Tag: Gay Politics

Four More Top GOP Outings Could Be in the Offing

Jon Ponder

In the wake of closeted Sen. Larry Craig’s self-outing in an airport men’s room this summer, word from Washington says more revelations are coming about the secret sexual identities of two leading GOP senators, while two allegedly gay Republican congressmen are making headlines and drawing unwelcome attention to themselves, the timing of which could not be worse.

The senators are Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Mitch McConnell, the Senate Minority Leader, from Kentucky. More about them below but first let’s look at two allegedly closeted members of the House, representatives Patrick McHenry and David Drier, who have been in the news lately.

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Republicans Painted Themselves Into Gay Corner

Trish

When the Karl Roves and Andrea Laffertys of the world decided that the best way to get out the vote was to fire up the masses about gay rights, they never considered that some of their own were gay too. It’s kind of like forgetting that some Republicans are black, and one or two are poor. Easy to do, but a mistake nonetheless.

Houston Chronicle: “A party that harps on sexual orientation, as the Republicans now do, forces many of its own into furtive, destructive behaviors”

When reality intrudes into their rhetoric, the dissonance stings — hard. The Houston Chronicle notes the consquences for a party, “which since the 1980s has, culturally and legislatively, demonized gay men and women.”

By preoccupying the party with homosexuality…Republican strategists have helped force out or into hiding numerous lawmakers who served the party well. Instead of disclosing their orientation and getting on with their work, gay or bisexual Republicans typically have felt compelled to choose between personal integrity and political survival.

Yet heterosexuality is hardly a bedrock Lincolnesque value. [Sen. Larry] Craig’s own constituents happily re-elected him for years — despite rumors about his orientation — before he began opining on others’ sexuality.

An even better example of this dynamic is the successful career of former U.S. Rep. Steve Gunderson, a Wisconsin Republican who told voters he was gay while still in office. Then he continued working diligently for the causes they cared about most.

…Gunderson backed the balanced budget amendment. He supported President Ronald Reagan’s tax cuts, approved the first Gulf War and promoted the dairy industry. Rural, conservative voters re-elected him eight times in a row for his conservative values before he chose not to run again in 1996…Gunderson never betrayed voters or himself.

In contrast, since 1980 the Republican Party has lost at least three once-closeted House members to scandals…But the scandals were at least partly fueled by each congressman’s need to deny his sexuality. Craig, now frantically trying to deny his guilty plea, may be the latest on the list.

…a party that harps on sexual orientation, as the Republicans now do, forces many of its own into furtive, destructive behaviors.

So while those caught are passing around blame — in Craig’s case to newspapers, lying cops, and wide stances — they should examine their own willingness to jump on the hate train, and partake of the payoff at the end of the line.

Journalistic Ethics: When to Out a Guy

Buck Banks

In his “Everyday Ethics” column, Kelly McBride of the Poynter Institute mulls over the question of when it is appropriate or germane to a story to identify a public figure or politician as gay. He notes that there were intimations that the latest scandalized pol was gay almost a year ago:

Last fall when a gay activist and radio show host claimed that Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, was secretly gay, newsrooms around the country agonized over how and what to cover. Since Roll Call ‘s revelation Monday evening that Craig was arrested in a sting operation in a men’s restroom at the Minneapolis airport, I have been fielding calls from reporters asking if and when journalists are justified in covering the sexual orientation of a politician.

Because Craig pleaded guilty, McBride argues, his alleged gayness is certainly part of the story. But on the axis of reasons to cover a person’s assumed sexual orientation, Craig also qualifies on several other measures:

