Now there’s a gay scandal sending the GOP’s disastrous search for House Speaker further into chaos
By Alex Reimer · 31 comments· Updated on January 26, 2024
In most circles, the debate over same-sex marriage was settled when the Supreme Court legalized the practice eight years ago.
But for some House Republicans, the issue is still a non-starter.
WHAT?!
On Tuesday, Minnesota Rep. Tom Emmer emerged to become the GOP’s latest nominee for Speaker. It’s been an embarrassing three weeks for Republicans, who ousted Kevin McCarthy and still haven’t replaced him.
With the House still a standstill, Emmer seems to be the most conventional choice. As House Majority Whip, he’s the highest-ranking GOP official vying for the position, and enjoys support from a (slim) majority of rank-and-file Republicans.
But there’s a big problem with Emmer, according to the most far-right members of the Republican caucus.
Last year, he was one of 39 House Republicans who voted to codify same-sex marriage into law.
At least that’s the case with Rep. Rick Allen from Georgia, who said Tuesday Emmer’s support for gay marriage is disqualifying.
WTF?!?!
Rep. Rick Allen (R-GA) says he’s “very concerned” about House Speaker candidate Rep. Tom Emmer’s (R-MN) vote for the Respect for Marriage Act, which federally recognized states’ same-sex and interracial marriages.
"Sorry everyone, we can't keep the government open and do our jobs, because I'm angry that there are people in happy gay and interracial marriages." https://t.co/L3Mns2OVxM
Let’s take a moment and think about how insane this is. The world is in crisis, with Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine and a burgeoning war in the Middle East between Israel and Hamas. The House is paralyzed without a speaker, meaning it can’t pass any sort of legislation, including military aid to Israel and Ukraine.
And yet, Allen and other conservatives are content holding the government hostage, because Emmer thinks gay people should have the right to marry.
Bigotry knows no bounds, doesn’t it?
Imagine refusing to end a constitutional crisis while the world is on the verge of a possible outbreak of war in the Middle East because you're not happy that same-sex couples are getting married. https://t.co/GFXICzdGPQ
It’s worth mentioning, by the way, that Emmer is far from a rainbow flag waving LGBTQ+ activist. He was vehemently opposed to same-sex marriage before he was for it, once calling the practice “social engineering.”
In fact, Target’s former CEO was forced to apologize after the company donated to a political action committee supporting Emmer’s 2010 run for Minnesota governor, due to his anti-gay stances.
When Emmer first entered Congress in 2015, he also supported the First Amendment Defense Act, a failed “religious freedom bill” that would’ve barred the government from punishing anyone who discriminates against same-sex couples.
But like many Americans, Emmer’s stances on LGBTQ+ issues have softened over the years…though we’re leery of giving him too much credit. While he supports the military providing transition-related medical care to transgender service members, he also championed a federal ban on trans athletes from participating in school sports.
In other words, the problem isn’t that Emmer is too pro-LGBTQ+.
He’s just not anti-gay enough!
There are some other “strikes” against the Minnesota Republican. He voted to certify the 2020 presidential election, putting him in conflict with nearly half of his conference. In addition, Emmer supports providing military aid to Ukraine.
Unsurprisingly, Donald Trump isn’t a fan. On Tuesday, the disgraced ex-president called Emmer a “RINO,” and said he “never respected the Power of a Trump Endorsement.”
It seems like members of the far-right House Freedom Caucus are falling in line with their Dear Leader.
Scott Perry, leader of the House Freedom Caucus, said he “never” says “never” against a particular candidate but makes clear he has concerns about Tom Emmer’s votes on spending bills. “I’m concerned about that,” he said this AM pic.twitter.com/MIEaHmvs9d
Since Emmer can only afford to lose four GOP votes, he seems to have an uphill battle, considering one Republican is already a hard “no.”
Well, a little over four hours after becoming the GOP nominee for Speaker of the House, Emmer dropped out after it became clear he could not secure the 217 votes from his party to win the gavel. The chaos resumes.
Yes, same-sex marriage may be the law of the land. But for some Republicans, fighting cultural battles from the ’90s still take precedent over things like keeping the government open.
Wonderful!
Must be nice to have a job so secure you can afford to have priorities this out of whack … https://t.co/45DX9E2CtI
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Point to what? The article indicates Emmer isn’t homophobic, but he isn’t onboard with the transgender slate of issues. Or has “homophobic” been expanded to include anything deemed anti-LGBTQIA+?
