GP Ed. Note — Matt, please lay off the personal attacks. I don’t have time to play nanny.

Well, there we have it folks… ILC is using one of the GayLeft’s standard ploys to imply someone who doesn’t agree with his lunacy must be a self-loathing, self-hating gay.

Not bad, ILC.  It took you a nanosecond to move from a self-proclaimed political independent to a "rally the crowd and stone ‘em" liberal pscho-babbler.

No, a narrowly constructed agenda is exactly what conservative gays need to distinguish themselves from the conventional gay rights agenda that THEY THEMSELVES and you too, ILC, so often criticize on the Left as being overly broad, shilling for other political interests in which we have "no dog"… et cetera.

Just as a honestly placed sincere suggestion for you: if you’d put aside your urgent need to always be correct and "victorious" even if it takes a miracle or leap of logic to get there, try applying a little common sense.

Gay conservatives should be about repealing the tax code that unfair burdens partners.  It should be about modifying the SS laws to allow survivor rights.  It should be about providing greater freedom for partners to care for thier ill loved one.  It should be about granting greater asylum to immigrants fleeing repressive societies (like Oklahoma maybe).  It should be about the repeal of DADT.  (Of course there are others) And it should be mostly GERMANE to gays who hold a conservative philosophy –and not be hijacked by every loon on the Right who sees yet another chance to gain support for their unique world view of what’s right/wrong… including your pet peeve of societal antipathy toward Americans who follow Islam’s tenets.

Despite what you might like to think, most Americans don’t give a hoot about whether gays support a liberal or conservative gun stance –it ain’t germane.

The more issues that supposed "conservatives" add to their little litany of grievances, the more they water down and lose focus on what’s important.

Old political advice to any advocacy group: Keep your eye on YOUR ball, keep it simple, advocate.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IMI_Galil

respectfully,
Daniel in Brookline

respectfully,
Daniel in Brookline

All I would add is, a narrow minded focus on narrowly "gay" issues is self-destructive - dare I say, self-hating?  on the gay community’s part.  The War on Terror is a gay issue.  Individual rights / freedom in general, are a gay issue.  Gun rights are one small manifestation of individual rights; there are many others.  I, as a gay man, can only live - happily, or at all - in a Western, free society.  The fact that freedom and individual rights in general are other people’s issues too - that is, *human* issues - does not make them less important to me as a gay man; it only means I have a lot in common with other people.  It means  I can work with them and emphasize what unites us - instead of stupid, victim-y identity politics that would divide us.

But I understand where he’s coming from.

I would hope that the "gay agenda" would be extremely short if conservatives wrote it:

1. equal treatment under the law. (which i believe we already have)
2. Discuss with society, rather than trying to dictate to, the benefits of gay marriage.
3. Thanks for coming, please tip your waiter.

The conservative agenda is much longer and encompasses issues such as gun rights and free trade.

These case for these broader rights can certainly be made to those in the "gay community" in terms of their own self interests (in many cases thats the only way to reach people that have decided they are victims), but part of the conservative gay agenda should be to reverse the trend toward identity politics, not further it by constantly searching for a "gay angle" on every issue.

I just make common cause with liberty-loving conservatives, on matters of individual rights and freedom.  There are issues where conservatives and I part company.  It’s a tribute to the openness of the GayPatriot blog, that Bruce and Dan have always made a bit of space for me.

Here is what you said:

Most intelligent people would say that a "true gay rights agenda" would [not] be focused… things like eliminating 3rd world debt, banning nuclear weapons, ending global warming or fixing the shortage of good crusted breads.

But who said anything about "eliminating 3rd world debt, banning nuclear weapons, ending global warming or fixing the shortage of good crusted breads"? I know I didn’t.

Oh, that’s right… You did. LOL :-)  Here is what I actually suggested:

Self-defense rights… free speech rights, free association rights, freedom-from-excessive-taxation rights, free-market-medical-care rights, freedom-from-terrorist attack rights, and freedom-from-Islamic-Sharia rights… [in short,] the generalized civil rights that just happen to be extra crucial to a gay life - plus a few other things [that are even more gay-focused] like civil unions, putting the ‘DP’ (Don’t Pursue) into DADT-DP, and keeping sodomy laws repealed.

And gattsuru said:

The gay rights agenda includes supporting freedom of speech and freedom of association. Those are rather important things for GLBTQ individuals…

Most intelligent people would say that a "true gay rights agenda" would be focused on issues of singular interest to correcting the inadequacies felt or experienced within the gay community -not things like eliminating 3rd world debt, banning nuclear weapons, ending global warming or fixing the shortage of good crusted breads.  LOL.

It’s simply amazing that any supposedly "conservative" gay would want to hijack the gay rights agenda in order to advance issues which are NOT germane to the broader gay community.  What’s next?  "Gays rights include the repeal of NAFTA!"  "Get the troops out of the MiddleEast and bring the Navy back to NYC for shore leave where they belong!"  "Urban sprawl kills gays culture!"

I can appreciate –although not support– gays wanting to maintain easy access to free gay porn on the net.  I can appreciate –although not support– some gays wanting the gay community moved lock-stock-n-barrel onto the Democrat Plantation.

But gun rights as a plank of a gay rights agenda?  LOL.

Is gun control bad for gays?  Sure.  But it’s a far, far stretch as ILC would like to propose that gun rights are as sacred to gays as the right of association or to wear white speedos on the annual PrideFloat.

Get some common sense, will ya?

Stick with what’s germane to our community.  You want to pimp out the gay rights agenda to include nefarious and tangential issues that are especially dear to conservatives… then make it tax reform per the marriage penalty parallel for partners, make it the treatment of SS benefits for surviving partners, or make it something else that pertains to our unique situation… we don’t have a monopoly on violent domestic abuse and a welfare mom in the ghetto or trailerpark has a far greater threat from being a victim of violence than any gay.

For all the important issues that adversely impact our community, sometimes gay conservatives try a little too hard to be a little too different for the sake of separation from the GayLeftBorgTypes.

The Virginia Tech shooter was a great example; this person should have been in a psychiatric hospital, not roaming the streets. But instead of looking at that, liberals blame guns, even though it should be obvious to anyone that this guy was out to kill people with or WITHOUT having access to guns.