GOProud founder Jimmy LaSalvia announced that he’d left the Republican party because he could no longer stand “the tolerance of bigotry in the GOP.”
With his departure, he became only the most recent–some might say belated–defector from a party that has become known for the racism, homophobia, and transphobia of its members.
Even so, there are still gays who proudly belong to the Republican party.
Though freedom to choose political affiliation is one of the things that makes this country great, LGBT people who align themselves with the GOP are understandably met with the side-eye from fellow gays.
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
So we pose the query to you, Queerty readers: Is It Possible To Be Gay & Proud In Today’s Antigay GOP?
alterego1980
As compatible as oil and water in my opinion. Any gay with a conservative mind (and there are plenty) can claim to be a republican but they should know that the Republican party actively attempts to shackle and destroy your life as a gay man. If they understand that and still call themselves a republican, then there is no saving them, and I wish you all the best on your road of futilism.
KDub
I think so, especially today. I think you have to seperate the Tea Party from regular republicans. There have been polls over the last few years that actually show most Republicans do not support federal bans on SSM. Guys like LaSalvia and Chris Barron can be valuable assets to the gay community. If we say the republican party is strictly for heteros, then there’s no need for them to diversify. The presence of GOProud introduces LGBT issues to the republican party. People becoming more familiar with a gay person on a personal level is part of how ideas start to change. I’m not a Republican, but I do think it’s quite possible and might actually be helpful in some ways.
dougmc92
@KDub: since the Party ctares to the Tea Party- there’s no way you CAN seperate them! Words don’t mean much- it’s ultimately about how they vote. Or- not vote, like by NOT bringing ENDA to the floor for a vote.
robirob
Gay Republican’s pride is based on schmoozing up to the homophobes to have a social standing that puts them above the rest of the Gay Community. Gay Republicans count on the Republican Party’s hypocritical double standard to keep them from discriminatory harm while the rest of the Gay Community will suffer the GOP’s wrath.
DLNYC
None of it makes any sense. This man founded GOProud; a new organization started because the Log Cabin Republicans were too liberal for them! Isn’t that wild! And now he’s discovering that the GOP is homophobic.
For those mornings when you can’t find your keys, or have done something absent-minded, you realize that people like GOProud members are put on earth so you can say to yourself: “Well at least my brain isn’t that scrambled!” I hope he overcomes whatever upbringing made him adopt such a hateful agenda and finds his way out of the dark.
Dixie Rect
I thought were supposed to be the dumping ground for ALL people, groups and odd sexual and often deviant behavior? You know be inclusive of all, not exclusive at all? Waive those rainbow flags now, bitches!
You can’t have it both ways! The line must be drawn.
jar
Like all republicans, the gay stripe thrives on the access to money and power. Of course, they will allow the rest of us to fight their gay battles for them. It’s a win-win for the self-interested: they retain their access while enjoying the fruits of the battles of others. I would respect a gay republican who rejects personal use of the gains we made because their party opposes them, but I haven’t met one yet.
Robert
Being gay and being a Republican is an oxiMORON, IMHO
Kangol
Gay and conservative, yes. Gay and a REPUBLICAN, No.
Steve Rider
The Republican party should cease to exist. Republicans are to justice as Fox News is to facts – hostile.
KDub
@dougmc92: Well maybe there’s no way you can separate them, but please don’t assume everyone’s as jaded as you. There’s a definite difference. I have republican family members (yes, plural) that voted for SSM when it was on the ballots. They’re not going anywhere and–like it or not–they have lots of money and power. Better to try and diversify than to just sit around angry.
KDub
Funny thing is if the GOP outright claimed “the GOP is not for gays”, all you guys would be up in arms and pushing for an out GOP spokesperson like LaSalvia all while speculating on which GOP members might possibly be gay. I’m convinced a lot of you guys just enjoy protests and witch hunts. Do you even know what you’re protesting anymore? lol
jwrappaport
I’m inclined to agree with the general sentiment here, but it’s a very personal question whose answer depends on one’s priorities. For me, and I would hazard most LGBT folks, it’s a no-brainer: I refuse to support a group that commits itself to the proposition that I should have fewer rights and less dignity than other people simply because of who I am. This trumps everything for me, and it’s very difficult for me to imagine a more personal or more important issue that would justify my support for the GOP.
jimbryant
Some of you would have us believe that the Democrats invented male homosexuality. Earth to gays: get a grip.
