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November 07, 2008
The slo-mo death of pro-homo Republicans
Posted by: Chris
The dramatic gains that Democrats will make in both the Senate and House bring with them some particularly sweet defeats of anti-gay Republicans:
- In Colorado, Rep. Marilyn Musgrave, the original sponsor of a federal marriage amendment, was defeated by Democratic challenger Betsy Markey.
- In conservative North Carolina, Republican Sen. Elizabeth Dole, who scored 0, 0, and 20On on respective HRC report cards, was decisively beaten by pro-gay Democrat Kay Hagan.
On the other hand, Democratic gains are most likely in districts previously held by moderate Republicans, and Tuesday witnessed the defeat of two of the three most reliably pro-gay Republicans in Congress:
- Oregon Sen. Gordon Smith, a primary co-sponsor of the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act, was narrowly defeated by Democrat Jeff Merkley. Despite Smith's record, HRC did not issue an endorsement in the race.
In Connecticut, moderate Republican Congressman Chris Shays, a primary co-sponsor of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, was defeated by Democrat Jim Hines. HRC and Log Cabin had both backed Shays.- In New Hampshire, Log Cabin endorsee John Sununu, the incumbent Republican, was defeated by Democrat Jeanne Shaheen. Sununu was not exactly in the same league as Smith or Shays, given successive scores of 25, 33, and 20 on HRC's report cards.
- In Ohio's 15th congressional district, vacated by Republican Rep. Deborah Pryce, who co-sponsored ENDA, Log Cabin endorsee Steve Stivers leads by just 150 votes.
- Another longtime Log Cabin ally, Virginia Rep. Tom Davis, retired his seat and was replaced by a Democrat. Davis had backed ENDA and opposed efforts to overturn pro-gay legislation adopted by the District of Columbia.
It wasn't all bad news for gay Republicans, as several moderate House members including Illinois Rep. Mark Kirk and Florida Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen. Most significant will be the return of Maine Sen. Susan Collins -- HRC's only GOP Senate endorsee and a primary co-sponsor of the Matthew Shepard Act -- who was easily re-elected.
Even still, the trends are disturbing, and follow the difficult loss two years ago of Rhode Island Sen. Lincoln Chafee, another outspoken pro-gay Republican.
In this environment, as the GOP caucus in Congress looks more and more under the tight grip of social conservatives, the Log Cabin leadership would be much better served concentrating their limited efforts on the waining number of Republicans in Congress who are truly pro-gay, rather than wasting their credibility inside and outside the gay community acting as apologists for the likes of John McCain and Sarah Palin.
Remember than neither McCain nor Palin backed a single piece of gay rights legislation -- a stark contrast with Smith, Shays, et al. After Log Cabin prematurely labeled Palin, the Alaska governor, as "a different kind of Republican," she even came out in favor of a federal marriage amendment.
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Comments
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More gays than ever voted Republican this year--coincidentally the same year that there was a Black man on the presidential ticket.
And with scenes like this:
http://rodonline.typepad.com/rodonline/2008/11/n-word-and-raci.htmlLucid people have to question this whole "cause"
In the midst of gays using Black Civil Rights rhetoric and precedent to make the case for gay marriage, Black people are asking white gays to be "civil"
http://andrewsullivan.theatlantic.com/the_daily_dish/2008/11/prop-8-and-th-1.html
Ironic?
I certainly would not blame Obama a Black man, for willfully ignoring this issue. What the white gay activists have done here is proof that racism flows comfortably through their oh-so-open-minded veins.
No such anger for the Mormons and other Church-based opponents of gay marriage that organized, spent time and raised gobs of money to defeat the Prop. The anger is only towards Blacks. Nice going, you exposed yourselves.
Pitiful. Shameful. Particularly when white gay activists who are pushing for gay marriage are copping Black Civil Rights terminology. Miscegenation is the same thing? Same Civil Rights issue? Not really. Gay reaction to Black voters (and candidats) emphatically proved otherwise
White activist gays are behaving in ways that would shame Klansman. Filthy and racist
Most Church goers voted against the legalization of gay marriage. Black people go to church at a disproportionately high rate in California. And they exercised their legal right to vote against the bill.
And in response, rather than taking it to the courts, many gays have violated the Civil Rights of Blacks, the same rights that you patronizingly parrot when convenient to make your case. A case that with this gay white reaction is certainly now a lost cause.
Disgusting, sad, but it needed to be exposed. If there is a next time, I will change my vote to "no" on gay marriage. You don't deserve my vote. Many people I have spoken to agree as well. We don't vote for racists. Contact the KKK for support next time (since you never bothered to reach out to the Black community during your "activism"). You already have a lot in common, just different clothes.
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How did gay people violate the civil rights of blacks? Their homophobia is their cross to bear. I refuse to excuse them for it. All the protests or marches have been directed at the Mormon's as far as I can tell. So I guess, we have no right to be angry because we did not do enough outreach as a community. I say bs! Would this really have done any good? Time to move on and quit blaming the victims of this nasty, mean spirited prop 8.
The comments to this entry are closed.
Dave on Nov 8, 2008 9:07:03 AM:
Gays are making a mistake by putting all our eggs in one basket. I think the democrats are going to ignore us again. Right now the way I feel, and hearing nothing from President elect Obama on these horrible anti-gay initiatives, I probably will not vote for him again. It feels horrible to be a man without a party. I hope a republican comes along soon that I can vote for. One fiscally conservative, less hawkish, pro-choice, pro gay rights, then I will vote for him or her. I don't care if they are religious, pray or who their God of choice is. To bad the republican party has become regional. Now they seem to be a party of the south, whites and evangelicals. I do not feel comfortable in this republican party.