  • Hypocrisy: It is fair game if a certain politician has consistently voted on public policy issues that appear to undermine the rights or the political agenda of gay and lesbian citizens and if there is evidence that he is gay himself. I actually support a higher threshold. Merely voting a certain way on issues doesn’t quite cut it. The only time the hypocrisy argument really works is when an individual has railed against gays and lesbians as a campaign platform. We don’t call women who vote against public policy that would be beneficial to other women hypocrites.
  • Honesty: If a guy says he’s not gay and it turns out that he is, he’s a liar and voters deserve to know. Here again, I believe a higher threshold is in order. Has he deceived a spouse? Has he actively created a false impression?
  • Infidelity: We don’t care if he’s gay. We care if he is having affairs and breaking his marriage vows. Then focus on the infidelity, not the sexual orientation. We’ve cared about philandering ever since the days of Gary Hart.
  • Criminal behavior: This is the clearest justification. If a politician is engaged in or charged with behavior that is deemed to be against the law, then we usually care. But go one step further and explain why such behavior is criminal, especially when it involves tapping ones foot in a men’s room.
  • The impact the rumors/story have on the voters and politics: We don’t care whether he’s gay. We report on the effect the story has on the political scene. This is a cop-out, a great way to back into a salacious story without taking responsibility for the information at the heart of the story. News editors, executive producers and political hacks, take your pick. If you’re going to cover the Senator Larry Craig story, find a journalistic purpose for the space and time and energy it consumes.

Homophobia Inc.: Message of Hate Raises Hundreds of Millions of Dollars – Tax-Free

Jon Ponder

Homophobia has flourished in the Bush era, both as a potent political tool — many people believe George Bush would have lost Ohio in 2004, and thus a second term, if Karl Rove hadn’t made sure there was an anti-gay initiative on the state ballot — and as an industry unto itself. In just one year, the top 10 Christianist groups that promote homophobia raised over $400 million in tax-free dollars:

  • Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN)
    Founder, CEO and Director: Pat Robertson
    2004 Revenue: $186,482,060
  • Focus on the Family
    Founder and chairman: Dr. James C. Dobson
    2005 Revenue: $137,848,520
  • Coral Ridge Ministries
    Founder and President: Rev. D. James Kennedy
    2005 Revenue: $39,253,882
  • Alliance Defense Fund (ADF)
    President, CEO and General Counsel: Alan Sears
    2004 Revenue: $17,921,146
  • American Family Association (AFA)
    Founder and Chairman: The Rev. Donald Wildmon
    2005 Revenue: $17,595,352
  • American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ)
    Founder and President: Pat Robertson, Chief Counsel: Jay Sekulow
    2005 Revenue: $14,485,514
  • Family Research Council (FRC)
    Founder: James C. Dobson, President and CEO: Tony Perkins
    2005 Revenue: $9,958,115
  • Jerry Falwell Ministries
    Founder and Director: Jerry Falwell (deceased)
    2005 Revenue: $8,950,480
  • Concerned Women for America (CWA)
    Founders: Tim and Beverly LaHaye
    2005 Revenue: $8,484,108
  • Traditional Values Coalition (TVC)
    Founder and Chairman: The Rev. Louis P. Sheldon
    2005 Revenue: $6,389,448

All of these groups use homophobia as a fundraising tool, but while some address a wide range of social issues, four of them — Focus on the Family, AFA, FRC, TVC — are one-trick ponies that focus all or most of their activities on promoting homophobia. (The late Falwell and CWA arguably could belong to this group too.) These four groups raised $169 million of the revenue in 2005.

If fundraising for these four hate groups remains flat each year from 2005 through the end of 2007, they will have raised about $500 million among them in three years.

Tax free.

A 1996 Study Suggested That Many Homophobes Are Frustrated Gays

Jon Ponder

News of rabidly anti-gay Republican Sen. Larry Craig’s arrest for lewd behavior in an airport men’s room has highlighted, once again, a signature phenomenon of our era: highly placed, secretly queer rightwingers living on the down low.

“Homophobia is apparently associated with homosexual arousal that the homophobic individual is either unaware of or denies.”
– Study

Bisexual men like Sen. Craig and Rev. Ted Haggard would not feel compelled to create public personas that are homophobic if homophobia were not such a powerful dynamic in the country and in our politics these days.

But why are so many people drawn to bigotry against gays? One theory suggests that homophobes have unresolved issues about their own sexuality and transfer their internalized anger, frustration and shame about their own attractions onto people who are gay. In 1996, this theory was tested at the University of Georgia:

The authors investigated the role of homosexual arousal in exclusively heterosexual men who admitted negative affect toward homosexual individuals. Participants consisted of a group of homophobic men (n = 35) and a group of nonhomophobic men (n = 29); they were assigned to groups on the basis of their scores on the Index of Homophobia …. The men were exposed to sexually explicit erotic stimuli consisting of heterosexual, male homosexual, and lesbian videotapes, and changes in penile circumference were monitored.

