BEAUTIFUL BIGOTS

Anti-Gay Divas: The Fabulous Women We Love To Hate

So what is an Anti-Gay Diva?

She has all the right ingredients: She’s beautiful, preferably over the age of 40, smart, career-oriented, and has a great sense of personal style.

She’s the woman you would expect to have on your arm at a gay bar or fundraising gala on a Saturday night… If only she weren’t out there campaigning against LGBT rights.

Anti-Gay Divas come in all shapes and sizes. Some are bigger divas than others. And some are more powerful than others. Others are stridently anti-gay while some are moderate, inconsistent or just downright confused.

Click through to see our top 10 picks of Anti-Gay Divas.

Ann Coulter

Diva Cred:

Politics and bat-shit-craziness aside, Ann Coulter is pretty hot. Would you believe she’ll be turning 52 later this year? She’s certainly not too old to spend a roaring night at a gay bar.

A best-selling author with over three million books sold, and a regular commentator on various television and news radio shows, there’s no denying Ms. Coulter’s charisma. Not to mention everyone knows gays love a strong career woman. Sure, she’s made some questionable fashion choices along the way (i.e. slinky cocktail dresses on morning news programs? Did she go right from the club to the studio?), but who hasn’t committed the occasional fashion faux pas?

In his memoir Blinded By The Right, journalist David Brock, a former conservative, dished about dragging the drunken Coulter from one gay bar to another, where they proceeded to pound back shots and scope about the cute guys. Now that’s the kind of behavior we expect from a diva.

Anti-Gay Cred:

Despite claiming to have many gay friends, Coulter is a vehement opponent of same-sex marriage and civil unions. In 2012 she said, “It’s genuinely a pro-marriage position to oppose gay marriage.” She was also against the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, and in 2011 she went on the reality show A List Dallas and told her gay friend: “The gays have got to be pro-life… As soon as they find the gay gene, guess who the liberal yuppies are gonna start aborting?” If that wasn’t bad enough, last October, she proposed National Coming Out Day be followed by National “Disown Your Son Day.”

So, of course, the gay Republicans have embraced her. We, however, have not.

She is an anomaly that we can’t quite figure out. So fabulous, yet so, so — well — just plain wrong.

Photo credit: David Shankbone.

Sarah Palin

Diva Cred:

Perhaps a better question would be what doesn’t make Sarah Palin a diva? She meets all the necessary criteria. She’s good-looking, she’s ambitious, and she used to be in pageants. She also gives great speech. And let’s not forget that she burned up the McCain campaign coffers with her taste for designer clothes while simultaneously undermining it with a long string of stupid quotes, which is exactly what we would do if we were nominated on the GOP ticket.

Palin prides herself on being a down-home kinda girl, so we’d imagine she’s probably a beer drinker. We’d love to meet her at a corner bar for a local microbrew in Wisilla and flip through Levi Johnston’s Playgirl spread while giggling like schoolgirls. We bet it would be a lot of fun, don’t cha’know.

Anti-Gay Cred:

During her infamous 2008 interview with Katie Couric, Palin somehow managed to proclaim her support of LGBT people while simultaneously insulting them at the same time by saying that homosexuality was a choice. (No one ever accused her of being a logical thinker.)

Said she:

As for homosexuality, I am not going to judge Americans and the decisions that they make in their adult personal relationships. I have one of my absolute best friends for the last 30 years who happens to be gay, and I love her dearly, and she is not my ‘gay friend,’ she is one of my best friends, who happens to have made a choice that isn’t a choice that I have made. But I’m not going to judge people.

Palin would not have chosen to be a lesbian because she’s not a lesbian. Aren’t you glad she’s not a VP with those thinking skills?

Anyway, since then, Palin’s support of the LGBT community, much like her popularity, seems to have taken a nose dive.

She’s gone on record opposing same-sex marriage, offering same-sex couples employee benefits, or expanding hate crimes laws. She has also stated that she supports a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage nationwide, and let’s not forget that she defended her daughter Willow’s use of homophobic slurs in 2010.

The icing on the cake came last year, when she and her gun-totin’, snow mobile-ridin’ husband, Todd, held an impromptu photo shoot at Chick-fil-A then posted it to her Twitter account.

Photo credit: Daily Hurricane.

Carrie Prejean

Diva Cred:

Speaking of pageants, we had to include former Miss California Carrie Prejean on our list. The outspoken beauty queen may not be the sharpest tool in the shed (or the sack), but she makes up for it by looking gorgeous in sparkly dresses and jewelry (although the fake diamond-studded hoop earrings are just plain awful).

