Big Gay Closet

And they bring us right to the notoriously homophobic closet cases currently in the House of Representatives: Patrick McHenry (R-NC), Adrian Smith (R-NE), Trent Franks (R-AZ), David Dreier (R-CA), Aaron Schock (R-IL- [...]), and Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA).

Yes, there are some names missing from the list… but for a reason. Every one of the above gay men has a zero score on their lifetime votes regarding gay people. Like Ashburn, they’re all in terror and voting on automatic pilot when anything comes up regarding gay people, even something as assisting local law enforcement to protect gay men and lesbians from hate crimes. As Signorile put it, these hypocrites are “too traumatized to make critical decisions” with clear minds. They belong on therapy, not Congress.

via DownWithTyranny!: Political Outing– Is It Ethical? Yes, And Aaron Schock Is VERY Gay.

On the back of the Roy Ashburn change-of-heart interviews, the blogger makes the argument for aggressive political outing. It does seem that if Ashburn had been outed earlier (because plenty of people knew) he would have overcome his paralysis that kept him from ever voting positively on a measure that impacted the LGBT community.

It would be interesting to compare the voting records of those suspected closet cases with other conservatives. Are closet cases more likely to vote against our interests? Roy Ashburn would say yes.

The best I can do is to say that I was hiding. I was so in terror I could not allow any attention to come my way. So any measure that had to do with the subject of sexual orientation was an automatic “no” vote. I was paralyzed by this fear, and so I voted without even looking at the content. The purpose of government is to protect the rights of people under the law, regardless of our skin color, national origin, our height, our weight, our sexual orientation. This is a nation predicated on the belief that there is no discrimination on those characteristics, and so my vote denied people equal treatment, and I’m truly sorry for that.

via Patt Morrison Asks: An interview with California Sen. Roy Ashburn – latimes.com.

I feel a connection to Roy Ashburn. Now, I have never really been closeted. I certainly have never held office, married and had children all while hiding my sexual orientation. But still, I was conservative before I was gay. I wasn’t entirely conservative — I don’t think I’ve ever been politically conservative –, but when it came to social matters, conservative would have been the label that fit. There weren’t many socially liberal Baptists. Nevermind the debate about gay clergy; female clergy were still controversial.

I recall when my friend (and fellow hopeful theologian) came out. I have no idea what idiot things I said to him. I only hope that the fact that we are still friends means I wasn’t too awful about it. I do recall as well another theology type blithely bringing up the subject of homosexuality with me as we shopped at Mel’s Tea Room. In hindsight, she must have been trying to suss me out. After all, I obviously believed in gender equality, surely there was a possibility I was a social liberal? I wasn’t. I was stupid, ill-educated, closed minded and appallingly sure of myself and that the world around would agree with me.

I didn’t know at the time she was gay. I found out later, after I came out. I’m almost certain I was obnoxious in that instance. I still feel awful about it. The last thing she needed in that time and place was another condemning voice.

In retrospect, even as a social conservative, I should have been less mouth, more ears. I should have heard the real question behind the “issue”. I’m pretty sure Ellen had just come out. Gay was the issue.

But it also was reality for a lot of people, and many of my friends. It would shortly and ever since, be reality for me.

After I came out, I was confronted with my friends who were still condemning of homosexuality, and were ready to to play the “love the sinner, hate the sin” card and remain my friend. And for a long time, I accepted that as ok. I realised later how untenable those friendships would be.

It’s a really long road from being anti-gay to being gay and anti-anti-gay. I wish Roy Ashburn the best of luck on that journey.

I would not have been speaking on a measure dealing with sexual orientation ever prior to the events that have transpired in my life over the last three months. However, I am no longer willing or able to remain silent on issues that affect sexual orientation and the rights of individuals. And so I am doing something that is quite different and foreign to me, and it’s highly emotional.

I was in hiding, and so casting any kind of vote might, could in some way lead to my secret being revealed. That was terrifying to me. It was paralyzing. And so I cast some votes that have denied gay people of their basic equal treatment under the law. And I’m not proud of that. I’m not going to do that again.

From The Advocate

This is part of Harvey Milk‘s famous Hope Speech — the one that starts with “My name is Harvey Milk and I’m here to recruit you.”

Today, these two paragraphs stuck out for me, and I thought I’d share. I hope you find them as grounding as I do.

Harvey says it’s all about “coming out”. Our anger, our frustration, our loneliness and ultimately the hope we can have in our leaders — those that come from our community — it’s all ours, and while having friends in high places is great, being in high places is better.

