Easier to be gay among conservatives . . .
. . . than to be conservative among gays.
The Washington Blade asked me to blog about my experience in St. Paul and published the column today. To whet your appetite, I give you the first three paragraphs:
JUST OVER TWO years ago in the Huffington Post, left-wing journalist and screenwriter Gene Stone asked why “any gay man or woman†would join the GOP, “a party that has stated, over and over, as clearly as can be, without equivocation, that he or she is not welcome.†Stone’s piece was little more than an angry and inaccurate diatribe, attempting to show that it was “worse than self-loathing,†it was “just plain moronic†for gay people to embrace the Republican Party.
His article, like so much of the criticism leveled against gay Republicans, did not reference any specific action by the GOP excluding gays. He didn’t even identify any actual gay or lesbian individuals who had had adverse experiences with the Party of Lincoln.
Familiar with such ill-informed attacks on gay Republicans like myself, I decided last week that when I went to the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, I would make a point of referencing my blog, GayPatriot, whenever I introduced myself to a participant. As the blog is part of Pajamas Media, a consortium of mostly right-of-center web sites, I would interact with a great variety of conservative (and libertarian) bloggers covering the convention.
Click here to read the rest.
UPDATE:  Well, to show how much easier it is to be a gay person among conservatives than to be a Republican among gay activists, check out Scott Tucker’s post on blogcabin.net ”fisking” Dan Savage’s impression of the convention.  That sex columnist is so filled with animosity against Republicans, he can’t see the world in front of him.  And like so many anti-Republican gay activists, he can’t provide facts to justify his (very distorted) view of the GOP.
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HAHAHA… Being proud of being Republican in a gay rag is gonna get you shot! Well, I guess you don’t have to worry since most liberals are for gun control.
Comment by OutliciousTV — September 12, 2008 @ 5:42 pm - September 12, 2008
This is my experience as well, while I may not have participated at the convention but in my normal everyday life I find this to be true.
Although I will say, one one of my social networking profiles (connexion.org) I have placed some Palin/McCain support “stickers” as some of my photos. I was excpecting to come under fire…but I am getting more “kudos” than rude comments. (There are a couple of rude ones too)
I think that there are more independent thinking/ conservative thinking people in the community than people would know. For sure more McCain supporters where you would not “normally” find them.
It just takes blogs like this and people in the community to speak out because it shakes it up the group think.
Comment by Colocelt — September 12, 2008 @ 5:43 pm - September 12, 2008
Very true. I have some close friends that say they like Sarah or McCain but don’t tell anyone.
Comment by OutliciousTV — September 12, 2008 @ 5:47 pm - September 12, 2008
OTV - The gay lefty in the cube across from me started telling me he thought Sarah Palin was interesting, which surprised me… but fell right back into a loud-voiced panic, which is more the guy’s usual form, when I made a point criticizing Obama
Comment by ILoveCapitalism — September 12, 2008 @ 6:12 pm - September 12, 2008
This posting is common knowledge among gay conservatives. But depending on where you live, its not just gay leftists but straights too. My next door neighbor knows I am Republican and thought it was mildly amusing until I told her I was going to the RNC to volunteer with LCR. Apparently the thought of having to live next to a Republican weirded her out while I was away. She asked my partner if his “supposedly liberal” view rubbed off on me. His response was that he is total apathetic about politcs and does not care about politics or to discuss politics (he does with me though). No since I have returned, she no longer speaks to me.
I don’t feel I can engage her because for the liberals the opposite of talking is not listening its waiting.
I volunteered at the LCR Big Tent Event and saw lots of media come in. I kept thinking “There goes another slam piece on us”
There are times when I think it would be easier to not be a Republican but right now, I want the gay leftists lose and lose badly. Gay leftists are like straight people who want us to be straight. No way!
