Last time GOProud’s Christopher Barron was on television with Cenk Uygur, the MSNBC anchor laughed in his face. It was funny! Particularly the part(s) where Barron gets all defensive about whether or not conservatives hate homosexuals. It’s time to play this game again, now that we’ve heard Sen. Jim DeMint isn’t attending CPAC, the right-wing confab Barron & Co. will be cruising again this year. “There’s a small fringe element of the conservative movement that’s anti-gay for pay,” Barron contends, insiting most conservatives don’t care about gay issues. “And those people’s message is not resonating.” Sorry, did he just say anti-gay for pay? ZOMG LUVZ IT!
term coinage
GOProud’s Christopher Barron: Anti-Gay Conservatives Are Just ‘Anti-Gay For Pay’
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Cam
Yeah, but that is like telling a person in the hospital…”Don’t hate the people that beat you and put you here, it wasn’t personal, somebody paid them to do it.
Being beaten because somebody hates you or because somebody is paid to do it feels exactly the same and has the exact same results.
christopher di spirito
How many more hours until the queens start posting about how “hot” they find Christopher Barron? The guy is a fucking idiot and a tool. Cenk keeps setting him up to take the bait and falls for it every time. Christopher Barron: FAIL.
whatever
In other news, House Republicans are trying to repeal the DC gay marriage vote, which proves teabaggers only care about fiscal issues.
justiceontherocks
Maybe if he showed them pictures of his abs and his Manhunt profile they would show up anyway.
GOProud probably has all of 5 members. Why is so much time wasted on them?
Jeffree
If Christopher Barron manages to out one closeted Repub member of Congress, I will send him a thank you note (but NOT a check—I do have standards!)
And, no, I don’t find him hot at all….
Righwingers are sociopaths (John from England)
@whatever:
And Wyoming and Iowa also has just voted 13-8 (one Democrat voted for) to repeal marriage.
Fun times with those gay for pay GOP’ers who care so much about money that they will make sure you get NO RIGHTS at all!
They’re rich, why should they care??? These people are anti-society but not their religous wealthy white community, don’t confuse the two with gay conservatives.
FreddyMertz
Can he just not speak and show more abs..and maybe a little ass…I would totally like/lust him more..shallow?..Why yes! I own it.
Jack Blair
So where are fiscally “conservative” gays to go? I choose to support GOProud and LCR because they share my values – I will not sign my whole life over to the Left because of one issue (gay marriage).
Most “gay Republicans” are actually libertarians. If the mainstream GOP “hates” us, it’s only because they fear we may bring with us every loony idea from the Left. They feel similarly about straight libertarians.
Our job is to quell their fears about that. I have talked to plenty of “conservatives” who, once they find out that I am for limited government and free markets, don’t really care a whole lot about the gay thing.
The only thing a white Liberal seems to hate more than a Republican is a gay person who doesn’t buy into Leftist ideology.
We have a saying: “I’d rather come out gay to Republicans than come out as a Republican to gays.”
Jack Blair
InfoQuarter
Cam
@Jack Blair: said…
So where are fiscally “conservative” gays to go? I choose to support GOProud and LCR because they share my values – I will not sign my whole life over to the Left because of one issue (gay marriage). ”
_______________________
Sorry, but the right wing has turned me into a one issue voter. Once I have protections against losing my job, having full choice over who can make life decisions, where my property goes to after I die, who I can marry….THEN I’ll worry about which side comes up with a more sustainable trade policy with =South Korea. But until the law declares that I am a full human being I can’t risk voting for anybody that will try to attack me for who I am.
Think I’m over reacting? VA GOPers passed a law that says two unrelated people of the same sex cannot enter into a contact together, in other words, can’t own a house, can’t have a living will, can’t sign over their social security/property etc… True, the law got attacked in Court, but that doesn’t change the fact of what they were trying to do.
Again, when they back off I’ll start being more than a one issue voter.
SouthSideShorty
@Jack Blair: Well said, Mr. Blair, well said. My conservative friends are much more likely to accept my homosexuality than my homo friends are to accept my conservatism. Go figure.
justiceontherocks
@Jack Blair: The war in Iraq being a great example of the Republicans’ fiscal conservatism.
Zach
@SouthSideShorty:
Your conservative politicians are much more likely to strip you of whatever rights you have and, if they had their druthers, criminalize your conduct.
