Gay Republicans

There has been much discussion of late about all the outings and subsequent resignations of gay Republicans. It seems that some folks are doing everything they can to peek into the private sex life of these men in order to call them on their “hypocrisy.” I confess this sounds like the kind of tabloid sexual snooping that liberal minded folk have long objected to, but I have other questions and concerns.

These men have varied backgrounds. Many are married and thus cheating on their wives. I think that it an issue of some significance, but what are we doing to “out” cheating heterosexuals, Republican or Democrat. But some are not in this situation.

It seems that to many that it is just about impossible to be a gay Republican with any integrity. I do not agree, and I am neither gay nor a Republican.

There is a principle that many gay men and women themselves are anxious to establish – and that is that gay people are people too. OK, obvious point. But there is nothing inherent to being gay that would lean one away from a conservative political philosophy. Or is there a liberal gene that goes with the gay gene? Thinking of classic conservative principles I see no reason why a gay person could not be persuaded of these as much as a non gay person. Granted, the Republican party is mushy on those principles these days, but why could a gay person not lean toward less government, more state’s rights, protection of unborn chldren, a stronger military, educational vouchers, etc.

So, what if a gay person finds himself to be for the most part in keeping with a party that is politically conservative. So what? I would think some gay people like Italian food and some like Mexican food.

But what if the Republican Party is anti the “gay agenda.” What is a gay man to do? I would think that he has several options.

First, he may just take the bad with the good in his mind, and not support those agenda items. He would be open about being gay, work toward the other issues consistent with his conservative values, but not support anti gay rights initiatives.

Second, he may, despite his private predilections, actually oppose gay marriage. It is quite possible that a person would see as not in the public interest things that are true about himself. Rather than being a sign of some deep troubling psychological pathology, this might simply be good sense. I am sure that there are a lot of straight men (let’s say they are not married) who do not think cohabitation laws are in the public interest, yet they may be promiscuous rascals. It does not go without saying that one’s private predilections should form the basis of one’s public policy. I wonder what JFK and Martin Luther King Jr. would have to say about that.

Third, he may, like many other people on a thousand issues, merely be a hypocrite. Well, if we’re outing hypocrites, let’s get busy and clean out the majority of the people who are in office. We could start with environmentalists, who seldom live daily lives consistent with their own public policy positions. We might start with Al Gore and go from there. Hypocrisy stinks, but it is an equal opportunity employer. I would imagine that many avid supporters of gay marriage and the value of gay monogamy are themselves promiscuous. We can throw them out too.

I don’t like hypocrisy, in myself, or in others, but let’s apply the hypocrisy ruler equally across the board. I don’t see that happening.

Fourth, a gay Republican may feel that he has no future in the system if he is outed, so he leads a double life. That is, he may be a true conservative, yet may otherwise wish for more liberal marriage laws, but he knows that it won’t get him far in the party and there are so many other things that he is passionate about he just keeps his mouth shut. He is not really allowed by the system to vote his conscience. Well, welcome to politics. is this not why both parties have whips, to keep their folk in line? Is this not the case time and time again for so many people regarding so many issues. I dislike it, but let’s root out the problem across the board and not pick on these men.

Fifth and finally, the man may be cheating on a wife, advocating anti gay marriage in public meetings, and holding himself up as a standard bearer of traditional values, yet practice a gay lifestyle. This is a higher level of hypocrisy, because it both involves cheating on a vow and making oneself out to be what one certainly is not.

But I ask, do we really care about cheating and high level hypocrisy or is this just about winning an election and regaining the house? Do gay rights advocates care about these same issues as perhaps may involve themselves in other respects, or many involve other more liberal politicians on other issues? I think not.

It all smells of the same ole same ole election year scandalizing that both parties have become so good at, and which gives politics such a stench in my nose.