“Lives in San Francisco.” “Lifelong bachelor.” “Fussy.” Those are just some of the ways political candidates and their operatives will frame an opponent to insinuate he’s gay. If you’re just joining us, a primer from Margaret Wheeler Johnson. Makes you long for the days Democrat Bill Allain and Republican Leon Bramlett’s 1983 Mississippi gubernatorial showdown.
David Ehrenstein
It’s an exceedingly dumb piece in that it claims there’s no evidence that Charlie Crist is gay.
greenmanTN
“Gay-baiting” can be used quite successfully against homophobes, to shut them up or put them on the defensive. Using any of the dozens of examples of anti-gay political or religious figures later caught with their hand in the cookie jar (if you define cookie jar as “those parts of the anatomy usually covered by a rentboy’s thong underwear), it’s quite easy to make the point that the ONLY reason for anyone to be so obsessed about the bedroom practices of others, particularly gays, is they really want to do those things too.
There have been so many high-profile “outings” of homophobic political and religious figures that it has become cliche and makes perfect sense to “Average Americans,” even Fox News viewers.
Look at Andrew Shirvell, the Religious Right homophobe who is obsessed with and cyber-stalking an openly gay college student. Is there much doubt that Shirvell’s true motivation is either to screw that student or to BE him?
Used correctly it doesn’t have to itself be a homophobic tactic. You’re merely pointing out that the most likely motivation behind rabid homophobia is repressed homosexuality and those people would be far better off just accepting their in-born sexual nature.
B
Re No 2: “Look at Andrew Shirvell, the Religious Right homophobe who is obsessed with and cyber-stalking an openly gay college student. Is there much doubt that Shirvell’s true motivation is either to screw that student or to BE him?”
There’s reasonable doubt – an obsessive-compulsive disorder comes to mind. Whether his true sexual orientation is struggling to get out or whether he has some other issue, Shirvell’s behavior is definitely not normal. At a minimum Shirvell should schedule an appointment with a trained professional (psychiatrist, psychologist, therapist, etc.) to find out what is going on. Probably his physician too – brain tumors can cause bizarre behavior so maybe an MRI scan would not be out of line.