This week I was pleased to write an op ed explaining GOProud’s sponsorship of CPAC in Metro Weekly. The op ed can be found here and below.
In mid-February thousands of conservatives will descend on D.C. for the annual Conservative Political Action Conference — better known as CPAC — the premiere political event for conservative leaders and activists. CPAC sponsors represent the broad spectrum of conservatives and libertarians: economic conservatives, foreign policy conservatives, social conservatives and traditional libertarian groups. This year, gay conservatives will have also have a voice at CPAC thanks to GOProud.
This isn’t the first time a gay group has sponsored CPAC. In 2005, as political director for Log Cabin Republicans, I worked hard to secure Log Cabin’s sponsorship of CPAC. While Log Cabin’s current leadership, and indeed the leadership that preceded it, no longer considers CPAC a worthwhile investment, we at GOProud feel strongly that it is.
For years, gay men and women have been told the importance of coming out to friends, family and colleagues. Indeed, according to poll after poll, it’s one of the most important things you can do because one of the largest factors in determining how an individual feels about gays and lesbians is whether they personally know someone who is gay or lesbian.
According to a May 2009 Gallup poll, a plurality (49 percent) of those who personally know someone who is gay or lesbian support legalized same-sex marriage, while 72 percent of those who do not personally know someone who is gay oppose it.
Conservatives, who oppose same-sex marriage at a significantly higher rate than liberals, also are far less likely to know someone who is gay. According to the same poll, 71 percent of self-identified liberals know someone who is gay, while only 55 percent of conservatives do.
Indeed, Gallup concluded that the data showed “that many views toward gay and lesbian issues are related — in some instances, strongly so — to personal experience with individuals who are gay or lesbian.”
Given these facts alone, one would expect gays and lesbians of all political stripes would welcome — heck, even encourage — GOProud’s participation at CPAC. Sadly, that hasn’t been the case. Not by a long shot.
In a case of truly strange bedfellows, the gay left has joined the most radical elements of the social conservative movement in attacking GOProud’s participation. You can understand the fear of extremists on the far right: They know the impact GOProud’s sponsorship will have on undercutting their anti-gay message. These people rely on manipulating fear of what is unknown or different. But why is the gay left so angry about it?
The answer is simple. They are far more interested in politics then they are in achieving equality of opportunity for gays and lesbians and their families.
For much of the gay left the world is divided into two easily definable camps: Democrats, who by definition are infallible and should be defended at all costs; and Republicans, who regardless of their positions on LGBT issues are the enemy.
The leadership on the gay left has repeatedly made excuses for inaction by the Obama administration and the Democratic House and Senate on the gay and lesbian issues they claim are critical to our community. While they make excuses for the failures of Democrats, they ignore — or in some cases actively oppose — policies promoted by Republicans that would improve the lives of gays and lesbians.
Want to end the inequality of the tax code? Replace the current tax scheme with the Fair Tax, a sales-tax-based approach. Want to end the inequality in the Social Security system? Try allowing people to invest a portion of their Social Security taxes in personal savings accounts that can be left to their partners or anyone else. Want to end the inequality in the health care system? Then don’t expand a discriminatory government-run system. Instead, try expanding access to domestic-partner benefits by using free-market reforms to make health care individual, portable and more competitive.
These are the types of policies being advocated by conservatives and the types of policies being advocated by GOProud.
It is time for the gay left to recognize that political diversity is a sign of strength in our community and a sign of a mature movement. It is time for the gay left to recognize that GOProud’s sponsorship of CPAC is a tremendous opportunity for our community regardless of our partisan political differences.
Christopher R. Barron is chairman of the board of GOProud.
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Kudos Mr. Barron. I wish you and the rest of GoProud folk the best during CPAC.
I hope GOProud will recognize and give voice to an even smaller category–gay Christian conservatives. Many of these conservatives at this conference will be open about their faith–I hope that gays will be encouraged to give their faith testimony as well as their coming out stories.
I would have preferred GOProud’s involvement at some other juncture–CPAC is now mired in the scandal involving the attempted shake-down of FedEx. CPAC’s honesty and credibility are in question and Sarah Palin has declined to address the group this year for these very reasons.
Well said Mr. Barron!