She’s young, charismatic, and a little bit naughty. (In 2009, topless pictures of her surfaced on the internet.) We could totally see her throwing back a Cosmo or two then dancing to the latest Britney song on the table at a gay bar. Hell, we might even make out with her if the mood stuck us (in other words, if we were very drunk).

Anti-Gay Cred:

Prejean made headlines during the 2009 Miss USA competition when she was asked if she believed same-sex marriage should be legal:

Well, I think it’s great that Americans are able to choose one way or the other. We live in a land where you can choose same-sex marriage or opposite marriage. And, you know what, in my country, in my family, I think that, I believe that marriage should be between a man and a woman, no offense to anybody out there. But that’s how I was raised and I believe that it should be between a man and a woman.

Immediately following the pageant, Prejean made the media rounds, appearing on a number of television and radio shows where she defended her position. She also participated in a commercial for the National Organization for Marriage’s campaign against same-sex marriage before being dropped when the scandalous pictures became public, which is a kind of justice if not divine.

Later that year, she released her memoir, written by a ghostwriter, that further defended her beliefs, before falling into obscurity, where she remains to this day.

Photo credit: Fox News.

Callista Gingrich

Diva Cred:

Callista is perhaps most famous for being Newt Gingrich’s “other woman.” If there’s one person gays love rallying around, it’s the “other woman.” (i.e. Marilyn Monroe, Angelina Jolie, and the list goes on and on.)

She and Newt engaged in a six-year extramarital affair from 1993 to 1999 before he finally got around to divorcing second wife, Marianne, to whom he had been married to for nearly 20 years and who had just been diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis. (Coincidentally, he informed his first wife he wanted a divorce while she was sick with cancer.) And, yes, you remember correctly, this was all happening at the same time he was publicly skewering President Clinton for his affair with Monica Lewinsky.

True, Callista has a bit of a Stepford wife quality to her — blonde hair, blue eyes, pearl necklaces, designer skirt suits — but get a few glasses of pinot gris in her and we bet she’d loosen right up. Plus we admire that she insisted Newt buy her designer clothing and jewelry and take her on an expensive cruise right in the thick of his presidential campaign, thereby managing to be both fabulous and distracting him from his wicked political designs.

Think of how fun it would be to sip white wine spritzers with her while gossiping about all the closeted Republican Senators. You know she’s got the dirt.

Anti-Gay Cred:

Though Callista herself has never gone on record about her stance on LGBT rights, her husband, whose half-sister is a lesbian, has been a staunch opponent for years. During his failed bid for President in the 2012 election, he proudly signed the Family Leader’s controversial “Marriage Vow,” committing his support in backing a U.S. constitutional amendment against same-sex marriage and defending the Defense of Marriage Act in court. This despite the fact that even our most bad-boy friends are more loyal than he is to their spouses. And in 2010, he secretly funneled $350,000 into several anti-LGBT groups.

While we in no way hold Callista accountable for her husband’s actions, we can’t help but wonder why she continues to stand by his side. Does she share her husband’s beliefs? Or does she simply put up with them because he’s so damn generous?

Photo credit: Sparkle Pony.

Christine O’Donnell

Diva Cred:

Okay, okay, so Christine O’Donnell may not necessarily fall under the classic “good-looking” category, but what she lacks in physical appearance she makes up for with quirkiness.

O’Donnell is probably most famous for her many failed-attempts at running for public office, for proposing a ban on masturbation, and for the commercial she released in 2010 in which she announced to the American people: “I am not a witch!”

The term “fag hag” isn’t politically correct anymore, but if it were, that’s how we’d describe this spunky brunette. We think she’d be a lot of fun to drink with, simply for the entertainment value. She opens her mouth and the shit just flies.

We also have to give her credit for wearing a pant-suit. It’s a somewhat butch style most right-wing women wouldn’t dare wear.

Anti-Gay Cred:

In the past, O’Donnell has gone on record saying she believes homosexuality is an “identity disorder,” telling the Washington Post: “People are created in God’s image. Homosexuality is an identity adopted through societal factors. It’s an identity disorder.” Which sounds awfully official for someone who is even the laughing stock of conservative intellectual circles.