I’d say your gay friends are justified; I would not be friends with some who voted for a party that would lock us away.
“If the mainstream GOP “hates” us, it’s only because they fear we may bring with us every loony idea from the Left.”
The GOP hates us for much more fundamental reasons. Well over a third of the party consists of religious fanatics. The other portions have never hesitated to not only block progress (which *might* put them on the same level of the Democrats) but reverse it where possible (*cough* Iowa, Washington DC, Washington, California).
hf2hvit
@SouthSideShorty: Your conservative friends may ACT like they accept it but they VOTE AGAINST you, you fool. People like Chrissy Barron are just damn fools.
“Can I PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE be in your club even though you hate my guts and say shit about me? PLEASE???” And while several of the husbands in the group are in the closet and taking it in the ass?
What a fucked up group of people. Conservatives hate gays and I’m amazed how many married men who take it up the ass are “conservatives”. And when they have nothing else to bitch about, conservatives are crying that some store said “Season’s Greetings” instead of “Merry Christmas”.
greenmanTN
@Jack Blair:
Umm, you’re full of crap. Did you know that?
You think the right just doesn’t like you because “they fear we may bring with us every loony idea from the Left”? Don’t be so easy on them or yourselves; they hate you for YOU. The Religious Right is a large segment of the Republican base, far more important to them than “fiscally conservative gays” will EVER be, and Republicans who may not personally be homophobic will continue to exploit, support, and vote for anti-gay legislation to keep the “Family Values” crowd happy. Gay Rights is one of the wedge issues the Republicans have exploited to grand effect and, make no mistake, many on the Right are honestly virulently anti-gay. Gay Rights do not fit in with their regressive drive to return the country to a “Leave It To Beaver” past that never really existed in the first place.
I have no doubt that some Republicans aren’t personally homophobic, but even those people are mostly willing to exploit homophobia to keep their coalition intact. Even if I agreed with the Republicans’ fiscal and foreign policy aims (which I don’t), I have this apparently bizarre bed-rock aversion to supporting politicians who would strip me of rights and dignity, deny my very humanity, even when they only do it for political advantage. It’s a little thing I like to call “self respect.”
Jack Blair
On the Iraq war and other GOP fiscal idiocy: This is why I am a libertarian. In a perfect situation, I’d say hell yeah, let’s get away from foreign entanglements.
We are not begging the GOP to “let us in.” We’re in whether they like it or not. The Tea Party experiences a similar thing: The GOP kinda sorta likes them, but sometimes would wish they’d go away. Like the Tea Party, we’re not going away. As Andy Cooper-Vanderbilt (“360”) is fond of saying, “We’re keeping them honest.”
I will not fall into lockstep with the collectivist Left. As for the GOP wanting to “deprive me of rights,” I have this on my side: I have no problems with the 2nd Amendment. (O SNAP, I WENT THERE.)
You do all realize that the LCR were instrumental in the DADT case? In fact, the LCR was named by the court as an “advisory organization” on all matters DADT. That HAS to tick off white Liberals.
You all ought to wish us Godspeed. You squeeze ’em from the Left, we’ll squeeze ’em from the other direction.
Why should we blend in with the Democrats like good little sheep when we can make more noise and draw more attention on the other side?
Jack Blair
InfoQuarter@justiceontherocks: @greenmanTN: @justiceontherocks:
christopher di spirito
@Jack Blair:
We had a choice in 2008. Obama or McCain.
Sen. John McCain says the homophobic military policy ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ worked fine and should not be repealed.
GOP: FAIL.
Arizona Republican Sen.John McCain opposed adding “sexual orientation” to the list of groups that would be included under new Federal Hate Crimes legislation.
GOP: FAIL
2004 GOP Platform Positions
Homosexuality is incompatible with military service
States should not recognize gay marriage from other states
Constitutional Amendment banning same-sex marriage
Oh Snap! Yeah, Republicans really do hate ‘teh gays.’ So go ahead on and fellate this party and what they stand for.
You’re a moron.
greenmanTN
Ah yes, the “Libertarians.” Why not just call it the “Fuck You, Jack, I Got Mine!” party and get it over with? Between the Libertarians and the Republicans the US will soon be a 3rd World country and if you’re one of the “haves” you’ll soon have the ego-boosting pleasure of stepping over diseased beggars on your way out of your gated (and armed) community. A little taste of the Black Hole Of Calcutta without the inconvenience of getting a passport.