I still believe that GOProud’s participation will be just as ineffective as that of LCR’s previously. I do hope though that they succeed and prove me wrong.
Congratulations GOProud. Taking your place next to the John Birch Society.
Conservatism is going backwards in this country. Where are the Buckleys of today?
Tano, once again you betray your ignorance of conservatism. And your prejudice. Yeah, I think it’s stupid that CPAC is including the Birchers, but don’t think any of their fellows will be allowed to speak. Nor does anyone on the right take them seriously nowadays.
Since you spend so much time on a conservative website, you should take some time to learn about the makeup of the modern American conservative movement and the ideas which undergird it.
Dan,
What is your point here? Most people, including and especially conservatives, look back and point to Buckley’s purge of the John Birch Society from the ranks of acceptable conservatism, as the seminal moment when the movement gained respectability, and was therefore able to begin to gain popularity.
Now the premiere conservative meeting of the year has gone out and welcomed this group as a sponsor. These are facts that you admit.
And you feel compelled to call me ignorant and prejudiced because I point that out????
How have I manifested any ignorance in this comment? You already admitted the fact they are part of the meeting. You even admit it is “stupid”. Do you dispute that it is a step backwards for your movement? What was ignorant about my comment?
And what makes my comment prejudiced?
Um, Tano, I said it was dumb for CPAC to include them, but it’s not indicative of the state of the movement.
I call you ignorant and prejudiced because you assume they have influence. Recall, you also said conservatism was going backwards Hardly. They made a dumb move, but find a mainstream conservative organization which treats their ideas with respect or a conservative blog which links them (in a favorable manner) as we get linked on such blogs.
Mr. Barron, great piece! Yanking the chains of the anti-gay right, AND the gay left. Throw those bombs, woo-hoo! 🙂
So what are you going to be doing at CPAC? Opposing ENDA? Attacking safe schools programs? Funding a forum for Mike Huckabee and the John Birch Society?
Why should people who don’t support the legality of Gays being fired from their jobs (simply because they are Gay) support your funding CPAC?
Why should Gays in transnational families support your funding CPAC?
Why should Gays that get paid unequal pay and benefits support your funding CPAC?
Its fine to have a discussion. But since you are banned from speaking, I don’t see how you’ll be able to discuss much.
They might allow you to talk if you agree to only attack Gay people and support discrimination against Gays. Just by showing up, you aren’t yanking the chain of the anti-Gay right.
But more importantly, exactly how are you relevant to the Gay mainstream? And how are you credible? Just because the Human Rights Campaign is ineffective doesn’t excuse your ineffectiveness or counterproductive behavior.
Do what you want. Attack bans on firing Gays simply because they are Gay (while supporting bans on Gays firing people for being Mormon or Baptist). Oppose reunification of transnational families. Attack safe schools programs. Obsess with attacking Barney Frank (my guess is because he speaks with a lisp). But don’t whine about the Gay mainstream (what you call the Gay left) ignoring you if you aren’t doing anything to help issues of concern to the Gay mainstream.
In short, you aren’t relevant to the concerns of the Gay mainstream. And funding CPAC isn’t going to help you be credible.
Wow, Tom, you’ve been having a bad day. Do hope a good night’s rest has relaxed you.
Now hopefully you’re calmer and you can address the arguments we make –and that Chris made above, you know in the post to which you attach your comment. You do make a lot of accusations and pose a lot of accusatory questions.
You know, if you come to a gay conservative blog and use the space we provide for comments to offer the usual litany of accusations against us, you’re not really profiting from the forum we offer.
And perhaps when you let go of your anger and take the time to study our ideas, you might find the time to look into your own hate.
Dan,
These litany of accusations exist because you never seem to address them.
How do you address the fact that a Gay man cannot fire someone because they are Mormon or Baptist, but a Baptist or a Mormon can fire someone because they are Gay?
How do you address the issue of transnational families?
How do address inequal pay for equal work?
How are you holding Republicans to the same standard as Democrats on Dont Ask, Don’t Tell, repeal?
You might have some credibility for attacking Obama and the Democrats for their inaction on Gay civil rights issues, if you actually supported the legislation that you criticize Obama being inactive on.
Never seem to address them? Hmmmm. . . .