Comment by LCRW — September 12, 2008 @ 6:44 pm - September 12, 2008
I am so glad to have found this blog. I have felt like an oxymoron for being not just a Gay Republican but a Gay Conservative. Just today, I was told that I am a disgrace to homosexuals because of my support for the McCain/Palin ticket. This from a friend and colleague who will be apoplectic if Obama doesn’t win. The guy who cuts my hair said pretty much the same thing. I usually just laugh off comments like this, but deep down it bothers me.
Keep up the good work.
Comment by CavGuy — September 12, 2008 @ 7:05 pm - September 12, 2008
I won’t discuss politics with the guy who cuts my hair. It took me way too long to find someone I like. HAHAHA!!
Comment by OutliciousTV — September 12, 2008 @ 7:52 pm - September 12, 2008
Just today, I was told that I am a disgrace to homosexuals because of my support for the McCain/Palin ticket. This from a friend and colleague who will be apoplectic if Obama doesn’t win.
What kind of a friend makes your sexual orientation contingent on your political beliefs?
Comment by North Dallas Thirty — September 12, 2008 @ 8:00 pm - September 12, 2008
Just today, I was told that I am a disgrace to homosexuals because of my support for the McCain/Palin ticket.
The guys (and gals) on this blog get told that pretty much every day. The real independent thinkers are on the right.
Comment by V the K — September 12, 2008 @ 8:32 pm - September 12, 2008
hehehehe, ya. well when your cohorts are willing as not to be so cheap as to give you and your survivor, social security benefits, then you might have something to crow about. but until such time, you are nothing less than a sucker.
Comment by michael — September 12, 2008 @ 10:05 pm - September 12, 2008
I dont have SSI benefits?? Since when? Luckily thanks to the Democrats,. i am equally coercised into a rip off system that will eventually bankrupt the govt
Comment by Vince P — September 12, 2008 @ 10:09 pm - September 12, 2008
so your beloved gets left high and dry???
Comment by michael — September 12, 2008 @ 10:22 pm - September 12, 2008
talk about taxation without representation, ROTF
Comment by michael — September 12, 2008 @ 10:28 pm - September 12, 2008
Thanks to the Democrats, I get to spend my entire working life paying into a Ponzi scheme that will be bankrupt before I retire.
Comment by V the K — September 12, 2008 @ 10:38 pm - September 12, 2008
michael, darling, what you don’t understand is this: unlike Democrats like yourself who are financially illiterate, those of us out here who understand the process of saving and the power of compounding interest know what a raw deal Social Security is.
Put bluntly, if a worker who makes a mere $40,000, starting at age 22, sets aside the 12% that he and his employer are forcibly required to contribute under Social Security today in a simple savings account earning 3% annually, by the time he reaches age 70, he will have a nest egg of $536,000 — which, if parceled out at the Social Security maximum amount of $2,185 per month this year, just drawing down principal, will cover 245 months, or over 20 years. If he just lived on the interest of this nest egg, he would be making $1,752 a month — which is 66% MORE than the average Social Security payout of $1,050 a month.
And the sky is the limit. Just a 1% bump in interest rates to 4% would give him an additional $190,000 — or an average monthly income of $3,028. Give him 5% interest, which is a rate of return that even the most inept of financial planners can manage, and he has $997,000 — over $4,100 a month.
Give him Social Security and he’ll contribute the same amount — and get only $1,050 a month for it.
Comment by North Dallas Thirty — September 13, 2008 @ 12:05 am - September 13, 2008
R-E-S-P-E-C-T…
Where does a gay guy from Los Angeles go to get a little respect? The Republican National Convention, of course!…
Trackback by what if? — September 13, 2008 @ 2:02 am - September 13, 2008
[...] Daniel Blatt of GayPatriot has written a piece for the Washington Blade that should be required reading for liberals. In Proud [...]
Pingback by Required Reading: Proud to be a Republican : Jenn Q. Public — September 13, 2008 @ 3:44 am - September 13, 2008
Comment by North Dallas Thirty — September 13, 2008 @ 12:05 am - September 13, 2008
right, like social security doesn’t include survivor benefits, disability, SSI..etc.
Comment by michael — September 13, 2008 @ 6:59 am - September 13, 2008
self loathe much fellas?
