hard-right gay Republican organization—a rightwing front group that exists to pinkwash the GOP—endorsed Mitt Romney last week. Romney, of course, opposes marriage equality. Romney supports DOMA. Romney has pledged to write anti-gay bigotry into the U.S. Constitution. Romney opposed the repeal of DADT. Romney opposes the federal Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA). Romney opposes adoptions by same-sex couples. GOProud's endorsement of Romney, while not a surprise, was annoying, and it prompted me to send out this tweet: "The GOP's house faggots grab their ankles, right on cue. Pathetic." The boys at GOProud accused me of using a hate term and claimed that I had bullied them. For the record, boys, this is what the bullying of an adult looks like. Politically-active adults taking the piss out of each other—and you guys have called me all sorts of lovely names—isn't bullying. And "faggot" is a word I've used to describe myself (on MSNBC!), it's a term I've used to describe my husband (in books!), it's a term my friends and I use to describe each other (all the time!). "Faggot" isn't an insult in my book—that's why I had to stick the word "house" in front of it.

Anyway, mixing it up with GOProud last week got me thinking about why a gay man would endorse—much less "commit significant resources" to help elect—a man who has pledged, if elected, to do as much harm as he possibly can to gay people. I mean, what kind of faggot supports a politician who would do him harm?

Oh, right: the same kind of faggot who would harm himself with drugs or alcohol or sex. The kind of gay men who don't like themselves or other gay people much. But while most self-loathing, self-destructive gay men are content to abuse booze, drugs, or dick, the self-hating GOProud boys abuse themselves with politics. And just like gay meth addicts who aren't satisfied harming only themselves, the boys at GOProud aren't satisfied harming only themselves. They want to harm other gay people—they want to harm all gay people—by getting Mitt Romney elected. And just like your meth-addicted friend who pushed the drug on you, or your drunk friend who mocked you for stopping at four, or your sexually out-of-control friend who insisted that you were a prude if you didn't play the come dump with him down at the bathhouse, the GOProud boys want you to abuse yourself the same way that they're abusing themselves. They want you to vote for Mitt Romney for the same reason your meth-addicted pal wanted you to use that stupid drug.

Because they're damaged.

Never prouder to call Dan my friend. Read the rest of this post...

Self-loathing gay republican groups attack Obama for supporting their rights

Despicable.

Right Wing Watch captures the responses from Log Cabin Republicans and GOProud.  If you thought they had any self respect WHATSOEVER, you were wrong.  Nothing like putting being a partisan hack before your own rights and life.

Log Cabin Republicans:

“That the president has chosen today, when LGBT Americans are mourning the passage of Amendment One, to finally speak up for marriage equality is offensive and callous,” said R. Clarke Cooper, Log Cabin Republicans Executive Director. “Log Cabin Republicans appreciate that President Obama has finally come in line with leaders like Vice President Dick Cheney on this issue, but LGBT Americans are right to be angry that this calculated announcement comes too late to be of any use to the people of North Carolina, or any of the other states that have addressed this issue on his watch. This administration has manipulated LGBT families for political gain as much as anybody, and after his campaign’s ridiculous contortions to deny support for marriage equality this week he does not deserve praise for an announcement that comes a day late and a dollar short.”

And GOProud:

“It is good to see that after intense political pressure that President Obama has finally come around to the Dick Cheney position on marriage equality. I am sure, however, the President’s newly discovered support for marriage is cold comfort to the gay couples in North Carolina. The President waited until after North Carolina passed a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.” “This is hardly a profile in courage by President Obama. For years now, President Obama has tried his hardest to have it both ways on this issue.

I don't know how they can claim to have any voice or role in the gay rights movement when they can't acknowledge a monumental shift like this.  I'm speechless.

Update: Just to be clear, since a few people have made comments to me about this post - I'm not saying all gay Republicans are self-loathing.  I'm saying that these statements were way over the top.  Yes, Obama could have come out earlier, but I just don't get how you can criticize Obama for his timing when your candidate donated to NOM. The president at least spoke out against ballot initiatives and stopped defending DOMA.  Romney isn't even supportive of civil unions (coming from a state with marriage equality). 


