Jimmy LaSalvia, the sad and misinformed head of GOProud, runs an organization that cares more about money than your right to marry. So it’s unsurprising LaSalvia told a gathering of Temple College Republicans about how gay Americans aren’t terribly concerned with hate crimes and the Employment Non-Discrimination Act.
“If the No. 1 issue for gay and lesbian voters was hate crimes and ENDA, then 1.3 million gay people would not have voted for John McCain, because he did not support those pieces of legislation,” LaSalvia told the “small turnout.” Which is like saying if the No. 1 issue for lower-class voters in rural America is not health care and putting food on the table, because those same people voted for George W. Bush, whose policies gave tax breaks to the wealthy and removed social services for those who need them the most. Sometimes voters do not vote in their own best interests, and you have people like LaSalvia, and his misinformation campaigns, to thank.
As the Temple News notes,
LaSalvia explained most gay conservatives would argue that “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” the policy banning gay and lesbian military members from serving openly, should be a higher priority as opposed to ENDA and hate-crimes legislation, which he said affects relatively few people. He cited bigoted employers looking for loopholes to fire gay people, and hate crime cases being prosecuted as reasons for this sentiment.
Yes, repealing DADT would protect thousands of gay servicemembers. And while this has never been a game of “Which piece of legislation is better and more deserving of passage?” (because that is also a game of “Which type of discrimination can we tolerate longer?”), passing ENDA would undoubtedly protect millions of gay Americans who cannot simply assume they can be out in the workplace without the threat of losing their livelihood.
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AndrewW
Doesn’t this idiot understand “equality?”
With equality there is no separation or comparison of LGBT issues, they’re all solved.
Jimmy LaSalvia
What I said was that it must not have been the top priority for at least 1.3 million gay voters who voted for McCain. That’s a line I use a lot, so I know what I said. The student reporter did not accurately quote me on that. The fact is that McCain’s position on ENDA and Hate Crimes were not the determining factors for a whole lot of gay votes.
In my talk to the 35 or so students, I spoke about the need for priorities to change over time, as society changes. I also said that institutional discrimination like DADT and marriage bans should be the legislative priorities.
You know, I am happy to talk with you anytime you want to meet up to chat about these or any other issues. Also, feel free to bring a photographer! 🙂
D'oh, The Magnificent
@Jimmy LaSalvia: Your comment assumes to know what voters feel on an issue based on who they voted on. People often vote the lesser of two evils or by parties. Candidate support is a poor proxy for parties. It is even worse when it comes to issues or ideological perspective.
In 2004, voters voted for George Bush although the voters overwhelming supporting importation of drugs from abroad. Indeed, to make the situation even more complicated when polled on the subject many Bush voters in one state thought that Bush supported re-importation of drugs despite Bush’s clear statements of being against re-importation. The lesson there is supporting candidates is not a proxy for what people belief or for whom they vote.
Both the Democratic and Republican parties make this mistake. It serves them well with regard to reinforcing a two party system. If we started to realize that personality and party are poor proxies for ideology, and an even worse substitute for issues, then the parties would be up the creek without a paddle.
A Bone to Pick
One can be a well-informed proponent of hate-crimes legislation, ENDA, the end of DADT, AND a die-hard fan of Whitney Houston…although your decision to accompany that photo of LaSalvia with your poignant and on-target article would seem to imply the opposite.
jimstoic
It’s illogical for the government to force private citizens to treat us with equality (ENDA) while the government itself is discriminating (DADT). Our first priority should be to get the government to treat us equally. That means military equality, marriage equality, immigration equality, and tax equality. That said, we shouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth. If Congress and the President are willing to give us ENDA, we should take it.
ggreen
IMHO The reason for the 1.3 million gay voters voting for McCain has more to do with the race of Obama than anything McCain was for or against. Sad.
DR
What’s really sad is that aside from the world of blogging, these aren’t real issues to a lot of gay men. They just don’t care. I’ve had this discussion in my community, and in large part people don’t want to get involved in politics, rallies, etc. Sure, they’ll hit a professionals group meeting if there’s free beer or wine, but to get them to go to something political? Good luck with that.
Baxter
“Sometimes voters do not vote in their own best interests”
Or sometimes they just decide that gay marriage/ENDA/whatever are lower on their priority list than lower taxes/smaller government/whatever. Under your theory, weren’t gay voters technically voting against their own best interests by supporting Obama (who is against gay marriage) rather than someone like Mike Gravel (who supports it)?
