You know what I am so over? Harassing politicians for being gay — even the Republicans that hypocritically pass antigay legislation. I thought we were past this, guys.
Of course, no one (except Ann Coulter) has outright called someone a gaywad or worse since middle school. But in 2007, there are basically four types of “you’re gay” attacks in politics:
- [Male liberal] is a pansy. e.g. “John Edwards spends so much time fixing his hair! What a sissy!”
- [Female] is a man. e.g. “Hillary wears the pants in their household!” “Ann Coulter (God have mercy on her soul) has got an adam’s apple!”
- Look at this hilariously suggestive photo of [male conservative] with another man, possibly accomplished through Photoshop! It looks like they are about to kiss!
- [Male conservative] has had sex with men — what a scandal!
I don’t think I need to comment on #1-3, but #4 is what has been bothering me a lot lately. On the one hand, people like Larry Craig have been defrauding their families and constituencies, and pissing on the rights of LGBTs. But the undercurrent in these discussions is that being gay, or anything to do with sex, is somehow more scandalous than many of the other crimes that these people commit. And that their public humiliation (most of which revolves around the GAY part) is well-deserved, and not wrong.
With the Larry Craig affair, people seem to be scandalized either by the fact that (1) he’s gay, (2) he’s closeted and a hypocrite, (3) he’s cruising in public places, or (4) he’s had more action for an old married republican than I’ve had in my lifetime >:O
If he’s gay, then fine. Let him be gay. If he’s closeted and espousing views that reflect internalized homophobia, it’s not unusual, and more of a reason to pity the guy. Cruising in public places? Surely this is not a problem for a community that has published guidebooks for this type of thing.
So let’s give him a break. He’s been outed, no need to rub salt in the wound and make it even harder for him to accept who he is.
