Is it too bad that California State Sen. Roy Ashburn is terming out in a few months? Because he’s finally starting to sound like somebody I might want to elect as a lawmaker.
We’ve already heard from Ashburn try to explain his anti-gay voting record while being a homosexual. And he’s used what limited power he has that remains to do things like voting to recognize June as LGBT Pride Month. But there’s not much ground Ashburn can make up for the things he voted against during his tenure; Equality California’s Geoff Kors previously estimated Ashburn “voted on the wrong side of 30 to 40 gay rights-related bills, including no on Assembly Bill 14 in 2007, which Kors said prohibited discrimination against gays in public places including bars, and no on Assembly Bill 394 in 2007, which Equality California says helped ensure full implementation of school safety standards regarding harassment and discrimination.”
Legislatively, he’ll never be able to reverse his earlier damage. But the guy isn’t dead. He might be leaving one office, but there’s a whole world out there for guys like Ashburn, and it isn’t called the board of directors of Exodus International. He’s been politically humiliated, but Ashburn still carries some currency in California. And he’d be a great RSVP for all the parties to be thrown following Judge Vaughn Walker ruling Prop 8 is unconstitutional.
My Gay Rant
He is complaining that the Republican Party is viewed as the “anti-gay rights party, and that is regrettable.” Sounds like saying “I feel like the Nazi party is viewed as the Antisemetic party, and that is regretable”… okay, maybe that is a little extreme, but there is no way he can deny that the G.O.P. are much more conservatively against gay rights!
Cam
Gee, funny how he says it is unfair that the GOP is viewed as the anti-gay party. And yet, while he was closeted he felt the need to vote in an anti-gay fashion, why? Well, to fit in with his party of course.
Don’t complain that your party is viewed as anti-gay when you yourself were voting that way because of their views fool.
Lanjier
He is leaving office with dignity. Thank you Roy for speaking out. 🙂
Bill Perdue
@Lanjier: Bigots and those who apoplgize for them have no dignity.
I can’t imagine anything he could do to rehabilitate himself.
Eminent Victorian
What exactly is a “new leaf on life”? Is that the way the cookie bounces? Oh, for a trained editor at this website.
B
No. 2 · Cam wrote, “Gee, funny how he says it is unfair that the GOP is viewed as the anti-gay party. And yet, while he was closeted he felt the need to vote in an anti-gay fashion, why? Well, to fit in with his party of course. Don’t complain that your party is viewed as anti-gay when you yourself were voting that way because of their views fool.”
What’s really funny is that Cam’s post got 8 “thumbs up” and 1 “thumb down” when what Cam wrote misrepresented what Ashburn actually said. Basically, he said that Republicans were viewed as being anti-gay because their votes were not following their stated principles, and that has to change.
http://www.gaypolitics.com/2010/07/19/my-journey-my-party-and-lgbt-rights/ has the actual quote: ” To me, Republican principles hold that each individual is special and unique; each individual should have the maximum freedom and opportunity under our Constitution; that government has no business in the private lives of our citizens. If these truly are the guiding values of Republicans—how did we ever get into the situation where my party is viewed as the anti-gay-rights party? Well, maybe because Republicans, including myself, have voted and acted to oppose equality and freedom for gay people. It’s time for fair-minded Republicans to speak up for what our party really stands for—individual freedom and limited government. If we truly believe the greatness of America is founded on the individual achievements of ordinary citizens acting with the maximum amount of personal liberty, then there should be no debate over where Republicans stand on the rights of LGBT Americans.”
He may be extremely late to the party, but he can probably have a not-insignificant amount of influence with the other Republicans. So, don’t shoot yourself in the foot by trying to marginalize the guy just when he might actually do you some good.
The other side acts like it is a war, and in a war, you don’t worry about whether the guy next to you is someone you’d like to have over for dinner – what you care about is whether he can shoot straight (sorry for the pun).
Bill Perdue
‘B’ is wrong. Again.
