First GAY president, or first atheist president, which will come first?

[synesthesia]

Openly gay in Congress
2
Tammy Baldwin
Barney Frank

Openly atheist in Congress
1
Pete Stark

It appears its slightly more mainstream to be gay than atheist in government, but barely.

Which will come first? And what year? 2020? Later?

[joshcryer]

1. Gay, no doubt. No doubt in my mind.

Atheism has a long fucking way to go, if it isn't banned outright.

[tekisui]

4. How could one ban atheism?

I expect an openly gay President before an openly atheistic, as well.

[joshcryer]

10. Good point. :P

But I mean, erm, yeah.

[vi5]

21. Loyalty oaths, etc.....

No you couldn't actually ban lack of belief but the government could make life hellish for anyone not will to profess undying fealty to a supreme being.

The same way religion was "banned" in communist countries. Doesn't stop people from believing and practicing but for all intents and purposes the government doesn't recognize it.

As a matter of fact that's pretty much how atheism is treated now in this country so never mind.

[NightWatcher]

2. who cares. I'm voting for people, not titles or classifications

[Abacus]

3. Gay, 40 years. /nt

[Perky]

6. I think that is probably about right

[synesthesia]

5. *

Would Barney Frank be able to win a Senate seat in MA if Kennedy retired?

inquiring minds

or is MA not liberal enough? (i know it's the most liberal state, but still)

[Norrin Radd]

7. I'm wondering when we'll get a populist, progressive Pres?

[CrispyQ]

15. How true.

I'd be :rofl: if that weren't so damned :cry:

[1awake]

8. Gay, and later than 2020 I'd guess.

An atheist doesn't stand a chance for presidency.. other offices yes, but not that one, and not for the foreseeable future.

[bunkerbuster1]

9. Teh GHEY will be FRIST!!1!!!

Godless commies will be second. Fer sure.

{on edit: } Give it about four or five more election cycles; we'll have had sufficient generational turnover that sexual orientation will be one of those "what were those fools on about, back then?"

Atheism will be harder to find such a wide audience, but I could be wrong.

[mtnsnake]

11. It all depends on who Donnie McClurkin can miraculously cure first (snicker)

Does he work on atheists, too? :shrug:

[book_worm]

12. I hate to say it I think an Athiest would be elected before an openly gay person

in this country.

[melody]

13. We've already had both. Openly? Probably gay n/t

[dysfunctional press]

14. it will be a black atheist lesbian...in...2028

[Jamastiene]

16. Never to both as long as this country refuses to catch up

to the rest of the world in progress. If by some unbelievable miracle this country ever grows the fuck up, an atheist will be in the White House before a gay person ever gets half a chance.

There will probably never be a gay president. We can't even get our own party's candidates AND those candidates' supporters to quit throwing us under the bus. Hell, we can't even get half of DUers to quit throwing us under the bus first chance half of you get. I swear I think some people here would burn us at the fucking stake if they had half a chance.

Phooey. Fed up with it.

[baldguy]

17. Well, there are those stories about Pres Buchanan.

[Lucinda]

31. That was my first though too.

[dmallind]

18. Gay by a mile

The young adults of today seem to be, apart from the typical few reactionaries, almost completely unfazed by the idea of gay folks.

Dismissal of atheists however remains quite strong, and atheists outrank gays on the "would never vote for regardless" type surveys by almost 50%.

[Unsane]

19. We've already had a closet atheist president IMO.

[NJSecularist]

20. Who?

[Unsane]

23. I don't have anyone in mind.

Many have been too smart not to be, though. Without going out on a limb, Jefferson was probably a closet agnostic.

[InvisibleTouch]

24. I don't think Jefferson was "closet" at all...

...I think of the famous quote that starts "If God exists...." and I don't recall the exact wording, but he says basically that if there is a god, he's more pleased by people using their reason to question his existence, than by blind unthinking obedience.

I think we've undoubtedly had both atheist and gay presidents already, and just didn't know it. But it would be nice to reach a point in time when it didn't have to be covered up as though it were something shameful.

[no_hypocrisy]

27. William Howard Taft would be a runner-up as he was a Unitarian

and back in the early 20th century that was akin to being an atheist.

[Not Me]

22. We may already have had a gay president*

Openly? I give that another generation.

*Still waiting for the analysis of the Guckert/Gannon visitation records ;)

[cgrindley]

25. There have already been dozens of atheist presidents

you don't think that more than a handful of them have been doing anything other than paying lip service to that silly, infantile religion do you? No educated adult could really seriously believe that made up nonsense. I don't even think that W believes in that crap.

[zanne]

26. Could be we've already had our first gay president...

And second, and third... Who knows?

[hulklogan]

28. Seeing that it's taken 220 years to have an African-American candidate

I'm not holding my breath for either. It will take at least 40 years, probably more for a GLBT President. I doubt we'll ever see an atheist president.

[ihelpu2see]

29. I believe that we may have already have had an Atheist in the WH... IKE asked

what church he should belong to, to help him get elected.... That sounds agnostic to me and possibly an Atheist.

[QC]

30. Been there, done that.

James Buchanan was probably gay, and there is some evidence that Lincoln was no stranger to man-lovin'.