She has also stated that she believes homosexuality can be “cured,” that people with AIDS should not be called victims, and once claimed that a gay ambassadorial appointee had “ties to the pedophile-rights movement.” This is all in addition to her saying she doesn’t support any law that “legitimizes a homosexual lifestyle.”

Did we mention O’Donnell’s sister, Jennie, is a lesbian living in West Hollywood?

Jennie has said in the past that she doesn’t believe her sister is a homophobe. Which makes us think the sisters must share the same brain cell.

Photo credit: Caffeinated Politics.

Laura Ingraham

Diva Cred:

Radio talk show host, best-selling author, and conservative political commentator Laura Ingraham is frequently heralded for her blond beauty. She has great style, her hair always looks incredible, and she gives Michele Obama a run for her money in the sleeveless-dress department.

In addition to her good looks, Ingraham is a pretty tough cookie. Earlier this year she got in a yelling match about gay marriage with Bill O’Reilly. Any woman who’s willing to call out O’Reilly (who we’re assuming must not have had his butt plug in place during the debate, but you never know) on his B.S. is someone we want to have a drink or five with.

We don’t know why, but Ingraham strikes us as a whiskey drinker. Maybe it’s because she’s a little bad ass, but with a soft, delicate edge. We’d love to sip Manhattans with her at a swanky gay lounge while discussing important topics like this season’s contestants on Project Runway.

Anti-Gay Cred:

Over the years, like many anti-gay divas, Ingraham has straddled the line between being pro-gay and anti-gay. It all seems to be complicated by the fact that her equally hot brother, Curtis, is a ‘mo.

The two were estranged for almost a decade before Ingraham finally came to terms with his homosexuality, telling the Washington Post in 1997: “In the ten years since I learned my brother Curtis was gay, my views and rhetoric about homosexuality have been tempered, because I have seen him and his companion Richard lead their lives with dignity, fidelity, and courage.”

When asked by Larry King in 2011 whether she supported the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, Ingraham said she didn’t have an opinion either way, replying: “I mean, I’m not running for office. I don’t have a view on every issue. It’s really not my focus on my show and I happen to – I hate saying that – I happen to have a lot of close friends who are gay.” But, nooo, she wouldn’t want her darling brother to serve her country.

Today, Ingraham seems more pro-gay than anti-gay. Though she has said she is opposed to gay marriage in the past, she seems to side with the gays during that bitch fight with O’Really: “For some people [gay marriage is] not about winning a debate, it’s about living the life that they want to live for themselves, for their communities, and their families.”

You go, girl!

Photo credit: Twitter.

Elisabeth Hasselbeck

Diva Cred:

We’re not going to lie, Survivor contestant turned daytime talk show host turned soon-to-be Fox News personality Elisabeth Hasselbeck can be annoying. Her shrill nasal voice punishes the ear, and her stubbornness drives us crazy. She frequently butted heads with her co-hosts on the View about her conservative beliefs. But, then again, aren’t divas supposed to be stubborn? Plus we admire anyone who can go from eating live insects on a reality show to winning multiple Daytime Emmy Awards to ultimately landing a spot on one of the highest-rated news channels in the country. And she can even pull off plaid. Well, kinda. Actually, no. Black would look a lot better.

Hasselbeck is a little too pure to get plastered at a gay bar, even on a Saturday night. However, we could definitely see ourselves sipping mimosas with her at Sunday brunch after a good night’s sleep (no sex!) and talking about the hot guy we made out with the night before.

Anti-Gay Cred:

Hasselbeck is another one who straddles the line between being pro-gay and anti-gay.

She has voiced her support for marriage equality multiple times. There’s no questions where she stands on that issue. Where Hasselbeck slips up is in her commentary.

In 2010, she insinuated that being gay was a choice when she said the reason so many older women become lesbians is because they can’t get a man.

“All the older men are going for younger women, leaving the women with no one.”

Hasselbeck then went on to say that women might turn to homosexuality later in life not for sex, but companionship. We’re wondering if there are any more stereotypes up her tan plaid sleeve.

She also has a history of sticking up for anti-gay types like New York Giants Wide Receiver David Tyree who, in 2011, said gay people shouldn’t be able to raise children and that gay marriage would lead to “anarchy.”

Hasselbeck responded to the backlash he received by saying, “I know David Tyree. I know his heart. He has no hate. He loves everyone.” Except those pesky anarchists!

We’d say Hasselbeck is more clueless than anything. Of all our Anti-Gay Divas, she’s the one we have the most hope for.

Photo credit: US Magazine.