Don’t lecture me on what I should blog on here. I just don’t think government is the answer to the concerns of the gay community nor is it government’s responsibility to determine the appropriate level of compensation for a given job nor the employment practices of a private enterprise.
And please note when I criticize Obama for his inaction on gay issues, it’s only to wonder at the gay left’s enthusiasm for the guy. And note that I have been careful to commend those gay bloggers who criticize the gay leadership for their support.
You are welcome to blog about what you want. But if you support the legality of discrimination against Gay people, and otherwise work against issues of Gay equality, don’t whine when few take you seriously.
It seems to me that any ‘benefits’ for Gay people from policies advocated by your group is third derivative or coincidental. Why even bother calling yourself a Gay group? Are you proud of being Gay? Seems to me that many in here are more of the “we’re not like those nelly, lisp speakers”.
When you formed GOProud!, I was afraid that you would simply be used by the right to be used as shill to argue against marriage, employment, and other equality issues. I’ve found that, while I have seen a few articles by people using your opposition to Gay equality to attack the Gay mainstream, you have been for the most part, completely ignored.
Good luck with your campaign to fight ENDA, and do nothing to work for vital issues of concern to gay families. Free speech? You got a right to that. Respect and relevance? You have to earn it.
How do you address the fact that a Gay man cannot fire someone because they are Mormon or Baptist, but a Baptist or a Mormon can fire someone because they are Gay?
Easy; a Gay man can fire someone because they are heterosexual. Also, a gay man cannot be fired because they are Mormon or Baptist. The situation is quite equal.
Your problem, Tom, is that you are an antireligious bigot who hides behind your sexual orientation as justification. You have made it clear that you hate religion, you hold nothing but contempt for religious people, and that being “Gay” requires you to be an antireligious bigot.
But if you support the legality of discrimination against Gay people, and otherwise work against issues of Gay equality, don’t whine when few take you seriously.
Or so say bigot liberal “Gays” like Tom, who regularly support and endorse bans on gay marriage and Obama Party members who support banning gay marriage.
And so say bigot “Gays” like Tom, who scream that their being investigated and punished for demanding sex from their coworkers is “homophobia and sexism”.
Done with it. Bigot “Gays” like Tom are nothing more than welfare mooches who don’t want to work and want to coast through life on their minority status while demanding of others what they won’t do themselves.
NDT,
I support Republicans against anti-Gay Dems. I challenge you to find one single Republican that you would vote for a Democrat over. One.
Furthermore, you apparently support non-discrimination laws (you appear to do so above). Only when they protect Mormons and Baptists. You exclude Gay people from non-discrimination clauses. Why should religion be protected and Gays excluded?
So long as religion is used in the political arena, then religious groups are political groups. And should be treated accordingly.
Obama is against Gay marriage. Fine. I’m pissed at him over that an other issues. But the larger point is that your group cannot capitalize on that anger because you don’t offer any credible alternative. Do YOU support Gay marriage? If not, why are you upset that Obama doesn’t support it? If you do support marriage equality, how do YOU advocate its’ passage (by supporting a slate of almost exclusively discriminatory candidates, perhaps)?
Now I’ll let you get back to supporting the Republican candidate for Senate in Mass, who thinks that Gays should be hounded out of the military. Simply because they are Gay.
Furthermore, NDT, I pay lots of taxes. Over 7 figures in the last three years in taxes (yes – that much – and I didn’t come from money). I recognize that I’ve been blessed and lucky and that there are some things that government must do (like paying my way through school so I could produce the kind of income I do now). I’d like to pay less taxes (who wouldn’t), but I understand that roads, schools, and an effective society doesn’t materialize out of ‘libertarian pixie dust’.
I’m sorry, but I feel as though you (NDT) are selfish and think that just because you don’t experience discrimination because you are Gay, that others don’t. And that people should have to leave Texas if they need government protection.
You have a right to be selfish. But don’t be surprised if the Gay mainstream treats you and other Gay conservatives with the same concern that you appear to have for us. Remember that the next time you whine and cry because someone in the Gay mainstream treats you the same way you treat us.