Comment by Tex... — September 13, 2008 @ 1:01 pm - September 13, 2008
[...] Easier to be gay among conservatives . . . [...]
Pingback by GayPatriot » The Problem with Joe Solmonese — September 13, 2008 @ 4:00 pm - September 13, 2008
What do you exactly mean by conservative though? I think that for the majority of gays, conservatism === social conservatism === anti-gay. Or do you mean conservatism === classical liberal?
There are plenty of GOP good guys out there such as, but not limited to, Arlen Specter, Jerry Sanders, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, and of course the late Barry Goldwater. Yet they’re the exception, not the norm. The way you’re going, you guys are doing fuck all to make the mainstream gay community realize that there are some good guys in the GOP, and that party affiliation means nothing in supporting gay rights.
As for being treated nicely at the convention, most of them don’t see you as equals, likewise with the Democrats.
Comment by Rob — September 13, 2008 @ 10:03 pm - September 13, 2008
What do you exactly mean by conservative though? I think that for the majority of gays, conservatism === social conservatism === anti-gay. Or do you mean conservatism === classical liberal? And how exactly is the GOP ever was the conservative (classical liberal) party?
There are plenty of GOP good guys out there such as, but not limited to, Arlen Specter, Jerry Sanders, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, and of course the late Barry Goldwater. Yet they’re the exception, not the norm. The way you’re going, you guys are sure doing a good job making the mainstream gay community realize that there are some good guys in the GOP, and that party affiliation means nothing in supporting gay rights.
Comment by Rob — September 13, 2008 @ 10:09 pm - September 13, 2008
I read your column in the Washington Blade. It is refreshing to hear a different point of view in the gay media, but ultimately your letter was a depressing read. The low point was when you stated, in reference to the Republican VP candidate’s speech, “In that speech, Palin, like John McCain, did not belittle gays nor reference the battles over marriage.” You wholeheartedly support and applaud McCain and Palin for not attacking gays in their speeches? That’s it? Don’t you find it depressing that you are openly jubilant just because McCain and Palin did not vilify and attack gays with their comments?
I may not agree with your political views, but I respect your right to voice them. I sincerely hope the that the Republican Party gives you something to be proud of at some point.
Comment by theowl — September 13, 2008 @ 10:23 pm - September 13, 2008
You really don’t have much going for your argument, especially if you read the 2008 Republican party platform. It mentions “the incompatibility of homosexuality with military service” (offering, of course, absolutely nothing to back up this statement).
And, of course, there is an entire section on Traditional Marriage (page 53). Now, funnily enough, the platform blathers on about a Republican congress passing DOMA so states would not be forced to have to recognize icky marriages from other states. Now, elsewhere this document goes on several times about states rights to decide. For people who are so concerned about states rights, they sure don’t mind the federal government wielding its power to stop those yucky homosexuals.
Here’s my favorite line “Children in homes without fathers are more likely to commit a crime, drop out of school, become violent, become teen parents, use illegal drugs, become mired in poverty, or have emotional or behavioral problems”
This must of great comfort to gay male couples who giving double strength against these things from happening to their kids
Lesbian couples everywhere must be reading this and realizing how horrible they are not to have a father and how they are doubly destroying their children’s lives. (Should Mary Cheney and her partner try to dodge this bullet??)
Of course I’m just not sure what exactly to say about the Palins - how could that girl get pregnant with the perfect mix going so right for her? hmmmmmm. Oh wait, yes, we also need to ponder on that section on abstinence only sex education as well as it applies to the Palins…
Comment by Kevin — September 14, 2008 @ 3:07 am - September 14, 2008
[...] me of the reaction I got this weekend when a left-wing blogger linked my recent Washington Blade column. I experienced the same kind of name-calling and stream of vitriol that Sarah Palin has. (The same [...]
Pingback by GayPatriot » Why Feminists Hate Palin; Why Gay Activists Hate Us — September 15, 2008 @ 9:10 pm - September 15, 2008