Considering how supporting Obama turned out, I don’t think gay supporters of McCain are really kicking themselves or anything…
Baxter
@ggreen: IMHO The reason for the 95% of black voters voting for Obama has more to do with the race of McCain than anything Obama was for or against. Sad.
That game goes both ways.
Queerty is obsessed with Jarret Barrios. ZZZ. (John from England)
@D’oh, The Magnificent:
Good point.
@Baxter:
Who is Mike Gravel? How can you chose a personality who hasn’t got a hell of a chance to win AT ALL with issues people care about??
Your statement is terribly straw men btu who knows if anyone on this site will bother to get a brain and stop being so emotionally reactive and judgemental.
D'oh, The Magnificent
@DR: Unless you have polled gay men on the subject, youa re just once against demonstrating your self hatred. We both know you haven’t. You are just some queen with a lot of issues with gay people. It’s the only reason why you post here. Its too bad that there is not a comment history so that others can see just how cray over time you sound No matter the topic. you post the same hatred of gay men.
D'oh
@Queerty is obsessed with Jarret Barrios. ZZZ. (John from England): Thank you, but most of the things I say here is well known to any student of politics from an academic and research stand point as opposed to political hacks like DR and Jimmy, both of whom seek to push ideological perspectives they hold.
delurker again
Surprise. A queeny militaristic pro-business chickenhawk thinks DADT is more of a priority than employment protections.
I’m sure Mz. Thang had her pom poms out during the run up to the Iraq War, too.
D'oh
@Queerty is obsessed with Jarret Barrios. ZZZ. (John from England): Thank you, but most of the things I say here are well known to any student of politics from an academic and research stand point as opposed to political hacks like DR and Jimmy, both of whom seek to push ideological perspectives rather than arrive at any truth of the matter.
D'oh
@delurker again: Wow, another ideologue. You wrote something similar in a diary a guy ranting over straight acting men having a problem with feminine men. Are you paid to post these rants? I hope so.
Mike
I would like to know why this “GOPROUD” group hates themselves so much? It is disgusting. These people should be ashamed of themselves and they are an embarassment to the gay community. The Republican Party will NEVER accept you! I hear that Republican Trannys have formed their own group, they’re naming it GOPOSTOP!
Mike
Oh, and that guy in the picture is creepy looking.
Devon
Gay Republicans make as much sense as black Klansmen.
DEREK WASHINGTON
I would like to hear this guy talk about his real views on Trans folk and Bi’s. His minions are disgusted by them.
ThatGayConservative
@D’oh: “Unless you have polled gay men on the subject, youa re just once against demonstrating your self hatred.”
Self hatred? What kind of self respecting man, gay or otherwise, wants Uncle Sugar to force people to like him? They don’t, but the perpetual victims of the gay left do. Respect is earned and instead of giving people reasons to like and respect you, you’d rather piss on people’s shoes and demand their whole hearted acceptance.
When will gay liberals grow up?
Gay liberals who gleefully hand over their money and their votes only to be bricked on by the DNC with anti-gay legislation and homophobes in the WH are like black klansmen.
ThatGayConservative
So let’s pretend that you get ENDA and force employers to like you. What’s the point when there’s no jobs to be had and we don’t have a president who gives a crap about the millions unemployed?
Dr. Jillian T. Weiss
@Jimmy LaSalvia: It sounds as if you are saying “I’ve got my job, who gives a damn about the rest of you?” Forgive me if I don’t think much of you or your elite arguments that leave millions of LGBT people suffering from unemployment, underemployment and harrassment in the workplace. Thank you for leaving me out in the cold while you pursue your grandiose visions of gay disenfranchisement.
Lamar
I think ENDA is more important to get passed than getting rid of DADT because ENDA would impact far more people directly.
Someone who knows
And again…GOProud strives to be relevant…and fails miserably. Their 2-man press release machine doesn’t hold much water once you leave the beltway. They should stay in the swamp known as DC with the rest of the failed leaders of our movement.
JD
@Jimmy LaSalvia: You’re a troll. Case in point…you’re the #2 commentor here. Gays don’t care about ENDA or MSHCA (Matthew Shepard)…? You’re rediculous. It’s the only LGBT legislation we have. How do you figure we don’t care about it? I’m pretty sure if your pathetic ass was beaten to a bloody plup, all the while withstanding anti-gay slurs, and you survived to tell the story, you’d want the harshest punishment possible for the people who did it.