What honest activists have to keep in mind is that Ashburns’s been termed out and outed and he has nothing to lose. And that he spent the last 24 odd years betraying us. As even he admits “I chose to conceal who I truly am and to then actually vote against the best interests of people like me. All this was done because I was afraid — terrified, really — that somehow I would be revealed as gay.”
Now he wants to appeal to fair minded Republicans. They’re pretty rare in both parties’ leadership.
If Ashburen becomes a major figure in efforts to overturn Prop 8, fights to demobilize California National Guard, Naval Reserve and Air National Guard units deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan, fights to turn around Der Gubernators union busting campaign and to ease the double oppression of immigrant and imported workers then we can talk.
Otherwise he’s just another pathetic Quisling emoting in public. We’ve seen more than enough of that from Bill Clinton and Laura Bush.
His apology won’t bring back Lawrence King or Gwen Araujo, murdered by thugs empowered and galvanized by religious bigotry and the reactionary votes of anti-LGBT politicians.
[img]http://www.horizonsfoundation.org/images/news/gwen.jpg[/img][img]http://bp2.blogger.com/_HRsq7UO-sBw/R7frbqjT63I/AAAAAAAAAIQ/1FD9bnm8SO0/s400/Lawrence+King+Murdered.bmp[/img]
Bill Perdue
@My Gay Rant: I think they’re just more honest. A Republican politician will look you in the eye and call you a dyke, faggot or tranny.
Democrat politicians, always a model of decorum, wait till you leave the room then call you a dyke, faggot or tranny.
A Republican is a rancid right centrist with a theocrat attached at the hip. A Democrat is a Republican in drag.
B
No. 7 · Bill Perdue
“‘B’ is wrong. Again. What honest activists have to keep in mind is that Ashburns’s been termed out and outed and he has nothing to lose.” …. nope – I was completely correct and it has nothing to do with Ashburn being termed out. Perdue is simply being as silly as usual.
In No. 6 I gave a URL and a quote from that of what Ashburn actually said and my summary of it was completely correct: “he said that Republicans were viewed as being anti-gay because their votes were not following their stated principles, and that has to change.” Go back to No. 6 and compare that summary to the quote that followed it. Also check the URL where the “stated principles” Ashburn was talking about were “small government” and “staying out of people’s lives”. Ashburn was admitting that the Republican’s anti-gay positions are not compatible with the party’s stated principles (which we all know are subservient to the all-important goal of winning elections).
It has nothing to do with Ashburn being termed out, but I actually covered that when I said that “He may be extremely late to the party”.
The full quote is “He may be extremely late to the party, but he can probably have a not-insignificant amount of influence with the other Republicans. So, don’t shoot yourself in the foot by trying to marginalize the guy just when he might actually do you some good.” If he’s doing some good now, don’t try to stop him – it is counterproductive. When the other side is in an all-out war against you, sensible people don’t take pot shots at people opposing the other side, even if you really don’t like those people.
Bill Perdue
Try to keep up ‘B’. I looked at everybody’s comments and no one wants to stop Ashburn’s pathetically puny penance.
However, nothing he does will ever justify 24 years of self loathing bigotry on his part or his votes against us which, as we’ve seen, promote violence when combined with the compulsive hate preaching of religious bigots. The bigoted votes of Ashburn and the bigoted campaigns of Obama’s bbf Rick Warren helped set the stage for the murders of Gwen Araujo and Lawrence King.
Bill Perdue
Even the right centrist owners of the LA Timesl take Ashburn to task. Their editorial titled “The gay anti-gay legislator. State Sen. Roy Ashburn has come out of the closet, but his explanation for anti-gay votes rings hollow.” They end by saying “But although we sympathize with Ashburn and hope he can turn his life in a more positive direction following this revelation, there’s really no excusing his political hypocrisy.”
B
No. 10 · Bill Perdue inaccurately wrote, “Try to keep up ‘B’. I looked at everybody’s comments and no one wants to stop Ashburn’s pathetically puny penance.” … What you were doing is taking pot shots at him (different from trying to “stop [his] penance”) and as I said, it is counterproductive. Sensible people don’t take pot shots at a guy who is opposing someone shooting at them.
