Gay Republicans Respond Bizarrely to Obama Announcement

[cleanhippie]

Maybe the weirdest response to President Obama’s support of full marriage equality has come from the two prominent gay republican groups, the Log Cabin Republicans and GOProud. They’re stuck in the bizarre position of being on the same side as Obama, but still wanting to hurt him politically. LCR said:

“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.”

Funny how Obama’s embrace of marriage equality, something LCR claims to be for, is “offensive and callous,” but there’s no mention of the fact that the North Carolina amendment they refer to was written and supported by the same party they continue to vote for. Oh what tangled webs we weave when trying to maintain opposing positions.

GOProud’s reaction is even more bizarre, as they actually invoke Dick Cheney:

Today, President Obama signaled his support for marriage equality in an interview with ABC News. In response, Christopher R. Barron, Chief Strategist and Co-Founder of GOProud – a national organization of gay and straight Americans seeking to promote freedom by supporting free markets, limited government, and a respect for individual rights, issued the following statement:

“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.”

So they’re all for Dick Cheney, who sat silently while his own administration was reelected in 2004 largely because of the two dozen anti-marriage equality amendments on state ballots, but they’re speaking out against Obama. How convenient. Such incoherent attempts to express one’s position are inescapable when you support a party that actively opposes everything you claim to stand for. And they’ll still vote for Romney, who has pledged to continue those anti-equality policies.

http://freethoughtblogs.com/dispatches/2012/05/10/gay-republicans-respond-bizarrely-to-obama-announcement/

[closeupready]

1. Not being hated like they hate themselves is problematic

for them. Always has been, I guess.

[Swede Atlanta]

2. I have met and talked to Log Cabin Republicans and they are a piece of work......

They belong to a party that is beholden to the worst extremes of the evangelical right. That right will NEVER allow the party to support ENDA, hate crimes legislation, marriage equality or any other legislation that would benefit the LGBT community.

If AIDS was still largely focused in the gay community there would be much, much less funding for research and treatment. The only reason there is the level of funding we see both for research but also for programs that benefit HIV-positive individuals domestically and abroad is because this is, a disease that is most prevalent in the heterosexual community.

In speaking with these individuals I was struck by two things....
(1) They want their rights as LGBT individuals the same as anyone BUT that is where their beliefs in equality end
(2) They are totally submerged in the trickle-down economics coma, wanting to spend on military to our ruin, cutting and slashing programs that benefit the poor, the sick, etc.

The only difference between them and the worst of the Rethuglicans is that they want their rights as LGBT individuals. That's it..the ONLY difference. Their experience of discrimination, bullying, etc. has done nothing to change their world view with respect to how we treat other minorities or need to help those that cannot help themselves.

[cthulu2016]

3. A gay Republican is a Republican

[HockeyMom]

5. Gay and Republican is an Oxymoron

emphasis on the "moron". Courtesy of my lesbian daughter.

[Bake]

13. You nailed it. They're still Republicans.

Conflicted though they may be. If Obama is for it, I'm surprised they haven't come out against marriage equality!

Bake

[JohnnyRingo]

4. They better get on board with the new Republican Party

Gay Republicans seem to be stuck in the era of Reagan when there was at least a veneer of tolerance and deviation within the party. Now in the 21st century, they're cloning Republicans like assembly line moldings that are subject to a final Tea Party inspection for stringent conformity.

The Democrats continue to accept members who have diverse views on everything except perhaps labor. It frustrates many here sometimes, but Democratic pols can have an opposing position on everything from gun control to abortion and still hold office with full support of the DNC and voters. Democrats seeking office are not required to be black or white, gay or straight, Christian or Muslim.

[Chan790]

6. Oh, there are plenty of anti-labor Democrats too.

I wish we were less accepting of them as a party frankly.

[Cheap_Trick]

7. Stockholm Syndrome?

Or are they just that stupid to belong to a party that hates them so much? (same goes for women and minority members)

[DCKit]

9. Self-hating masochists. nt

[Proud Liberal Dem]

8. "Bizarre" is putting it mildly

IMHO they ought to just roll up their tent (or cabin) and go back to just calling themselves Republicans because that's all they are. They may *say* they want equality but they're not getting any from their party- not now or ever and they seem to be spending an inordinate amount of time attacking the one party that is actually advancing LGBT equality. BTW in regards to these group's admiration of Dick Cheney, how has he personally "gone out on a limb" supporting LGBT equality other than refusing to make his daughter a pariah and saying that he thinks she should be able to get married? Did the Bush DOJ stop enforcing DOMA? Make a push to open up the armed forces to everybody regardless of sexual orientation- IN A TIME OF WAR when there were undoubtedly LGBT soldiers with invaluable experience/skills being discharged under DADT? Did he speak out against any of the anti-marriage equality measures on the ballots in 2004? Did he condemn the Republicans' cynical ploy to pass an anti-marriage equality amendment in 2006 right before they got wiped out of office? Did he condemn the NC amendment? Cheney- and a few other Republicans- might have the right stance on marriage equality but AFAIK aren't out there championing it in any way or doing anything else to advance LGBT equality.

[DearAbby]

10. “offensive and callous,”

wait wait, :::shakes head::: you're bitching because someone supported your civil rights, not at the people who voted a constitutional amendment making you a second-class citizen?


Their hatred of Obama is more important than their own civil rights as American Citizens? That is some deep-seeded hate. Hate this intense should be considered a form of insanity. Collective hysteria.

[cleanhippie]

11. It's just cognitive dissonance.

[Johonny]

12. This is simple justification for their own self satisfaction

These are people that general agree with most conservative/neo-conservative policies they just happen to be gay. They know the other party is more likely to deliver on the narrow gay civil rights area, but to them the other issues are more important. Thus they simply justify ignoring this one issue as marginal difference between parties so they can still feel part of the group. It isn't unusual. Look at the female Republicans who dig up marginal stuff to justify both parties are that far apart on women issues. I don't think is self hating as simply finding marginal areas to justify a belief. To them believing the Republican core is more important than seeing the obvious difference in the parties. If they understood the difference in this one area... well you have to start acknowledging the house of card policies in every other area too.