I bet if you worked a minimum wage job in a state without LGBT employment protection and were canned because your a fag, or trans…you’d cry at night because you lost your only livelihood because of who you choose to love. Fuck You Jimmy LaSalvia. You can rot in hell with WBC and all other hateful, lying bigot douchebags. You should have been aborted…clearly the better part of you ran down your moms leg.
Johnny
I was recently fired for being gay, so I’d like to have a chat with this greedy asshole.
delurker again
@ThatGayConservative: You’re an idiot and the comment highlights the diseased conservative mind perfectly. Anti-discrimination laws aren’t about forcing employers to like anyone. They are about providing legal redress for employees who are discriminated against.
I bet you think the Civil Rights Acts should be repealed, too.
Cam
No. 22 · Lamar
I think ENDA is more important to get passed than getting rid of DADT because ENDA would impact far more people directly.
_________________
Hi Lamar,
I agree and dissagree with you. I think ENDA will impact far more people and have called my congresional reps about getting it passed.
The only place I dissagree with you is that right now we have two specific federal laws that actively discriminate against gays, DADT and DOMA. It infuriates me that there are written codified federal laws that force our discrimination, so while I really want ENDA to pass this year, if I HAD to make a list of my priorities, I would put getting rid of the only two federal laws that actively call for our discrimination at the top of the list.
That said… there is no fucking reason why our Congress can’t do all of this. They vote on hundreds and hundreds of bills, three more shouldn’t cut into their golfing time too much.
ThatGayConservative
@delurker again: I’m an idiot? I didn’t contribute, vote for or circle the wagons around the liberal bigots who handed down DOMA and DADT from on high. What’s more, I don’t steadfastly believe that the party of slavery & segregation, which has damaged black families actually give a crap about them. And no, voting for a black man to assuage your White Guilt doesn’t change anything.
Yes, I have been discriminated against on, at least, more than one occasion. Once because of who I am and once because of my chosen hobby. I didn’t wallow in self-pity or demand Uncle Sugar force people to like me. Both times I grabbed my sack and moved on to bigger and better.
And then there’s the discrimination of gay liberal bigots who hate everyone who doesn’t believe in the same way they do. That’s why the “gay community” and the rainbow flag are such BS. You can’t have a community that’s supposed to be tolerant and inclusive, but only includes those who agree with you or have the biggest dick.
Seems to me you’re the idiot, sir.
DR (the real one, not the guy who made post #12)
@D’oh, The Magnificent:
Gee, D’oh, do you know anything at all about the gay community where I live? My guess would be “no”, which means you ought to stop talking nonsense. Your attempts at moral superiority are getting tired.
delurker again
@ThatGayConservative: But you’re moronic ass rewites history. Conservatives had no part in DADT and DOMA? They were the most vociferous supporters and and oppose any repeal to this policies today.
And those Southern Dixiecrats are now Republicans. It’s it funny that governors of VA and MS who are part of the Party of Lincoln (lol) issued proclamations for Confederate History Month. What does that tell about about which party now supports slavery and segregation?
Again you abject fool, anti-discrimination laws aren’t about employers being forced to like anyone. I know you, like a good conservative (and like good CONSERVATIVE Southern Democrats) think that all anti-discrimination laws should be repealed and precious employers should be allowed to deny service to blacks and whoever they don’t like, fire anyone they like for any reason (including race or gender, sexual orientation). But rest of us who don’t have malformed conservative lizard brains think that sort of discrimination is wrong and employees who are discriminated for these reasons should have legal redress.
And I’m not white, you dink.
Again, to restate, you are a fucking idiot.
ThatGayConservative
@delurker again: Now there’s a rewrite of history if I ever saw one. If only a third of the Confederate soldiers had slaves, and thus didn’t care about the issue, then why should we care? What’s more, the northern states were responsible for the importation of the slaves. Can you name a single slave ship which sailed under the Confederate flag? New York’s biggest industry, at one time, was the construction of slave ships. Not only that, but downtown NYC is built on top of the graves of many slaves. Think they would mention that in their tourism guides?
And no, not all of the Southern Democrats became Republicans. Ergo, today’s democrats are still the party of slavery, segregation and the Klan. Just look at the way they keep blacks as poor, uneducated and dependent as possible. And it’s a damn shame that in this day and age, we have a party that believes you can’t get into a university or get a job on your merits but only by the color of your skin or your sex.
Dink? Dink? You’re a fucking hate-filled bigot and you disgust me. Did your parents raise you to be so full of hate?
ThatGayConservative
@Devon: “Gay Republicans make as much sense as black Klansmen.”
