Since the moment I first starting publicly dealing with my sexuality, I have experienced the narrow-minded attitude of many gays toward Republicans. It seems some believe it’s a rite of passage in coming out for those who were once Republicans not merely to change their partisan affiliation, but also to prove that by becoming viciously anti-Republican.

When I hinted to some of my undergraduate friends about my feelings for men, they told me that I had become a Republican to cover up being gay. They pressed me both to come out publicly and to publicly renounce my partisan affiliation. Instead of helping me open the proverbial closet door, their words led to my slamming it ever more tightly shut.

As an undergraduate, I had discovered conservative and libertarian ideas and read widely, strengthening the intellectual foundation of my political views. And I had grown to love the then-incumbent President of the United States, Ronald Wilson Reagan, coming to appreciate his noble vision. That my friends could tell me I was a Republican to hide my sexuality indicated that they dismissed the very basis of my commitment to the GOP — and the time I had taken to develop my mind.

With that experience in mind, I gain a greater appreciation for all that Andrew Sullivan went through in the 1990s. As the first openly gay “public intellectual” to challenge the gay orthodoxy, he was subject to a level of abuse that makes his latest rants against the president seem tame by comparison. Not only did gay writers attack him viciously in print, but other activists threw drinks at him at bars and I’ve even heard that one person spit in his face at a dance club.

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When you merely mention the words “homosexual” or “gay” in front of certain social conservatives, they get whipped up into a frenzy and start warning of a parade of horribles, sometimes including the end of Western civilization. Similarly, when you mention the word, “Republican” or the name of the current President of the United States (and/or his top advisors) to some on the left, they also get whipped up into a frenzy.

Sometimes you don’t even need mention the word Republican (or GOP) to get these Bush-haters to start leveling all kinds of accusations against our party, particularly its gay members. Yesterday, I decided to followup on the hope I have expressed previously on this blog (e.g,. here) to promote a serious discussion of gay marriage by posting on some of the important issues in the debate. To that end, I put together a post on a topic I have been thinking of for some time, the failure of advocates and opponents of gay marriage to discuss two of the most important aspects of the institution — monogamy and divorce.

While most of those commenting took the time to address the seriousness of the issues I raised, a few of our perennial critics used the comment space we offer as just another excuse to bash Republicans, particularly gay Republicans. So burning has their hatred of Republicans become that if a Republican, particularly a gay one, expresses his concerns on an important social issue, they will focus on the writer’s partisan affiliation instead of his ideas, even when the writer faults those on both sides of the debate and even when he does not bring his political views into the discussion, seeing that this is a point which transcends politics.

A gay Republican tries to better define himself by putting forward his ideas and they won’t let those ideas get in the way of their negative perception of all things Republican.

In this way, they have become like the narrow-minded Dr. Dobson who basically dismisses any arguments made by gay writers and activists on gay issues. Like him, they’re not interested in a discussion of the issues which so obsess them. Already “knowing” the answers, they refuse to left facts, sound arguments and ideas get in the way of their opinions.

It’s too bad that some people judge a man, not by the quality of his arguments — or the content of his character, but merely by his political affiliation — or his sexual orientation.

-Dan (AKA GayPatriotWest): GayPatriotWest@aol.com