Mel Maguire
Cenk got his proverbial arse handed to him in this debate. He sounded like a parrot…”they hate you! They hate you!”
Good grief. Where is all this tolerance that the left keeps championing? I really feel the love here, folks. I do. It just makes me feel all warm and squishy inside.
Has anyone here stopped to think about what it is that some conservatives don’t like about us (contrary to popular belief, Heritage pulled out over financial woes, not because of GOProud, and the rest of the groups are far-right fringe groups, not “huge”)? We announce garbage like the Folsom Street Fair and then we complain that entire groups in this country don’t like us? We hold gay pride parades where we prance around in our underwear and leathers and we think that mom-and-pop America is going to embrace us?
Please. I fully understand why some of them don’t like us. Most of the gay community is completely unwilling to sit down and have a civil conversation with these people. If you would try, I promise they’d talk to you. Some of the most virulently anti-gay people I’ve ever known have sat down to actually talk to me when they realized I wasn’t trying to force a liberal agenda on them, and you’d be amazed at the outcome. So, rather than trying to shock them into accepting our mere existence, why don’t we raise the bar and speak intelligently? That might work wonders.
For the record, I’m against ALL hate-crimes legislation. You cannot legislate against the way people think.
Pip
He’s hard to watch. Kind of good looking, but he has a John McCain jaw line.
scott ny'er
@Mel Maguire: Did they still speak to you as you held hands with your BF/partner? Did they still invite you to their house when you hugged your BF/partner or gave him a kiss?
justiceontherocks
@Jack Blair: Are you a republican or not? Make up your mind. Don’t give us the libertarian double-talk, some Democrats are libertarian also.
So, can you man up and be honest with yourself and us? Are you a Republican or not?
Jack Blair
@justiceontherocks:
I told you, I’m a libertarian. I have voted Rep and Dem in the past.
But no, I’m not a Republican.
@Mel Maguire:
I hear that. It’s not only things like Folsom that bother people – it’s more broad than that. It’s the whole loony Left agenda.
I believe in limited government. Liberals do not. The GOP holds to it on paper, but in practice they are usually found wanting.
On hate crimes legislation, I agree with you. To paraphrase a pro-2nd Amendment proverb: “When seconds count, a hate crimes conviction is just years away.”
No thanks. The best way to deal with violent homophobes is to blow a few of them away in self-defense. They’ll get the message quickly.
(Yes, I know – that’s not “nice.”)
Jack Blair
InfoQuarter
justiceontherocks
@Jack Blair: You’re not a Republican but you align yourself with two gay Republican organizations.
Get back to us when you are much less confused.
Jack Blair
@justiceontherocks: I am not required to “get back to” you. You are not the gatekeepers.
My positions are well thought-out and have developed over a considerable period of time.
I used to be a flaming Liberal (YAY drugs and sex in the streets, BOO big corporate profits and a bummer money trip, man…)
I have many good reasons for believing as I do, and the basis for most of my positions can be located in basic economic realities, as well as informed respect for the Rule of Law.
Nutshell Version:
1) Our rights are not “granted” by the government, or by any other human institution or individual.
2) A thing can never be worth other than what people will pay for it.
From these two concepts, all good things derive.
Jack Blair
InfoQuarter
SouthSideShorty
@Jack Blair: Dude—you’re my hero.
To quote Meat Loaf, you took the words right out of my mouth.
Mr. Enemabag Jones
Christopher Barron is such a queen.
You know his favorite thing to do is prance around his house in a frilly nightgown, and cha-cha heels.
justiceontherocks
@Jack Blair: If you were any dumber moss would grow on your north side.
Jay
I used to not be a fan of Uygur, But now I love him.
Why is that conservatives always just raise their voices and never actually provide real facts?
And i really can’t take him seriously with that much make up on…gurl, please.
Ugh whats next, a conservative gay brown person? aye.
Kev C
Cenk is cocky and over confident, as if he actually believes democrats are as pro-gay as he imagines.
whatever
libertarians are pretty scummy, too. anyone who idolizes that weird russian emigre and terrible writer has to be.
Jack Blair
@justiceontherocks:
This is your hypothesis?
Please point out my errors in the following two statements:
1) Our rights are not “granted” by the government, nor by any other human institution or individual.
2) A thing can never be worth other than what people will pay for it.
Tanks.