For the record, there are many Democrats who need to go. I’m actively supporting Byrne (a Republican!) against anti-Gay Dem Artur Davis for Ala. Gov. I’d be willing to support Anh Cao (R-LA) against an anti-Gay Dem. I’m willing to support any pro-Gay candidate against Carney (D-PA), Bright (D-Ala), Ellsworth (D-Ind), Lipinski (D-nepotism-Ill), Gov Beebe (D-Ark), Taylor (D-Miss), and others. The problem is that so long as the Republican candidate is worse than the anti-Gay Democrat, I’ll just not get involved. Why bother replacing an anti-Gay Democrat with an anti-gay Republican?
Why doesn’t GOProud!/Gaypatrioters oppose anti-Gay Republicans against more supportive candidates of other parties? I know, ‘you don’t vote on Gay issues’.
If that is your answer, then why should a Gay person that supports ANY of the following (DADT repeal, Uniting Americans Family Act, marriage equality, pay/benefits equality, non-discrimination, etc.) take your statements as credible?
I think this statement exemplifies your problems, “Tom in Lazybrook”.
Now I’ll let you get back to supporting the Republican candidate for Senate in Mass, who thinks that Gays should be hounded out of the military. Simply because they are Gay.
Meanwhile, what does Martha Coakley support?
She supports confiscating my weapons.
She supports requiring me by law to purchase health insurance or be sent to jail.
She thinks I should be denied the right to vote on and amend my own constitution.
Those are my civil rights as an American, codified in the Constitution and backed up by centuries of case law — and she opposes them.
In addition, she supports imposing rapacious taxes on me, a law-abiding and hard-working citizen, so that she can give fat welfare checks, free housing, free medical care, and a no-show government-sponsored job <a href="http://www.boston.com/news/politics/2008/articles/2008/11/04/bha_takes_heat_for_housing_obamas_aunt/" to Obama's illegal-immigrant auntie, who doesn't work at all.
Those have MUCH more impact on me than DADT ever will. And that’s what makes you and your fellow minority moochers so entertaining; it’s clear that you do not pay taxes, do not want anyone to own guns, do not care how much people pay for health insurance because you’re getting it for free, and don’t care how much money is taken from working people because you’re not one of them.
And then the really, REALLY hilarious part.
I’m sorry, but I feel as though you (NDT) are selfish and think that just because you don’t experience discrimination because you are Gay, that others don’t.
The thing that you would ask, Tom, if you were anything other than a minority moocher, is WHY, despite being “Gay”, I DON’T experience discrimination while others do.
The reason you don’t ask that question is simple: it opens the possibility that what is happening to these other people is for reasons other than their sexual orientation.
For example, you shriek that all “Gays” receive “unequal pay”. In your strange world, if a “Gay” person is paid less than a straight person, it is automatically because of “anti-Gay discrimination” You insist that a “Gay” person must always be paid the same amount as a straight person, and you are DEMANDING that laws be passed to guarantee that.
Could it possibly be because they aren’t performing as well? Could it possibly be because they don’t have the experience? Could it possibly be because they make sexual solicitations to their coworkers? No; in your minority-moocher mind, it is because of “anti-Gay discrimination”. Nothing else.
You are beyond infantile in your reasoning — and that’s likely why you are so easily manipulated by the Obama Party, which also states that any difference in pay between a minority member and a non-minority member is always due to “discrimination”. It neatly removes any possibility that the minority member’s lower pay is due to their own choices, experience, and behavior, and automatically insists that it’s everyone else’s fault, not theirs.
You expect Republicans to support this? Sheesh, do you expect any sane person to support this?
NDT, there are many companies (including the Federal Government) that pay Gay people less in total compensation simply because they are Gay. Not related to performance at all honey.
I thought this was a “Gay” website. And that GOProud! was a “Gay” organization. How assault weapons in bars, bans on private property owners keeping guns off their property, etc. “Gay issues”. Don’t whine when people in the Gay mainstream see you as not part of our community when you ignore every single Gay issue. Furthermore, your beloved Republican party and NRA supports non-discrimination for people who bring firearms onto the property of others, while at the same time, demanding that employers have the right to fire someone simply because they are Gay.
And if you think that employment discrimination doesn’t happen, might I point you to Collin County Texas, where a county employee (and a REPUBLICAN) was fired, for the sole reason that he is openly Gay.