@dbmcvey
Emmer is part of the Republican Party. I read that as some Republicans aren’t homophobes, and you read that as the GOP is homophobic. One of us is being extreme.
Freddie, he was rejected bc he wasn’t homophobic which means the majority and ethos of the GOP is homophobic. It’s pretty easy logic to follow. Furthermore, as the article aptly put it:
“The world is in crisis, with Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine and a burgeoning war in the Middle East between Israel and Hamas. The House is paralyzed without a speaker, meaning it can’t pass any sort of legislation, including military aid to Israel and Ukraine.
And yet, Allen and other conservatives are content holding the government hostage, because Emmer thinks gay people should have the right to marry.”
This story highlights why gay people who vote Republican should be ashamed of themselves.
Seems unlikely that any of the remaining Republican candidates, however anti-LGBTQ they might be, will be able to garner the needed 217 Republican votes.
The Democrats probably are conferring discretely with those Republicans who might vote with the Democrats for a “unity” or “compromise” Speaker candidate. There’s just a little more than a year before the next election. Steny Hoyer, for example, could manage things until then.
The new GOP Speaker candidate is Mike Johnson (R-LA).
Who is Mike Johnson? In addition to being an anti-abortion fanatic and voting against certifying Biden’s election in 2021, when Johnson was in Louisiana’s legislature he proposed a “Marriage and Conscience Act,” which “would prevent adverse treatment by the State of any person or entity on the basis of the views they may hold with regard to marriage,” in essence allowing anti-same-sex marriage fanatics leeway to discriminate.
Though then Gov. Bobby Jindal said he would sign the bill if it was passed, major corporations opposed it, as did enough Republicans and most Democrats. “Baton Rouge Metro Councilman John Delgado, a fellow Republican…called Johnson a “despicable bigot of the highest order’ for proposing the bill.” Since joining Congress he has been opposed to Obergefell v. Hodges, and wants prayer in public schools. He sounds like really bad news!
And unfortunately he is the new Speaker of the House. From what I’ve read he’s a pretty much an extreme right winger who is anti LGBTQ, pro Trump and is probably installed to make sure the next election REGARDLESS of outcome is handed to a Dictator wannabe DONALD TRUMP.
I see Emmer as pragmatic, not free of homophobia. I was in Minnesota in 2012 when a popular vote defeated the anti-marriage equality amendment, followed by the 2013 legislative passage of marriage equality.
I suspect he still might not respond positively to a friend or grandkid coming out as gay, and certainly doesn’t push back when religiously-aligned folks decry marriage equality.
But, hopefully he’s seen that a decade of marriage equality hasn’t ruined Minnesota; peaceful coexistence is possible and more important issues need to be addressed.
Asking the democrats to vote for Republican speakers that deny elections, support insurrection, intend to focus on endless (and baseless) impeachment trials, revoke marriage equality, and in basically every other way completely oppose their agenda is naive at best.
The Republicans are a dysfunctional party that increasingly stands for less and less, which is why a small number of grandstanding grifters are able to bring the whole process to a standstill. The democrats have United and voted for their leader 100% of the time in every vote—212 votes. Meanwhile the Republicans cannot get a majority of their own party to vote for a candidate.
Why is no one asking Republicans to “make a deal” and vote for Jeffries? It would only take a few of them to do so.
There’s an old saying in politics: When your opponent is making a fool of himself, don’t interrupt.
Fred, the Dems don’t need to make the Republicans look bad. They’re doing it to themselves.
Inbama, there was no reason for the Dems to support McCarthy, and the Republican candidates are all afraid to reach out to Dems because the MAGA base is insane. It’s possible if Emmer reached out and made some promises to Dems they might have supported him but he didn’t.
Fred, Why are you defending Republicans? They’re not interested in helping you.
@dbmcvey,
I’m not defending Republicans in general. You’re condemning the whole party, as if the Democrats are good and Republicans are evil. I’m not partisan, so I don’t see the world that way. There’s a surplus of fools in both parties.
The whole system is poisoned because of mindless partisanship. And honestly, you see everyone as a partisan like you are, which is why you and abfab are always railing at gay men who disagree with you, calling them “GOP trolls”.
The Republican Party is working on taking our marriage rights away just as they struck down Roe. No, not every Republican is homophobic and transphobic but they give cover to those who are. The supposed moderates don’t really stand up for us and they still vote to confirm the judges who will rule against us.
I don’t know why you feel the need to defend them.