Does that include gay Republicans at the forefront of gay rights before Stonewall?
Mike
@ThatGayConservative:
The Republican Party will NEVER EVER accept you as one of them. You can continue licking their butts all you want. They think you are pathetic and so do we! Your life must be incredibly degrading.
ThatGayConservative
@Mike: “The Republican Party will NEVER EVER accept you as one of them. You can continue licking their butts all you want. They think you are pathetic and so do we! Your life must be incredibly degrading.”
Au contraire. Many Republicans DO accept me and other gay Republicans and Conservatives as one of them. The only hatred and bigotry we see comes from people like YOU on the liberal left.
You can continue rimming the DNC all you want. They think you’re pathetic. I think it’s sad that you choose to remain a victim and an object of exploitation when it’s politically prudent instead of being your own man. I’m incredibly happy with my life. Can you honestly say the same? You sound like a sad, angry, hate-filled creature to me. How does one go through life projecting their own misery onto others?
Mike
@ThatGayConservative:
@ThatGayConservative:
Really? They ‘accept’ you? You’re delusional. Go to Tennessee holding another guys hand and we’ll see how much they ‘accept’ you. When was the last time the Republicans supported pro-gay legislation? Name one instance! I find it HILARIOUS that GOPROUD has to use examples from British conservatives because they cannot find a single thing the Republicans in the US have done for gay rights. They run around shouting “umm, ahh, Dick Cheney! Dick Cheney!” So pathetic.
I’m actually pretty happy with my life. I’m 20, go to a top university and have an incredible liberal,Democrat boyfriend!
ThatGayConservative
@Mike: “Really? They ‘accept’ you? You’re delusional. ”
Nope. Reality. The only delusion is what you’ve been taught to ASSume about Republicans.
“Go to Tennessee holding another guys hand and we’ll see how much they ‘accept’ you.”
Been there, done that. Kentucky too. No problems. Next.
“When was the last time the Republicans supported pro-gay legislation? Name one instance!”
I’m sorry, is this juvenile pissing contest supposed to replace a discussion? How about this, why is Chairman Obama fighting, in court, to keep DADT? Where’s the gay left on that one? Still biting on a pillow like they did when it was signed into law.
“I’m actually pretty happy with my life. I’m 20, go to a top university and have an incredible liberal,Democrat boyfriend!”
I’m sorry. Get back to me in, say, 10 years when mommy and daddy aren’t paying your way anymore and you have a partner for 10+ years.
Again, why should folks be so worried about ENDA when so many don’t have jobs to be fired from? My job was “saved or created” last year after the liberal slush fund was signed into law. How about we have government quit threatening businesses so they can start hiring again? Sounds good?
Dawson
Personally, I don’t care about hate crimes legislation. Until someone can prove to me that a criminal in the heat of the moment thinks about the punishment before committing the crime then I think hate crimes legislation is a waste of time. What it does is defer normal people that use their heads from committing crimes, but then again in most cases normal people that actually think things through don’t commit crimes to begin with. ENDA is a different story. That is where the focus should be. DADT is not really a priority for me because I don’t understand why people want to serve a country that treats them like 1/5 to 3/5 of a human.
Cam
No. 31 · ThatGayConservative said…
@delurker again: Now there’s a rewrite of history if I ever saw one. If only a third of the Confederate soldiers had slaves, and thus didn’t care about the issue, then why should we care? What’s more, the northern states were responsible for the importation of the slaves. Can you name a single slave ship which sailed under the Confederate flag?
___________________________________
Come on man, I get that you are defending your position, but that is a trick argument and you know it. Slave ships couldn’t have sailed under the Confederate flag because at the time they were sailing before the war there was no Confederacy in existance so they would have sailed under the U.S. flag. After the Confederacy declared itself the Northern Navy Blockaded it’s harbors so no large scale risky sailings would have taken place especially since during the war they wer much more interested in getting food and war supplies through the blockade. However, if the south had won please don’t try to say that the South wouldn’t have begun importing slaves right back again.
And Lastly, the GOP loves to call itself the party of lincoln, however, the mantra of the GOP today is “States Rights” which was the cry of the confederacy, while Abraham Lincoln represented the power of the federal government to squash the states and force them into line, something todays GOP stands against.
I understand where you are coming from, but don’t try to twist the facts to get there.
ThatGayConservative
The point, Cam, is that the northern states were largely, if not solely, responsible for the importation of slaves to the Americas. There’s many a folk who want to rewrite history teach kids to believe that the Northerners were all peace loving abolitionists and the southerners all had slaves and were inbred, racist hicks.