They also completed an Aggression Questionnaire… Both groups exhibited increases in penile circumference to the heterosexual and female homosexual videos. Only the homophobic men showed an increase in penile erection to male homosexual stimuli. The groups did not differ in aggression. Homophobia is apparently associated with homosexual arousal that the homophobic individual is either unaware of or denies.

A single study is hardly conclusive but the idea that homophobes are deeply frustrated bisexuals contains a germ of common sense. Why would a secure and happy straight person be obsessed with gay people and what they do in bed, and why would that obsession be exhibited as hate and even rage?

H/t: Mr_Smartypants

Ryan Skipper’s Death Inspires New Awareness of Hate Crimes

Trish

It’s been a long time since we had any news about the murder of Ryan Skipper, a gay Florida man who police believe was the victim of a hate crime.

In that time, another man was slain because his murderer wanted to kill a gay man — any gay man. In both deaths, investigators immediately arrested and held suspects, awaiting trials that might still be a year or more away. And while we — and especially the friends and families — wait there is silence.

At least there was. A new organization, inspired by Ryan’s brutal killing, is trying to raise awareness of the consequences of mindless hate. Gay American Heroes seeks:

To honor and remember LGBT victims of hate crimes
To engage and inform the public about hate crimes against LGBT persons
To inspire compassion and greater appreciation and acceptance of diversity

The group is putting together a traveling memorial for display at colleges, gay pride events, and other public venues including communities where hate crimes have occurred or been threatened. The exhibit will honor lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people who were murdered because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.

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Another Man Killed for Being Gay; Murderer Says He Was Serving God

Trish

We wish Ryan Skipper’s death were the last one we ever had to hear happened because someone was so threatened by the idea of homosexuality that they killed. But it wasn’t.

Mangum, who described himself as “definitely not a homosexual,” said God called on him to “carry out a code of retribution” by killing a gay man because “sexual perversion” is the “worst sin.”

A Texas man said he was doing God’s work when he randomly targeted and brutally murdered a 46-year-old Southwest Airlines flight attendant named Kenneth Cummings Jr. earlier this summer.

Terry Mark Mangum, 26, told [Brazoria County newspaper] The Facts in a jailhouse interview Friday that he had targeted and killed Cummings because he was homosexual and that he stabbed him in the head. He called his actions “God’s justice.”

…Mangum told The Facts he went to a known gay bar in Houston that night to specifically target a homosexual and said that Cummings, “just happened to be the one that I bumped into.”

…After 600 volunteers spent several days searching through high weeds, dense brush, dump sites and even an abandoned golf course, a bone was found in a dried-up pond. Searchers originally thought the bone belonged to a cow, but after looking at it again, searchers dug around it and found charcoal, Miller said. As they dug deeper, they found a burned body that later was confirmed to be Cummings, Miller said.

The murderer in this case was obviously not only hate-filled but deranged.

“I believe I’m Elijah, called by God to be a prophet,” said 26-year-old Terry Mark Mangum, charged with murder June 11. “…I believe with all my heart that I was doing the right thing.”

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Self Loathing: Voting Record of Secretly Queer Senator Is 100% Anti-Gay

Jon Ponder

The hypocrisy of the voting record of Sen. Larry Craig, the Idaho Republican who has outed himself by pleading guilty to naughty behavior in a men’s room, is just sad:

“Bill Clinton is probably even a nasty, bad, naughty boy.” — Sen. Craig, in 1999
  • 1996: Voted YES on the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) prohibiting same-sex marriage.
  • 2000: Voted NO on expanding hate crimes to include sexual orientation.
  • 2002: Voted NO on adding sexual orientation to definition of hate crimes.
  • 2002: Rated 25 percent by the ACLU, indicating an anti-civil rights voting record.
  • 2006: Voted YES on constitutional ban of same-sex marriage.