Jack Blair
InfoQuarter
Mel Maguire
@Scott NY’er: I am a lesbian. When I first met some of those folks, they were not interested in talking about anything. It was a discussion about conservative beliefs that got the ball rolling. When I mentioned that I was a lesbian, it opened the door for a whole new discussion, one that every single one of them admitted they never would have thought to have. Now, whether or not they would have wanted to see me holding hands with my girlfriend I can’t say; we never got that far. I do promise, however, that they were far more open-minded afterward. I know that some who were LESS virulent still don’t want to see me and my girlfriend showing PDA, but out of respect they don’t speak up about it. If you’re looking for validation of your relationship from them, you’re not trying to get tolerance – you’re demanding that they embrace us, and that isn’t going to happen any time soon.
@justiceontherocks: you are proving my belief that very few liberals are capable of having any manner of civil debate or discussion because all you’ve done so far is insult those you disagree with.
@Jack Blair: I know a number of conservatives who will bring up every single gay-themed event when talking to me, many of which have nothing to do with the gay community itself. Why is it that so many GLBT folks feel it necessary to champion every liberal cause on the planet? I think it’s because they, like all good liberals, have a purely emotional reaction to something and base what they believe on that rather than actually think about it.
Oh, and I have to second your comment about self-defense. I’d much rather defend myself and live to tell the tale than hope to be vindicated long after I’ve been murdered.
CampusRadical
Sorry this is long but I read these gay conservative back and forths and I am always tempted to chime in.
I have a lot of problems with gay Republicans but in some ways I can sympathize with their outlook. I consider myself a liberal first and a gay person second; why shouldn’t they feel the same way? I am an American liberal because I believe that the government can and should be a force of good which uses its scope to help fight injustice economic and social. For this reason I support a (moderate) welfare state and social libertarian views. This is also the primary reason that, following mid-20th Century political realignment, the Democratic Party has championed rights for minorities be they black, female or homosexual.
On the other hand, that false boogeyman “communism” doesn’t exist in America so gay conservatives who moan of such are delusional at best and morally corrupt at worst. One thing that really needs to be addressed is that the American Democratic party is not liberal, left-wing, or “collectivist”. It is moderate and advocates limited regulation of the markets. In the United States there is no strong history of socialism or social democracy as exists in Europe. For this reason the Democratic party is moderate and considered “centrist” by international standards. So I feel confident as an economics/history major in saying that I am both a staunch capitalist and staunch Democrat.
My problem with homosexual conservatives is that they put greed above humans. In some ways I find gay Republicans more offensive than social conservatives. I grew up in conservative Indiana where I knew a ton of Christian crazies. They hated and feared homosexuals but at the end of the day it was because they thought gays were “dangerous” people who preyed on children; gay people were misguided souls who chose an aberrant lifestyle. It’s frustrating to deal with but when they’re so brainwashed their reaction is not so surprising.
And this is precisely where I have a problem with homocons. I never met a gay Republican until I moved to LA and I’ve yet to meet a poor one. They tend to be mostly wealthy and from the coasts where they are safe from fringe conservatives and just care about a lower base tax rate. They give national republican leaders a pass on their insane rhetoric, which stokes the hatred and fear in the heartland, simply because they want more money. John Kenneth Galbraith once said “The modern conservative is engaged in one of man’s oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness.” In my mind, gay Republicans exemplify this. However they are even more egregious because their lust for money negatively impacts and potentially ruins the lives of millions of gay kids who don’t have the luxury of living in otherwise liberal coastal enclaves.
If Mr. Barron condemned the Republican leaders when they pulled anti-gay stunts I would be infinitely more impressed with his supposedly ‘prinicipled’ politics. Also kvetching about the estate tax is pathetic. It literally impacts 20 families in the United States. Talk about banality!
Jack Blair
@Mel Maguire:
I think the “gay community” has also allowed itself to be taken ideologically hostage.
Simple education will always do the trick. I suggest they all start with Hayek and Adam Smith.
Sed
Chris is an Uncle Tom.
Mel Maguire
@Sed – that was intelligent. Very mature, too. And so tolerant it was inspiring.
Mel Maguire
@campusradical: we put greed above humans? I beg to differ. We’re primarily wealthy? News to me. Where the hell is my payday…?
You are pigeonholing us with fancy words, and that sort of thing is frustrating. “Christian crazies”? Really? Have you ever stopped to think that they might well be reacting based on things they don’t understand and they feel vindicated when they see the more outrageous things that go on at pride celebrations?