You apparently do not care one whit about Gay rights, as you support nothing of importance to the Gay community, but are simply using this forum to persue your non-Gay agenda of Guns and not paying for government services. Why should anyone who is Gay see you as part of our community?
You get what you give, sugar. You give us nothing, you’ll get nothing in return. There is a middle ground, but you’re slavish support of the Republican Party (which, IMHO, is far more slavish than virtually anyone in the Gay lefts’ support of the Democratic party), is the problem.
NDT,
You don’t experience discrimination? I didn’t realize your partner, if not from the USA, can immigrate equal to a straight partner? I didn’t realize that you can’t be kicked out of the military for being Gay? I didn’t realize that your partner gets federal health insurance benefits as a result of your employment by the federal government. I didn’t realize that you can adopt your first cousin’s children in Arkansas or Florida, if they choose for you to be the godfather.
How did you, and apparently you alone, manage to get around all that discrimination?
Holy cow, I’m so glad that I’ve actually DEALT with and accepted being different so I dont have these mental and emotional issues….must suck to go through life PRETENDING to be a victim, and denying facts just so you dont have to come to terms with being different.
Here’s a clue…there are 6.5 BILLION human beings on earth. Heterosexuality created ALL 6.5 BILLION, homosexuality created NONE of them.
Marriage law that recognizes where babies come from is not unfair discrimination…its called being a sane, rational human being in touch with reality and able to make important distinctions.
And I know you werent referring to me, but PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE dont see ME as part of the “gay community” — I am embarrassed, no, humiliated to be associated with it on almost a daily basis. There is no “straight” community. There is no “male” community. Its called society, and I have integrated! You should grow up and try it.
American Elephant,
At least you don’t pretend to be part of the Gay community. Please don’t whine when people treat you as an outsider.
I’d love to integrate, but my Colombian boyfriend can’t get a visa.
How assault weapons in bars, bans on private property owners keeping guns off their property, etc. “Gay issues”.
Ah, and the hypocrisy gets even better.
Care to explain how abortion is a “Gay issue”, Tom?
Care to explain how being a lapdog of labor unions is a “Gay issue”, Tom?
And want to explain how this involves “Gay issues”, Tom?
Playing down its support for gay marriage, the HRC mobilized its 650,000 members to staff phone banks, raise money, and participate in get-out-the-vote campaigns to elect candidates sympathetic to gay issues, even if they didn’t support gay marriage. The group was the single biggest donor to Democratic state Senate races in New Hampshire, helping the party take control of both chambers of the Legislature for the first time since 1874.
The group also helped congressional candidates from Arizona to Florida and Ohio, and party activists believe the organization can play an even larger role in the 2008 elections. The idea, leaders say, is to become a steady source of funds and grass-roots support for Democrats — more akin to a labor union than a single-issue activist group.
This is the way the bankrupt and principle-free Obama Party works; it uses puppets like Tom in Lazybrook here to scream that everything the Obama Party wants is a “Gay issue”, and that if you don’t do exactly what the Obama Party wants, you’re “anti-Gay”.
No integrity. Nothing but a race pimp. That’s all Tom in Lazybrook is — a “Gay” Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson.
You don’t experience discrimination?
Remember what you said, Tom?
I’m sorry, but I feel as though you (NDT) are selfish and think that just because you don’t experience discrimination because you are Gay, that others don’t.
Your statement. Don’t you remember? Or did that little attempt blow up in your face when you realized that, by claiming I don’t experience discrimination, you admitted that “discrimination” is not universal?
Believe me, I can do even better. While Tom is shrieking about “unequal pay”, want to know what he and his fellow welfare gays are trying to tell advertisers?
Research shows that gay consumers are…
Over twice as likely as national index to be professionals or managers
Average household income over $85.4K
Are 3.4 times more likely to have household income over $250K
NDT,
You obviously think I’m a supporter of HRC. I’m not. I gave over 15k last year to politics. HRC didn’t get a dime.
Sure, some Gays make lots of money. I’m one of those lucky ones. But that money doesn’t get my partner a visa, or stop outrageous attacks on me and my family.
You got nothing but contempt for anyone who needs the government to work fairly.
You are not part of any community but the community of You, Yourself, and You.