The rest of your comment is simply overwrought hyperbole – Ashburn’s anti-gay votes were simply ineffective. He didn’t change the outcome, and was silent during any discussion (or even left the room), probably because he was too scared to say anything due to the risk of outing himself, if only by sounding nervous just talking about it. Contrast that with Pete Knight, another state senator (now deceased) and the guy who introduced Proposition 22 (same wording as Prop 8 but not a constitutional change). Knight did some real damage. Ashburn was about as much of a threat as a wet noodle.
B
No. 11 · Bill Perdue wrote, “Even the right centrist owners of the LA Timesl take Ashburn to task.”
Completely dishonest statement (no link and no valid citation and obvious logical issues). The URL is http://articles.latimes.com/2010/mar/10/opinion/la-ed-ashburn10-2010mar10 and note the date: March 10, 2010, several days after his “confession” that he was gay on a talk-radio show. Sure the LA Times criticized him, but it was not for what we are discussing – he had not made any such statements in March or earlier. Your “argument” has a serious problem with causality.
BTW, that editorial said, regarding his claims to have voted the way his constituents wanted, “That’s not an entirely unreasonable defense. After all, if every politician who ever voted contrary to his or her personal beliefs in order to please constituents were branded a hypocrite, you’d be hard-pressed to find one without a scarlet ‘H.'” (The LA Times then pointed out that Ashburn did not vote that way consistently on all issues, citing a budget deal that was not popular with the folks back home).
Bill Perdue
@B: The subject is Ashburn, not your lies and personal attacks. You seem to defend lots of rightwingers and when called on it you lie about those who disagree with you. In your own inept church lady fashion you keep trying to make things personal.
The vast majority of commenters disagree with you when you defend the DADT compromise, Rekers, McCain, Ashburn, the baby raper pope and when we do you get personal.
Be my guest, keep on digging the hole you’re burying yourself in. The deeper the better.
B
. 14 · Bill Perdue lied again by saying, “@B: The subject is Ashburn, not your lies and personal attacks.”
There were no lies or personal attacks in the comments I made. There have been a slew of them from you. I claimed your statement was dishonest, noting “(no link and no valid citation and obvious logical issues)”. And that is true – you provide no valid citation and you took a March 10 article criticizing Ashburn for statements he made on the radio earlier in March and gave the impression that is was relevant to statements that Ashburn made in July. Ever hear of the word “causality”? Look it up. And you lied about “defending” right wingers: calling Ashburn “ineffective” is not defending him. It’s not my fault that you lack a sense of perspective: sensible people don’t in effect call some guy “public enemy number one” when that guy is in fact some minor miscreant like “Louie the Lug”.
Meanwhile in No. 10 you made absurd comments like “The bigoted votes of Ashburn and the bigoted campaigns of Obama’s bbf Rick Warren helped set the stage for the murders of Gwen Araujo and Lawrence King.” Hint: the lowlifes who murdered Gwen Araujo (and this was well-covered in the media where I live) were not the sort who paid any attention to who voted on what in the state senate in Sacramento. Ashburn’s votes had no effect on them. His statements did not have any effect on them either as he was pretty much silent on gay rights due to being too uncomfortable to even talk about the subject.
And your statement about “the vast majority of commenters” is pure BS – the vast majority were interested in something else. Don’t try the trick of trying to count comments either (people commenting on other comments often only bother when they disagree, so that is not a reliable indication of anything). Then you have the allegedly multiple commenters who used the phrase “religion made us wrong” which is so unusual that it was almost certainly the same individual pretending to be a crowd.
So basically I am not impressed with your “argument”.
Bill Perdue
‘B’. Enough is enough. Stop hijacking threads with your personal agenda. We don’t need any more proof of your contempt for the GLBT communities.