I have about twenty or so gay conservatives in my circle. Not one of us is wealthy or well-connected. We all work our asses off for every single thing we have – be it our education or our paychecks. As capitalists, we believe that the best way for the economy to work is for the government to put a few regulations in place to protect from outright frauds and discrimination, then back the hell off.
When my straight conservative friends start talking about marriage amendments – and believe it or not, only about half of them do – I remind them that such a thing is Unconstitutional. Why? It’s a power grab, no less so than anything they’ve bayed at the Democrats for doing. It is an expansion of government power and you cannot argue for limited government while at the same time calling for a federal marriage law.
As far as social justice goes, I’d really like to know who’s going to decide what constitutes social justice. You? Me? The “Christian crazies”? The UN, perhaps? Social justice is also not on the Constitutional radar. It is not supported by any of the Amendments, nor by the Bill of Rights. Your desire to see social justice come to fruition is no less of a moral crusade than the one the Christians in this country are waging.
OrchidIslander
@Jack Blair: “If the mainstream GOP “hates” us, it’s only because they fear we may bring with us every loony idea from the Left.”
There it is. The one sentence that says one should take several pauses and reflect before they seriously consider your rationalized point of view.
OrchidIslander
@Kev C: I don’t think Cenk was cocky at all. He was spot on in his comparisons of both parties and their respective records as they relate to gays and civil rights. When you compare the Republicans dismal records to the Democrats – I can see why his take is that Democrats are more gay friendly. Which would be true. It isn’t exactly rocket science or hidden away facts.
Mel Maguire
It was a freakin’ DEMOCRAT – Bill Clinton – who signed DADT and DOMA into law.
Yeah, the Republicans are way worse.
Shannon1981
Gay conservatives are Uncle Toms. End of story.
Danny
Good point about rights not “granted” by government. When government violates human rights, the government has overstepped its bounds and the rule of law ends. The reality is simply a matter of numbers. Count the number of politicians who violate human rights, law enforcement, and military in the USA – over 30 times that total is the number of Americans experiencing human rights violations to their families. THAT is why the rule of law ends when human rights are violated. The one lesson from the Holocaust is that politicians, who violate the human rights of millions of people, are pure and absolute evil – no matter the excuse they use. That is why the rule of law ends because no rational person upholds any law that violates human rights. Consider that the families of two-thirds of law enforcement and military personnel are among those suffering human rights violations. That’s why the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was created in the first place – to let average people know when their government had grown too corrupt.
scott ny'er
@Mel Maguire: Sorry. Thought u were a dude. I’m not certain that a person who is tolerant of me and my partner would back me up versus a person who embraces me and my partner. That’s my point.
Say family x down the street is weird. So you tolerate them. And then family y who lives next to them, who you embrace because they aren’t weird gets into a situation. The same situation that family x got into. Maybe they get into it with each other. Who are you going to got bat for?
btw, on the gay pride parade and leathers/underwear thing. I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again, so what? Have you seen MTV videos. Madonna was prancing around in her underwear and leathers years ago. YEARS ago. Since the 80s or earlier, there have been ads for underwear (remember Arnold Palmer)… Victoria Secret catalogs. The Rockettes have been kicking up their heels in skimpy outfits on Thanksgiving Day. The Caribbean Parade in NYC has woman and men in skimpy attire, I guess that’s ok because they are straight and from the Islands.
It’s not the underwear and leathers that’s the problem, it’s the people and their orientation that is the problem. Sure, it would be more acceptable to certain people if the Pride Parade had their participants be covered up. But, why is it ok for other situations to see people uncovered? One can go down to the beach and see more uncovered bodies. Again, it’s because it’s not the coverage that’s the problem, it’s the PEOPLE, LGBT PEOPLE, behind what they wear that’s the problem.
Mel Maguire
Scott…they don’t like Madonna and all that other crap, either. Do you know anything about that culture? I grew up in it.
scott ny'er
@Mel Maguire: if mom and pop America is equal in their disdain for heteros and their skimpy attire, then that’s cool. I don’t really need to have them embrace me or my LGBT friends or my hetero friends who wear a bikini and trunks on the beach. That’s just stupid, prude like upbringing. Most likely influenced by religious (Christianity, fundamentalist probably) thinking.
The human body is part of nature.