@dbmcvey
It’s not that I feel the need to defend them. I feel the need to speak up as a gay man who isn’t mindlessly following the LGBTQIA+ establishment. I’ve been individualistic like that for my whole life.
@dbmcvey
Yes, I suppose you and the DNC can rejoice that they have an extremist and insurrectionist as 2nd behind the President because no Democrat would lend a hand in electing a more palatable Speaker. You can keep beating the partisan drums without further opportunities to make things better.
Not pointed out yet, but worth mentioning, is that Emmer represents Minnesota’s 6th District (north/west suburbs of Minneapolis and the St. Cloud area), which is Michele Bachmann’s old district. And we know what kind of crazy anti-gay loon she was!
Ah, Crazy Eyes! – she seemed so weird back in 2012 when she ran for president. But if she were still in congress now she would be hardly noticeable next to MYG, Boebert, Gaetz, Santos, etc.
I always like to be reminded of Michele Bachmann. She’s proof that the hatemongers don’t win. Their hateful flames may burn brightly, but they are always extinguished in the end.
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dbmcvey
So, when the trolls tell us the GOP isn’t homophobic, point to this.
Also, let’s just acknowledge that conservatives are coming after marriage equality.
FreddieW
Point to what? The article indicates Emmer isn’t homophobic, but he isn’t onboard with the transgender slate of issues. Or has “homophobic” been expanded to include anything deemed anti-LGBTQIA+?
dbmcvey
I didn’t say Emmer is homophobic. The Republican Party is. Get a grip, Fred.
abfab
Fred’s chances of getting a grip are long past.
FreddieW
@dbmcvey
Emmer is part of the Republican Party. I read that as some Republicans aren’t homophobes, and you read that as the GOP is homophobic. One of us is being extreme.
dbmcvey
The Republican party that rejected him, apparently in part, because he supported gay marriage. Really Fred, keep up.
FreddieW
He received enough votes at one point to move forward as a candidate for speaker. Use some logic.
dbmcvey
And he was declined in part, according to Marge Greene, because he wasn’t homophobic and transphobic enough.
Why are you defending the Republican Party? Especially at this time when the best we can say about them is that they are chaotic?
ZzBomb
Freddie, he was rejected bc he wasn’t homophobic which means the majority and ethos of the GOP is homophobic. It’s pretty easy logic to follow. Furthermore, as the article aptly put it:
“The world is in crisis, with Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine and a burgeoning war in the Middle East between Israel and Hamas. The House is paralyzed without a speaker, meaning it can’t pass any sort of legislation, including military aid to Israel and Ukraine.
And yet, Allen and other conservatives are content holding the government hostage, because Emmer thinks gay people should have the right to marry.”
still_onthemark
Emmer has already given up his bid for Speaker because of the right-wing meltdown.
Kangol2
And Don the Con’s attacks. The psychopathic treasonous Orange Ogre strikes again!
Fahd
This story highlights why gay people who vote Republican should be ashamed of themselves.
Seems unlikely that any of the remaining Republican candidates, however anti-LGBTQ they might be, will be able to garner the needed 217 Republican votes.
The Democrats probably are conferring discretely with those Republicans who might vote with the Democrats for a “unity” or “compromise” Speaker candidate. There’s just a little more than a year before the next election. Steny Hoyer, for example, could manage things until then.
Kangol2
The new GOP Speaker candidate is Mike Johnson (R-LA).
Who is Mike Johnson? In addition to being an anti-abortion fanatic and voting against certifying Biden’s election in 2021, when Johnson was in Louisiana’s legislature he proposed a “Marriage and Conscience Act,” which “would prevent adverse treatment by the State of any person or entity on the basis of the views they may hold with regard to marriage,” in essence allowing anti-same-sex marriage fanatics leeway to discriminate.
Though then Gov. Bobby Jindal said he would sign the bill if it was passed, major corporations opposed it, as did enough Republicans and most Democrats. “Baton Rouge Metro Councilman John Delgado, a fellow Republican…called Johnson a “despicable bigot of the highest order’ for proposing the bill.” Since joining Congress he has been opposed to Obergefell v. Hodges, and wants prayer in public schools. He sounds like really bad news!
(*Wikipedia entry on Mike Johnson)
Mack
And unfortunately he is the new Speaker of the House. From what I’ve read he’s a pretty much an extreme right winger who is anti LGBTQ, pro Trump and is probably installed to make sure the next election REGARDLESS of outcome is handed to a Dictator wannabe DONALD TRUMP.
oBose
I see Emmer as pragmatic, not free of homophobia. I was in Minnesota in 2012 when a popular vote defeated the anti-marriage equality amendment, followed by the 2013 legislative passage of marriage equality.
