Late last night, Jimmy LaSalvia—the Executive Director of allegedly-gay conservative group GOProud—tweeted the following message: “I’ve just about had it with faggots who line their pockets with checks from anti-gay homophobes while throwing the rest of us under the bus.” Surprisingly, he was not talking about himself.
He was talking about Tony Fabrizio, the gay Rick Perry strategist who simultaneously works on LGBT campaigns while pocketing money from the guy who just released the most anti-gay campaign ad in recent memory.
Even though Fabrizio says he was against the ad from its initial planning stages, he obviously didn’t care enough to quit Perry’s virulently anti-gay campaign. And when asked to elaborate on his part in the ad’s creation, Fabrizio answered that he would not reward anybody by “answering personal attacks.”
So… Fabrizio, a gay strategist who works for pro- and anti-LGBT causes, has pissed off LaSalvia, a self-reportedly pro-gay conservative who supports anti-LGBT candidates. Okay then.
How about we take this to the next level?
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kylew
Generally I’m pretty tolerant of the excuse that a man has to make a living, but this is wayyyy over the line. Perry has declared gays, including Fabrizio, as not being worthy of the same basic human rights as hets, and now Fabrizio is helping him to sell that message.
Of course, on the flip side, what about Perry’s hypocricy in using him. Who says gays and straights can get into bed together?!
Robert
Hope he’s at Mid Atlantic Leather so I can swat him.
doug105
Funny Mr.Jimmy LaSalvia, I’ve felt the same about GoSellOut for years now.
Ian
Another whore in politics.
Sean Cox
The Worst!(almost)
Sean Cox
I was wrong,the Worst!
Patsy Stoned
Perry is clearly a homophobic, idiot ass. But can Lasaliva and the other GOProud Mary, La Baroness, explain how he is worst than Cain, Bachman and other anti-gay politicos that they promote?
Hyprocrital douche – they name is goproud mary.
YouKnowIt!
Perry’s ad is despicable and reeks of desperation. The only thing that keeps me from getting mad about this is the knowledge that he will never come close to getting the Republican nomination for president.
I have to say that I appreciate any organization that works to convert an entire political party to embrace true Republicanism: Equality. GOPround’s efforts concertize that.
YouKnowIt!
Concretize*
B
No. 1 · kylew wrote, “Generally I’m pretty tolerant of the excuse that a man has to make a living, but this is wayyyy over the line.”
Would you rather have Perry pay some guy who not only is amply compensated for his efforts, but uses his wealth to fund anti-gay organizations? They hired Fabrizio’s
company – Fabrizio, McLaughlin & Associates. Is McLaughlin gay? What did he say
about accepting Perry as a client? Can Fabrizio veto anything he finds personally
distasteful?
Let’s not jump to conclusions. Also, look at the bright side of it – if Perry by
some miracle gets the nomination, any anti-gay position he tries to push can be
countered by pointing out that his strategist/whatever is gay (even if not completely
accurate as there are others involved in the company beside Fabrizio, that is good
enough for a political attack ad designed to turn off the religious nuts so they don’t bother to vote). These candidates are the real hypocrites – a lot of them don’t give a hoot about someone’s sexual orientation and are simply putting out anti-gay propaganda to pander to the religious right wing. They’ll use them for the election and spend the rest of the time trying to push through legislation designed to help the filthy rich get even richer. That’s what George Bush pretty much did. My guess is that Perry would be no better.
jason
Fabrizio looks like a fat pig. I can’t imagine sleeping with him.
Perhaps he and Ricky have something going on. Heated passions in buses? Curious minds wish to know, Fabby.
Olive Austin
@Jason, Perry likes young buff hustler types, not beached whales. Although if he could beach a big campaign donor he might make an exception.
kylew
@B: I’m sorry but there ARE definitely lines that should be drawn. If you worked at an advertising agency, and were told to design ads for NAMBLA or the KKK or Westboro Baptist Church, would you do it? I think any reasonable huma being is allowed to draw a line in the sand, and in the issue, where Fabrizio’s very life and happiness are challenged by this man I ABSOLUTELY think that he should have declined to be invloved.