Like every other group, we must be judged by our leaders and by those who are themselves gay, those who are visible. For invisible, we remain in limbo–a myth, a person with no parents, no brothers, no sisters, no friends who are straight, no important positions in employment. A tenth of the nation supposedly composed of stereotypes and would-be seducers of children–and no offense meant to the stereotypes. But today, the black community is not judged by its friends, but by its black legislators and leaders. And we must give people the chance to judge us by our leaders and legislators. A gay person in office can set a tone, can command respect not only from the larger community, but from the young people in our own community who need both examples and hope.

The first gay people we elect must be strong. They must not be content to sit in the back of the bus. They must not be content to accept pablum. They must be above wheeling and dealing. They must be–for the good of all of us–independent, unbought. The anger and the frustrations that some of us feel is because we are misunderstood, and friends can’t feel the anger and frustration. They can sense it in us, but they can’t feel it. Because a friend has never gone through what is known as coming out. I will never forget what it was like coming out and having nobody to look up toward. I remember the lack of hope–and our friends can’t fulfill it.

via The Hope Speech : Harvey Milk | From Dana’s Guests | DanaRoc.com.

I’ve often had a fantasy that everyone would turn some shade of pink related to their position on the Kinsey Scale. Pale white heteros to shocking pink homos. Even if it were just for a week, I think our fight would be over. People could not deny knowing or admiring any homosexuals if that highly paid action hero were to suddenly turn the color of a memorial day peony. Imagine how festive the CPAC convention could have been!

via You’re Outta Here! | Our Big Gayborhood.

Jester over at Our Big Gayborhood invites a discussion on whether it’s only right to out gay people.

Inspired by the recent stories of Roy Ashburn and Sean Hayes, Jester asks the question:

Do celebrities or other public figures have a responsibility to come out of the closet?

What do you think?

In light of prominent anti-gay activist Roy Ashburn recently being caught walking out of a gay bar, and proving once again that conservative voters have little to no Gaydar, here’s a list of 10 conservative anti-gay activists who turned out to be gay themselves.

via Top 10 Anti-Gay Activists Caught Being Gay | Ranker – A World of Lists.

The list includes the stories of 10 of the worst anti-gay gays.

One thing, though. How come there are no women? Surely there must be some juicy conservative lesbian scandals out there? Or are the lesbian daughters of conservative politicians able to be out and free? Because it seemed — a few years ago anyway — to be a credible conservative politician, you need a lesbian daughter, or a pregnant teen at least.

Oh, and in John McCain’s case, a wife and daughter who openly advocate for gay rights. That’ll do nicely.

The list in short:

• Troy King
• Jim West
• Richard Curtis
• Bruce Barclay
• Roy Ashburn
• Larry Craig
• Ed Schrock
• Robert Allen
• Ted Haggard
• Mark Foley

We’re keeping our eyes peeled for that anti-lesbian lesbian scandal.

via GayPolitics.com » Conservative California state senator comes out.

Asked about his anti-gay voting record, Ashburn said, “I felt my duty, and I still feel this way, is to represent my constituents.”

“I am gay. Those are the words that have been so difficult for me for so long. It is something that is personal, and I don’t believe I felt with my heart that being gay would affect how I do my job,” Ashburn said.

This is so sad. Does it really need to be this way, Senator? Do you despair so completely of ever truly accepting yourself?

I really feel awful for him. I know he’s voted in ways that have hurt the community, but … wow. That’s some deep-seated internalised homophobia there mister.

I hope his outing will have some positive effects on his ability to accept himself. We can’t expect someone who feels so strongly against himself to help the community. Right now, he needs someone to help him.

This week has seen a conservative politician in the US state of California — not come out — but dragged out. As I blogged on LezGetReal, Roy Ashburn was caught drunk driving in a state-issued vehicle, and that is how he originally made the news.

What made the news go international was the revelation that he had come from the Sacramento gay bar, Faces, and was accompanied by an unidentified man when he was stopped.

Outrage soon followed when we in the larger gay community learned that not only had a couple California newspapers known that the state senator with a 100% record on voting to oppress gay people was gay, but that the openly gay mayor of West Sacramento, Chris Cabaldon, had also known and had said nothing either.

I have a lot of sympathy for Ashburn, but I wasn’t trying to lead a double life. I just wasn’t talking about it,…I was supportive of our rights and equality. I wasn’t persecuting by day and partying by night.

via Marcos Breton: How much of Sen. Ashburn’s life is our business? – Sacramento News – Local and Breaking Sacramento News | Sacramento Bee.