You consistently defend rightwingers while arrogantly launching personal attacks on honest pro-GLBT people at Queerty who don’t like your rancid right wing politics. Here’s how they responded to one of your disgusting defenses of Rekers:
“Posted: May 14, 2010 at 6:50 pm • @Reply • [Flag?] No. 2 • WalkderDC
The point is, Rekers is claiming Jovani advertised as a travel companion. Yet not only has he not produced any other ad, nor the website where he found him. But Jovanni has said that he only advertised on Rentboy. B you have now been on 4 threads defending Rekers. What is your agenda?
Posted: May 15, 2010 at 10:03 am • @Reply • [Flag?] No. 3 • romeo
Yeah, B, I’m for freedom of speech and all, but you really need to stfu. Rekers is indefensible.
Posted: May 15, 2010 at 11:44 am • @Reply • [Flag?] No. 4 • schlukitz
@WalkderDC: “B you have now been on 4 threads defending Rekers. What is your agenda?”
@romeo: Yeah, B, I’m for freedom of speech and all, but you really need to stfu.
Gentlemen, B sees himself as a self-appointed moderator whose agenda is to make everyone who posts on these threads, including Queerty.com look dumb, while attempting but failing to make himself look smart, flag posters he disagrees with and trying to get folks like 1EqualityUSA and myself banned from this site.I have no doubt that B is the person responsible for every post that 1EqualityUSA and I make being moderated for the past several months now. B apparently believes that he alone is entitled to freedom of speech but that is all other posters on this site that should stfu. For that reason both 1EqualityUSA and I rarely post on Queerty anymore.
Posted: May 15, 2010 at 11:49 pm • @Reply • [Flag?] No. 6 • Bill Perdue If it’s rightwing, if it defends bigotry and religion, if it denigrates the LGBT communities – then B is for it.
There are dozens of us who say the same thing and we’re pleased not to have your respect. If you liked us it’d be very damaging to our reputations.
Posted: May 16, 2010 at 3:05 am • @Reply • [Flag?] No. 14 • WalkderDCNo B You aren’t Just trying for accuracy. What you are doing is inventing scenarios to pretend that he isn’t lying. First you attack the reporters for not contacting him, then when it was pointed out to you in another post that he was contacted you immediately scramble and say “But maybe he didn’t understand what they were talking about!”b>So you are desperately trying to find any reason as to why he is somehow the victim here, and I am curious as to why.
Posted: Jun 15, 2010 at 7:00 am • @Reply • [Flag?] No. 19 • schlukitz @Bill Perdue: Truth be known, I never got the impression that ‘B’ had any special love for me (or anyone else on these threads, for that matter), from day one. And that’s what I get for having the unmitigated gall to disagree with “B’. Who do I think I am? ;P What I find particularly noteworthy, Bill, is the fact that ‘B’ has never once denied that he might have had anything to do with getting OneEquality1 and my comments moderated on this forum”.
http://www.queerty.com/george-alan-rekers-was-ready-to-give-jo-vanni-roman-5-stars-on-yelp-20100514/
Since the vast majority of people who comment about you utterly reject your rancid rightwing BS maybe you ought to try a friendlier venue. If GOProud doesn’t have a blog you could start one.
B
In No. 16 documented liar Bill Perdue, reverting to his Goebbels imitation, first tries the trick of accusing others of what he himself is doing – hijacking a thread by turning it into yet another of his long string of baseless personal attacks. Then he goes on more or less cutting and pasting the same garbage that he posted repeatedly on other threads.
See http://www.queerty.com/did-olson-boies-just-secure-the-death-of-prop-8-20100617/#comment-315566 (Comment No 18) with his additional “contributions to that thread being baseless personal attacks (Comment Numbers 20, 22, 24, 26, 29, 31, 34, 37, 39, 42, 44, 46, 48, 50, 52, 54, 56, 58, 60, 62, 64, 66, 68, 70, 72, 74, 76, 78, 80, 82, 83, 85, 87, 89, 91, 93, 95, 97, 99, 101, 103, 105, and 108 so far). Many are simply repeats or near repeats of the same garbage similar to what he posted in No 16 above.