I was one of those kids indoctrinated at a State-run education center. Over the years I learned what I should have learned in school and college.
delurker again
@ThatGayConservative: lol the southern neo-confederate sympathizer calls me a bigot. i think gay cons are for the most part white bigots. you guys are mainly white and male (may be well to do?). you would have had all the privileges afforded to you in this society if ONLY you were straight. it must be damaging to your psyches that this one gaything keeps you out of the old boys clubs. so i understand the need for rest of the conservatives to accept you.
but you sure drink the rest of CON-servative koolaide. I admire that in a way.
i just looked up dink online and it has a buch of meanings, one of which means jerk or goof and the other which is slur for Asian. i meant the former and didn’t even know it meant anything else, let alone a slur. it reveals both your age and maybe your use of the word.
ThatGayConservative
@delurker again: “i think gay cons are for the most part white bigots. you guys are mainly white and male (may be well to do?). you would have had all the privileges afforded to you in this society if ONLY you were straight.”
I THINK…
MAY be…
[Citation Needed]
Why so obsessed with race?
“it reveals both your age”
More bigotry on your part? Why so obsessed with age?
I don’t have a damaged pshyche or a need to be accepted. If I did, I’d be a douchenozzle gay liberal wallowing in victim-hood and calling out for pity. By my heel, I care not if someone accepts me. That’s why I quit dressing to impress when I went out to the bars in my younger days. It occurred, long ago, to me that I should be comfortable and be comfortable with who I am and if someone else doesn’t like it because I don’t fit their template, why that’s their problem and not mine.
Some folks are too wrapped up in themselves and demand the approval of everyone around them. If they can’t get it, they try to take it by force. That way they can justify alienating everyone. Hence ENDA.
As I said, I’ve been fired before for being gay. And that was by a huge Clinton tool, btw. I was young and thought it would be cool to be out at work and figured a liberal boss wouldn’t care. Before I was fired, though, I had a supervisor ask me, on a daily basis, “when you gonna get some pussy?”. So I suppose, you could add sexual harassment. I didn’t care that I got fired and still don’t. I couldn’t even tell you the name of the company now. As I said, I grabbed my sack and moved on to bigger and better.
And if you work for a company that would fire you because you’re gay, why in God’s name would you stay there?
C’mon, delurker. Get over yourself and cast aside your angry hatred. You’ll be a much better and happier person because of it.
Sam
Does anyone really believe that passing EDNA will suddenly end discrimination against LGBT’s? and allow us all a legal recourse to sue any employer that would fire someone because of their orientation? Just like the Civil Rights Act and the Age Discrimination Act and the American with Disabilities Act etc etc etc have done such a marvelous job of protecting each of those groups. If an employer wants to fire someone, none of those laws have stopped them. And none of those laws made proving discrimination easier in a court of law. Sorry folks, but EDNA is nothing more than a “feel good” piece of legislation. If you are going to feel better when it passes, wonderful. But don’t expect that suddenly you are going to be bullet proof at work and if you do get fired you will collect gazillions of dollars in compensation.
I do wish some of you guys could come up with something more creative than comparing Gay Republicans to African American Klansman or one of the other tired comparisons. The simple fact is this is a two party system, and if you put all your hopes in dreams in one basket, guess what? You get thrown under the bus. Frankly I am tired of being thrown under that bus by the Dems. Remember when Clinton was running for President? All the promises he made to our community? Remember when Obama was running for President all the promises he made? But guess we can all feel good cause the Dems “Accepted Us”. Well they accepted our money. Obviously there are a lot of whackos in the Republican Party, but as long as no one from within the party is challenging them change will never occur. So if you really want to do some good leave the Democratic party en masse register as a Republican and give both of em a wake up call.
If case you forgot the Republican Party was the original party for equal rights.
ThatGayConservative
@Sam: Chairman Obama didn’t make any promises. He couldn’t even be bothered to speak to the gay media like McCain did. There’s a piece at Pajamas Media today that of Cheney, Laura Bush and Obama, Obama’s the only one against gay marriage.
jason
La Salvia does have a point. There are more gay men in bars on a Saturday night than you’d ever find at a gay rights march. Gay men are more interested in fucking than marching. Sad but true.
Jason’s quote of the day:
A movement based on fucking won’t get you anywhere. It will give you five minutes of fun and then you’re just repeating the same shtick.