And let’s not forget that Craig is very much married (to a woman), thus adding adultery to his catalog of sins. In 1999, he stated his feelings about the character of cheating spouses on “Meet the Press,” reacting to a question about the Clinton impeachment:

MR. RUSSERT: Larry Craig, would you want the last word from the Senate be an acquittal of the president and no censure?

SEN. CRAIG: Well, I don’t know where the Senate’s going to be on that issue of an up or down vote on impeachment, but I will tell you that the Senate certainly can bring about a censure reslution and it’s a slap on the wrist. It’s a, “Bad boy, Bill Clinton. You’re a naughty boy.” The American people already know that Bill Clinton is a bad boy, a naughty boy.

I’m going to speak out for the citizens of my state, who in the majority think that Bill Clinton is probably even a nasty, bad, naughty boy. The question issue now is simply this: Did he lie under oath? Did he perjure himself and did he obstruct justice? And that’s where we’re trying to go now in this truth-seeking process.

In statement on his website today, Craig says he pleaded guilty too hastily:

“I should have had the advice of counsel in resolving this matter. In hindsight, I should not have pled guilty. I was trying to handle this matter myself quickly and expeditiously.”

But go here to read the testimony against Sen. Craig by an undercover cop, and you’ll see that pleading guilty was the only option he had.

Ultra-Rightwing Sen. Larry Craig Sentenced for Lewd Behavior in Airport Men’s Room

Jon Ponder

Are any Republicans really heterosexual? Now we learn that Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho) was arrested in June by a plainclothes cop who was investigating lewd conduct in the men’s room at a Minneapolis airport.

According to a report in Roll Call earlier this year, Craig was sending signals in the men’s room that he was seeking a sexual encounter:

According to the incident report, Sgt. Dave Karsnia was working as a plainclothes officer on June 11 investigating civilian complaints regarding sexual activity in the men’s public restroom in which Craig was arrested.

Airport police previously had made numerous arrests in the men’s restroom of the Northstar Crossing in the Lindbergh Terminal in connection with sexual activity.

Karsnia entered the bathroom at noon that day and about 13 minutes after taking a seat in a stall, he stated he could see “an older white male with grey hair standing outside my stall.”

The man, who lingered in front of the stall for two minutes, was later identified as Craig.

“I could see Craig look through the crack in the door from his position. Craig would look down at his hands, ‘fidget’ with his fingers, and then look through the crack into my stall again. Craig would repeat this cycle for about two minutes,” the report states.

Craig then entered the stall next to Karsnia’s and placed his roller bag against the front of the stall door.

“My experience has shown that individuals engaging in lewd conduct use their bags to block the view from the front of their stall,” Karsnia stated in his report. “From my seated position, I could observe the shoes and ankles of Craig seated to the left of me.”

Craig was wearing dress pants with black dress shoes.

“At 1216 hours, Craig tapped his right foot. I recognized this as a signal used by persons wishing to engage in lewd conduct. Craig tapped his toes several times and moved his foot closer to my foot. I moved my foot up and down slowly. While this was occurring, the male in the stall to my right was still present. I could hear several unknown persons in the restroom that appeared to use the restroom for its intended use. The presence of others did not seem to deter Craig as he moved his right foot so that it touched the side of my left foot which was within my stall area,” the report states.

Craig then proceeded to swipe his hand under the stall divider several times, and Karsnia noted in his report that “I could … see Craig had a gold ring on his ring finger as his hand was on my side of the stall divider.”

Karsnia then held his police identification down by the floor so that Craig could see it.

“With my left hand near the floor, I pointed towards the exit. Craig responded, ‘No!’ I again pointed towards the exit. Craig exited the stall with his roller bags without flushing the toilet. … Craig said he would not go. I told Craig that he was under arrest, he had to go, and that I didn’t want to make a scene. Craig then left the restroom.”

In a recorded interview after his arrest, Craig “either disagreed with me or ‘didn’t recall’ the events as they happened,” the report states.

Craig pleaded guilty on August 8 to a disorderly conduct charge. The court dismissed the charge of gross misdemeanor.

Last year, gay activist Mike Rogers outed Craig, but the senator denied he is gay.