As for Perry, well I am very glad that he is so open about his homophobia (so long as he never gets into power). Better that than the insidious, closet homophobes who adversely affect policy from behind the scenes.
RVH
LaSalvia really has some nerve. His organization and organizations like it opened the doors for someone like Fabrizio. And whatever extremely anti-gay candidate gets the RepubliKlan nomination, LaSalvia’s nasty little organization will endorse them anyway.
bagooka
What a monster! There are always some traitors out there.
randy
@kylew: Totally agree. Campaign staff will often quit when the candidate jumps the shark. Newt had his entire staff quit last year.
What really galls me, though, is that this guy thinks that calling someone gay is a personal attack. Sorry, but this is 2011, and it’s no longer a slur to call someone gay. Especially if its’ true.
the crustybastard
FTFA: Fabrizio answered that he would not reward anybody by “answering personal attacks.”
So he won’t quit Perry’s campaign…but he intends to give ‘ol Rick the silent treatment?
Perhaps I misunderstand.
kylew
@the crustybastard: Yeah, and if that isn’t the biggest ever copout by him anyway, I want to know what is. Asking him to explain himself is not a personal attack.
jeff4justice
Now if only the Democrats could justify supporting the Democrats instead of the Green Party for the past decade.
OWS and Tea Party unite and throw out the 2party system.
If we can elect openly gay politicians and a black President then it’s time we can elect alternative parties.
Too bad Gore cost Nader the election back in 2000.
Kyle
Roy Cohn Award recipient.
realworld
Just because your lawyer tells you not to do something, and you do it anyways, doesn’t make it HIS fault. Same concept – he told the Perry campaign that the video was nuts. It’s not his fault they didn’t listen to him.
kylew
@realworld: You’re right – it’s not his fault that they did it, and I never blamed him for that. What I blame him for, is continuing to work for a client committed to his personal destruction, and that of millions like him.
That being said, telling the world that he thinks his client’s actions are nuts is not a recipe for a continuing relationship. I’d respect him more if he simply quit, but at least he’s publicly distancing himself from it.
Sam Collins
It has always been standard in our less than unified community to bash anyone who has differing political views or doesn’t tow the “official” LGBT line but now is it now open season on a person of size? Typical of some from of our “enlightened” community members. Rather than sticking to a discussion of the issues they resort to cheap personal insults over someone’s appearance. Perhaps our cause would be better served if those more concerned with the superficial would just go back to their mirrors and allow others to carry the discussion.
kylew
@Sam Collins: In an issue such as this, where there are powerful issues almost of life and death at stake, I think it’s inevitable that people become so passionate that they hate everything that is personified by the person, including appearance. I’m sure we’ve all experienced that feeling. I try not to make ad hominem attacks, but there are people who I look at, and their very appearance makes me almost vomit – skinheads with swastika tattoos dms and braces (suspenders) are a classic example.
But I agree; if we are to elevate any discussion or take the moral high ground, we need to be better than those against us. Sadly, queerty itself is not the model of morality, so with their journalists setting the tone, it’s no wonder that discussions here seem to be becoming ever more superficial.
samftla
@kylew: So are you equating a person weight to swastika tattoos ? And that makes it OK ? And no, I have not experienced that feeling ever in my life and I hope to hell that I am smart enough to avoid such reactions. It does nothing to help me grow as a person nor anything to further the cause, only to bring me down to the gutter and hurting any chance of furthering civil liberties. As George Bernard Shaw so aptly put “I learned long ago, never to wrestle with a pig. You get dirty, and besides, the pig likes it.”
kylew
@samftla: I’m happy that you have never had cause to hate someone so much that you hate every thing about them. I’m happy that you are so calm and rational that you can control your emotions like that. You are in the minority. Normal mortals sometimes get like that. I’m not saying it’s good, but I am saying it’s understandable.
Ned_Flaherty
Here’s a side-by-side comparison showing what all 11 presidential candidates now plan for 31 million LGBT Americans: http://www.marriageequality.org/Election2012
Brick House
Rick Perry is a world class closet case so it does not surprise me that key members of his staff are queer. If Perry had his way he would surround himself with buttnuts. Hell, he probably does.