Is Obama perfect?  No.  But there is just no comparison with Romney on gay rights. Pretending otherwise is what I think makes you a hack and kills your credibility. Read the rest of this post...

Signorile on why Romney's gay spokesman should worry Obama

As Mike Signorile points out, Romney has begun to blur the lines between him and President Obama on a variety of issues, and the appointment of an openly gay national security spokesman helps Romney appear more pro-gay, even though he isn't.

A few weeks ago I made a case for why President Obama needs to come out of the closet on gay marriage, noting that the president, if he wants to create enthusiasm within elements of his base, must distinguish himself further from Mitt Romney on the gay issue, given that Romney, wrapping up the primaries, would now be trying to blur the lines. Sure enough, the blurring began last week with the splashy appointment of Richard Grenell, Romney's new foreign policy spokesman, who happens to be gay.

But no, Grenell isn't just gay, like some other gay Republicans who keep their homosexuality quiet and rarely advocate for gay rights while always advocating for lower taxes (and are thus welcomed by the right-wing base). No, from the point of view of the evangelical right, which was just riding high on Rick Santorum and forcing Romney to the extremes, Grenell is a radical homosexual, or, as the American Family Association's Bryan Fisher put it in a tweet last week, an "out and loud gay."

Grenell is in a long-term relationship, which, from the hard right's perspective, he flaunts in people's faces. Having served in the Bush administration as spokesperson for the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, he waged a very public battle against the state department to include his partner's name along with the spouses of heterosexual personnel in diplomatic documents.

And that's why Romney's choice is a further signal to the Obama campaign that the president, if he wants to create excitement in his base and stop Romney from blurring those lines, needs to come out of the closet on gay marriage and embrace full equality.

ABC seems to think it's a big deal. Read the rest of this post...

Gay-immigrant-loving GOP sheriff hits Obama on immigration. Hypocrisy much?

"A lot has been said about me lately," says disgraced Republican congressional candidate Sheriff Paul Babeu in a new ad, a portion of which attacks President Obama's immigration policies. And by "a lot," the anti-immigrant, immigrant-loving border hawk means getting exposed by his undocumented Mexican ex-boyfriend as a good old-fashioned hypocrite earlier this year.

Babeu is still embroiled in a $1 million dollar lawsuit with Jose Orozco, who dated Babeu and claims that the sheriff threatened Orozco with deportation if he were to ever expose their relationship to the public. Babeu has admitted the relationship, but denies the deportation allegation. And that's not even mentioning Babeu's racy underwear pictures from an adult website.

Catering to the fringe, anti-Mexican Republican base, Babeu's new ad tries to hit the president on supposed lack of border enforcement, completely ignoring the fact that Obama has deported more undocumented immigrants that his predecessor George W. Bush. NPR notes that Obama "has focused more on deporting illegal immigrants with criminal histories, especially violent ones."  And Babeu doesn't like that?

"I'm still the conservative candidate," Babeu continues in the ad, which is fitting as he's the latest in a long line of "conservative" officials caught in gay sex scandals. While never an explicitly anti-gay Republican, Babeu's hypocrisy stems from years of supposed hawkish border enforcement, most famously displayed in Sen. John McCain's "Complete the Danged Fence" ad.  "Of all the illegals in America, half come through Arizona," says Babeu in that ad.

Do the other half come through his bedroom?

Babeu even pulls out his military record in an attempt to lure Republican voters. Normally, a military record would be an honorable and extraordinary accomplishment - except in the years of Obama Derangement Syndrome. Last year's GOP debates found a Republican audience actually booing a gay military serviceman after he asked a question about the now-dead "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy.

Good luck with them, Paul.

Babeu represents everything Republican voters have attempted to distance themselves from - gay, immigrant-sympathizer, and even pro- "gay marriage." Ultimately though, Babeu cannot justify calling Obama's immigration stance lax as the President deports a record number of immigrants. Perhaps Babeu holds a grudge about Obama not deporting Orozco, the one immigrant who can bring him down the next election cycle. Read the rest of this post...