I suspect he still might not respond positively to a friend or grandkid coming out as gay, and certainly doesn’t push back when religiously-aligned folks decry marriage equality.
But, hopefully he’s seen that a decade of marriage equality hasn’t ruined Minnesota; peaceful coexistence is possible and more important issues need to be addressed.
inbama
Could the Dems not have put Emmer over the threshold? Or maybe he wouldn’t deal.
FreddieW
Or the Democrats think it’s in their best interest for the Republicans to look as bad as possible, and to hell with Israel and the USA.
Mattster
Asking the democrats to vote for Republican speakers that deny elections, support insurrection, intend to focus on endless (and baseless) impeachment trials, revoke marriage equality, and in basically every other way completely oppose their agenda is naive at best.
The Republicans are a dysfunctional party that increasingly stands for less and less, which is why a small number of grandstanding grifters are able to bring the whole process to a standstill. The democrats have United and voted for their leader 100% of the time in every vote—212 votes. Meanwhile the Republicans cannot get a majority of their own party to vote for a candidate.
Why is no one asking Republicans to “make a deal” and vote for Jeffries? It would only take a few of them to do so.
There’s an old saying in politics: When your opponent is making a fool of himself, don’t interrupt.
dbmcvey
Fred, the Dems don’t need to make the Republicans look bad. They’re doing it to themselves.
Inbama, there was no reason for the Dems to support McCarthy, and the Republican candidates are all afraid to reach out to Dems because the MAGA base is insane. It’s possible if Emmer reached out and made some promises to Dems they might have supported him but he didn’t.
Fred, Why are you defending Republicans? They’re not interested in helping you.
ZzBomb
The GOP is in the majority. The Dems aren’t obligated to save the Republicans since we know the GOP wouldn’t if the shoe were on the other foot.
You want a coalition? Vote for Jeffries, he consistently gets 212 votes. EVERY. TIME!
FreddieW
@dbmcvey,
I’m not defending Republicans in general. You’re condemning the whole party, as if the Democrats are good and Republicans are evil. I’m not partisan, so I don’t see the world that way. There’s a surplus of fools in both parties.
The whole system is poisoned because of mindless partisanship. And honestly, you see everyone as a partisan like you are, which is why you and abfab are always railing at gay men who disagree with you, calling them “GOP trolls”.
dbmcvey
You are defending them Fred.
The Republican Party is working on taking our marriage rights away just as they struck down Roe. No, not every Republican is homophobic and transphobic but they give cover to those who are. The supposed moderates don’t really stand up for us and they still vote to confirm the judges who will rule against us.
I don’t know why you feel the need to defend them.
FreddieW
@dbmcvey
It’s not that I feel the need to defend them. I feel the need to speak up as a gay man who isn’t mindlessly following the LGBTQIA+ establishment. I’ve been individualistic like that for my whole life.
dbmcvey
Order is restored, Fred, they just elected a major homophobe.
FreddieW
@dbmcvey
Yes, I suppose you and the DNC can rejoice that they have an extremist and insurrectionist as 2nd behind the President because no Democrat would lend a hand in electing a more palatable Speaker. You can keep beating the partisan drums without further opportunities to make things better.
dbmcvey
Fred, I’m not rejoicing. They’ve always had an extremist and insurrectionist in that office. His name was Kevin McCarthy.
This isn’t on Democrats, this is your beloved Republican Party all the way.
FreddieW
You can keep saying that, but the last Republican candidate for a federal office that got my vote was George W Bush in 2000.
Covid Hermit
Not pointed out yet, but worth mentioning, is that Emmer represents Minnesota’s 6th District (north/west suburbs of Minneapolis and the St. Cloud area), which is Michele Bachmann’s old district. And we know what kind of crazy anti-gay loon she was!
Man About Town
Is she still married to that hungry power bottom?
still_onthemark
Ah, Crazy Eyes! – she seemed so weird back in 2012 when she ran for president. But if she were still in congress now she would be hardly noticeable next to MYG, Boebert, Gaetz, Santos, etc.
PubisHairus
I always like to be reminded of Michele Bachmann. She’s proof that the hatemongers don’t win. Their hateful flames may burn brightly, but they are always extinguished in the end.