In fact, male homosexuality is not the creation of politics. However, homophobia is ingrained into the political system because the latter was constructed around traditional beliefs based on virility, reproduction and maintaining a woman’s honour. What we call “morality” is an attempt to preserve these three things.
The other thing you need to remember is that there is an ingrained fear of male promiscuity in the laws of the land. This fear stems from historical forces shaped by rampant venereal diseases which were often fatal due to he lack of antibiotic medicines. This fear of male promiscuity merges with the fear of amplification of male promiscuity, the latter occurring through the male-male paradigm.
Yes, there is a logic to homophobia. albeit a partly outdated one.
Drew2U
It’s like they say–You lie down with dogs you wake up with fleas.
Tyler100
@jimbryant:
You know that Gay Republicans must be crazy if JimBryant is one of their advocates.
MikeE
of COURSE you can be gay and a GOP supporter! There are selfish, greedy, arrogant gay people as well as straight.. they need a place to call home also!
There are gay people who simply don’t give a damn about their fellow human, be they straight or gay.
rdujetz
Gay Republicans have NOTHING to be proud of. EVER.
KDub
@MikeE: No, there are no democratic homophobes. Republicans are the only anti-gay people out there…well, at least in Rob’s delusional mind. 😉
Cam
@KDub: said…. “I think so, especially today. I think you have to seperate the Tea Party from regular republicans. There have been polls over the last few years that actually show most Republicans do not support federal bans on SSM
____________________
KDub, we can’t blame this on the Tea Party, the GOP has been purging any pro-gay politicians from it’s ranks for a VERY long time. John Boehner and Mitch McConnell aren’t Tea Party Republicans and yet they fight tooth and nail against gay rights. As far as this being recent, back in 1997 GOP senators blocked the nomination over William Weld, a popular former GOP governor being appointed Ambassador to Mexico SOLELY because he wasn’t anti gay.
This is not something new, the GOP declared war on gays a long time ago. This is not a situation where both parties do nothing for gays so pick other issues. This is a situation where now one party is pushing through civil rights legislation and the other is adamantly trying to prevent it. I have MANY friends that used to be registered republicans, even members of Log Cabin, and over the last decade they have all left because the GOP wasn’t just not supporting gays, it began an all out attack. The GOP lost a LOT of pretty loyal gay voters because they seem to think that flogging bigotry is the only way they can get votes.
BJ McFrisky
@KDub: Bad idea trying to use common sense with people whose politics are driven by emotions, K. Much like their hyper-religious Republican counterparts, they’d sooner die than see the light of reality.
freddiebaker
what Janice said I’m alarmed that some people able to get paid $5033 in a few weeks on the computer . go to this website http://gg.gg/zbil
kevinjabs
I am a proud gay Republican, though lean towards being a Libertarian. My reason to remain conservative is simple. I believe that small government along with the whole idea of living the American Dream are what made our country great and what will continue to make us the world superpower that we are in perpetuity.
orcanyc
Only one true answer NO!!!
Elloreigh
“Is It Possible To Be Gay & Proud In Today’s Antigay GOP?”
Proud of the GOP’s record on gay rights? No, not by a longshot. Being devoted to the GOP’s conservative principals while otherwise refusing to be shamed for one’s same-sex orientation? I suppose that’s possible.
Out, unashamed, and successful within the GOP? Doubtful. Just look at what happened between GOProud and CPAC for an example of how well that works.
So long as conservatism and the GOP are dominated by anti-gay social conservatives, I don’t much see the point of trying to work within the party (which is probably one of many reasons that I’m not a Republican). I think jwrappaport hit the nail on the head with this: “I refuse to support a group that commits itself to the proposition that I should have fewer rights and less dignity than other people simply because of who I am.” There is more to this than one’s priorities and resolving the conflict between the common good and one’s own, personal interests. I consider it a matter of self-preservation – and that trumps the rest. I simply will not aid my own marginalization or extermination. The latter may not be stated GOP policy, but it’s certainly an aspiration of some of its crazier members.
So, no thanks. Until the GOP stops courting and promoting the extremists in its midst, they’ll not get a single vote of mine.
Caleb in SC
No.