Alexis Bellino

Diva Cred:

She stars on Bravo’s show Real Housewives of O.C. and isn’t shy when it comes to the lip gloss. Need we say more?

Anti-Gay Cred:

In 2011, Bellino said she was morally opposed to homosexuality. During an interview on RHOC, she stated that she did not believe gay marriages were “real” marriages because her faith did not support them. If that wasn’t bad enough, she went on to say: “Unfortunately [gay people will] have to talk to God when they get to Heaven’s gate.” And say what, exactly? Lie to him to get in?

Bellino suffered a backlash for her comments, but she must have learned her lesson since she hasn’t made any homophobic remarks since. (At least not publicly.)

Perhaps her gay assistant talked some sense into her?

Photo credit: Bravo.

Cindy McCain

Diva Cred:

In addition to rocking a Chanel suit and Louboutin heels, Cindy McCain is the heir to the multi-million dollar company Hensley & Co., which distributes Budweiser. On top of that, her husband is one of the most powerful senators in Washington, and she works with philanthropic organizations.

Of course, Cindy has her demons, too. In the late 1980’s the imperfect angel dabbled in prescription drug addiction, but she kicked the habit a few years later. And in 2008, she was put through the wringer during the presidential election, frequently labeled an “ice queen” by the media. So she’s a survivor.

Honestly, her story would make excellent fodder for a Lifetime Original Movie.

All of these reasons combined are why we’d crack open a Bud Light with her at her Arizona mansion any day of the week.

Anti-Gay Cred:

Nearly none.

Though her husband is opposed to same-sex marriage, Cindy is not. She has said multiple times that she supports LGBT rights, and continues fighting for the rights of gay people today. Just last month, she was honored with the Trevor Hero Award at an annual fundraiser in New York City for The Trevor Project. The organization offers support and suicide prevention services to LGBT youth.

By all estimation, she is not anti-gay.

Except for that little incident that happened in 2010 when Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell arose. Her husband was opposed to the repeal. Cindy, however, supported it, and even participated in a commercial with the NOH8 campaign voicing her opinions. Until a few days later when she backtracked. Big time.

On her Twitter page when she wrote: “I fully support the NOH8 campaign and all it stands for and am proud to be a part of it. But I stand by my husband’s stance on DADT.”

Years later, she has yet to fully explain the whole backpedaling incident, but we are quite confident that pressure was applied by some GOP political consultant. You know, one of those consultants who drove the GOP into the ground during the last presidential election, and probably continues to do so today.

The incident remains a hiccup in her otherwise strong record of LGBT advocacy. But given all the work she’s done since, we forgive her.

Photo credit: Adam Bouska.

Rep. Michele Bachmann

Diva Cred:

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) is the Cher of Anti-Gay Divas, minus the sequins and Indian headdress. She’s always impeccably dressed. (We’ve never seen her in plaid.) Her hair and make-up are fabulous. And she knows how to accessorize. She also knows how to work a corn dog with the best of them. And let’s not forget that she’s married to a gay man (allegedly). She is the quintessential example of what we’ve been talking about.

A night out with her would entail tequila shots straight up with no chaser. Because that’s the other thing about Bachmann: crazy as she is, the bitch doesn’t kid around.

Anti-Gay Cred:

Where do we even begin?

Bachmann’s longstanding hatred of gay people is so extensive we couldn’t possibly list everything she’s said, but you can click here for some of her greatest hits.

Over the years, she’s said she supports both federal and state constitutional amendments banning same-sex marriage and any legal equivalents. When the U.S. Supreme Court struck down DOMA earlier this summer, Bachmann held a press conference in which she said the court had “attacked our constitution!” Oh, the drama!

She also believes that you can “pray the gay away.” She and her husband, Marcus, own a Christian counseling clinic in Minnesota that tries to “re-orient” gay patients and turn them straight. Which is about as long a shot as her next presidential run. She even spied on a gay pride rally once from behind some bushes, which is just downright bizarre.

It’s probably safe to say Bachmann is a lost cause for the LGBT rights movement. She’ll never change her views. But we love to hate her anyway, corn dog ‘n all.

Photo credit: Open Salon.

Don't forget to share:

Help make sure LGBTQ+ stories are being told...

We can't rely on mainstream media to tell our stories. That's why we don't lock Queerty articles behind a paywall. Will you support our mission with a contribution today?

Cancel anytime · Proudly LGBTQ+ owned and operated