SteveDenver
WHY BOTHER?
What is to be gained by it, how does it maximize one’s efforts and talents, what does it add to your person/spirit/soul?
In a world where “choose your battles” is as important as “stop wasting your time,” go where you are appreciated and wanted, or where your efforts make a difference.
doug105
@BJ McFrisky: @KDub: @jimbryant:
Oh really? Tell me can you guess which party this guy is in without opening the link?
Indiana Speaker Threatens Lawmakers: Vote To Ban Gay Marriage Or I’ll Kick You Off Committee
http://thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/indiana-speaker-threatens-lawmakers-vote-to-ban-gay-marriage-or-ill-kick-you-off-committee/politics/2014/01/17/81906?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheNewCivilRightsMovement+%28The+New+Civil+Rights+Movement%29#.Utl29hAo5hE
Cam
@kevinjabs: said… “I am a proud gay Republican, though lean towards being a Libertarian. My reason to remain conservative is simple. I believe that small government along with the whole idea of living the American Dream are what made our country great and what will continue to make us the world superpower that we are in perpetuity.
_________________________________
1. You switch from Republican to Conservative when you try to talk about small govt. good choice since the GOP took the U.S. from a surplus when Bush first got into office, to a deficit within one year, and then a complete economic meltdown before he left office so bad that McCain had to suspend his campaign for president to come back to Washington.
As for the rest of your comment, you make vague platitudes but with no facts behind them. Yes, rainbows and unicorns are great, but the middle class shrank and their incomes decreased under Bush and the GOP Congress, Military spending tripled and yet troop sizes stayed the same which is the opposit of small govt. so again, you make vague platitudes but there is nothing behind them.
doug105
And before you go saying will the Democrats have them too, yea there are a few. But it’s like comparing walking though a water sprinkler to getting caught in a thunderstorm. Can’t even think of the last time I’ve gone though a whole week without some republican douchebag opening his mouth.
Cam
@BJ McFrisky: said…. “@KDub: Bad idea trying to use common sense with people whose politics are driven by emotions, K. Much like their hyper-religious Republican counterparts, they’d sooner die than see the light of reality
_________________________
It is funny that YOU would say that BJ, because you have been caught MULTIPLE times, trying to make statements that when you are later asked to provide any proof or a link you never do. So to claim that anybody here isn’t using common sense when you have been caught in hyperbole and in falsehoods is funny.
At least you’re consistent.
doug105
And before you go saying will the Democrats have them too, yea there are a few. But it’s like comparing walking though a water sprinkler to getting caught in a thunderstorm. Can’t even think of the last time I’ve gone through a whole week without some republican douchebag opening his mouth.
mikestrawn
I know that some have suggested that @BJ McFrisky and @jimbryant are the same guy, but I don’t think so. I do think that @BJ McFrisky and @KDub are the same individuals because they think in exactly the same way. Also given the topic you’d expect BJ would be all over here. As for being gay, proud and Republican, I believe that any intelligent person would have their head explode if they tried to reconcile being gay with being a Republican–since the Republicans are almost entirely anti-gay.
Aires the Ram
I was a dyed-in-the-wool republican, just like my grandparents, and parents. Ten or fifteen years ago, I began to realize that the republican party had been swallowed up and eaten alive by the southern baptist convention and others of similar ilk. The republican party that I grew up with, and supported, believed in small government, strong military, assertive foreign policy, keeping out of citizens private lives. N-O-N-E of those tenants remain in the republican party of today. The christian nazi’s/taliban are attempting to impose their fears and hatreds upon social policy, among other things (read: “to hell with the separation of church and state”– “to hell with the 14th Amendment”).
Don’t get me wrong, I still believe in many of the tenants of the OLD republican party, but I came to realize that THAT party has ceased to exist a very long time ago. Those gays who support it today do not understand that. It is well past time that they wake up, do some soul-searching, and smell the coffee.
I don’t agree with certain things the Democratic party stands for, but they stand for far more that benefits this country than the republicans ever will. I am 55 years old and will vote straight Democratic ticket for the remainder of my life.
occupant12345678
I am so disgusted by the narrow-minded, self-serving, contradictory, ignorant comments most of these short-bus/sheep/democrat gays post on here that I lose my mojo to spend any energy eviscerating them.