Never in a million years did we think we’d be writing a post defending Lindsey Graham, but hear us out for a sec…
Last week, Donald Trump’s Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh testified before the Senate Judiciary committee in what will likely go down in history as the most bizarre and incendiary judicial interview process in history.
During the hearing, Graham, who has long been dogged by gay rumors, had an emotional outburst, shouting his support for Kavanaugh and calling the whole hearing an “unethical sham” and “the most despicable thing I’ve seen in politics.”
It was quite dramatic, to say the least.
Many responded to Graham’s tantrum in a way one might not expect from people who identify as liberal or progressive… by hurling antigay slurs while cracking misogynistic gay jokes about the senator.
First came the tweets…
“Donald Trump knows I’m a closeted gay man and is holding it over my head.” -Lindsay Graham.
— Yvette (@TheSciBabe) September 27, 2018
you idiots missed his LIES to that same committee in the bush years so like. go fuck yourself, you stupid fag @LindseyGrahamSC
— deloris van cartier (@jlojno) September 28, 2018
I've got a funny feeling that @LindseyGrahamSC Graham is gay…… what do you think??e pic.twitter.com/qALNVCSv0h
— Ronald Corriveau (@HANDIWORKNH) October 1, 2018
Well and @LindseyGrahamSC and his live-in campaign manager oh I mean lover. I am a gay man and think it's time we doing another outing like in 2004-08 on politicians.
— Eric Williamson (@ericpoeperic) September 28, 2018
The sad thing about @LindseyGrahamSC, is that the thing he worries the blackmailer will reveal is already common knowlege. We all know you're gay, Lindsey, and it's OK. It's 2018 for christ's sake.
— Gen JC Christian, Dude (@JC_Christian) September 30, 2018
. @LindseyGrahamSC is a closeted gay republican right? That’s why he’s so angry?
— Luxie (@Luxie313) September 27, 2018
Let's try to have a little patience in our hearts for .@LindseyGrahamSC . It has to be hard living as a closeted gay man in the South, for so very long. Then on a national stage. It's so hard, he hates himself. And his hate spills over. Love you brother. Be best.
— April May (@aprilmaywilson) October 1, 2018
Okay one of you fags has hooked up with Lindsey Graham—who is outing him?
— Daddy Nobucks (@Eviljohnny) September 27, 2018
Then came the memes…
Even Saturday Night Live got in on the action by having Kate McKinnon impersonate 63-year-old Graham in a skit that included no shortage of jabs at his rumored sexual orientation.
Now, we totally get it. Lindsey Graham is not a good guy and certainly no ally to the LGBTQ community.
Not only did he oppose the repeal of DADT and gay-inclusive immigration reform, but he was also staunchly against gay marriage, calling it a road to polygamy.
And the way he behaved last week was embarrassing both for himself and for the country.
But surely there are ways to criticize him that don’t involve cracking lame gay jokes or, worse, using homophobic slurs against him?
What do you think? Sound off in the comments section below…
miserylovedme24
Wait. What in the world about this makes it misogynistic? Misogyny refers to women and last time I checked, this is about gay jokes about a man. And as far as that’s concerned, I don’t see the problem when it’s someone in the Republican Party that actively opposes all gay rights issues. If you’re going to put yourself in that position, any criticism or jokes are completely fair.
Alton
Homophobia is rooted in misogyny; the central conceit of homophobia is that it’s shameful for a man to act like a woman: in sexual practices, in mannerisms, in emotional responses. All homophobia is inherently misogynistic. And there’s no such thing as “fair” homophobia. Any homophobic comment directed at Lindsey Graham is, by definition, aimed at the gay community as well. You can’t shame Lindsey Graham for being gay if you don’t consider being gay shameful.
All that said, I don’t give a crap about people being homophobic to Lindsey Graham. These people are literally trying to destroy our democracy. We can take people to task for their homophobia AFTER we get these monsters out of power. That is where our focus should be, and ONLY that.
Greg
@Alton / Where do you get homophobia is rooted in misogyny. No it isn’t. Homophobia is an irrational fear towards gay people. Fear of the unknown, or fear that they are also gay. But I agree with the rest of your comment. It doesn’t bother me to hurl insults at Lindsay Graham either.
QueerTruth
Alton,
It certainly is NOT rooted in misogyny. Where are you getting this?
russdog
Homophobia absolutely is rooted in misogyny. Gay men are ridiculed because they are seen as abdicating their assigned gender role as the primary sex and all of the social and cultural privilege that goes along with it. Women are seen and treated as second-class citizens, socialized to be sexually available to men; they are the ones penetrated in the sexual act. Some straight men see being penetrated by another man as emasculating as it places him in the “female” role, thus lowering their status and value as males because what could be worse that being a woman. When men bully each other, they often feminize their insults: “ladies”, “pussies”, “girlie-men”. Many straight men will defend to the death their complicated notion of what they believe it means to “be a man”, and that usually means anything that separates them from women.
startenout
Don’t you think it’s odd that the negative things some liberals and gays can think to call him is “gay?” What are you saying??
DHT
I have noted and I applaud that the majority of gay men tend to descend acridly upon the closeted, self-loathing, creepy, gay predator types. Keep it up bit*hes!
Juanjo
Linseybelle deserves everything the little closet case deserves.
PLAYS WELL WITH OTHERS
I do declare Miss Lindsay Grahm was suffering a case of the vapors there in her outburst….
Scout
So because he’s a closet case and anti-GLBT, he deserves all the vitriol he gets? There’s something supremely hypocritical here where gays would support him if he were democrat and out, regardless of the issue.
Cazin
He deserves to get ousted from office, and depending on how deep he is in the corruption of the Trump administration and the far-right whack-job Republican Congress, he may also deserve to go to prison. As for vitriol, he deserves each and every ounce of it. He is a vile creature who an enemy of LGBT people, women, and other minorities.
Creamsicle
It’s not hypocritical to give a hypocrite who is complicit in the oppression of other gay men and women a taste of his own medicine. None of these jokes have prevented Graham from finding housing, marrying who he chooses, or having children without harrassment. He’s a politician, and an obviously effeminate one in an anti-gay party at that. He’s been called worse for better reason.
Have fun defending him the next time he fights tooth and nail to roll back your rights.
jorgecruz
Yes, if a closeted gay man supports people that hate gays and supports legislation that hurts people that aren’t in the same privileged position that he is, he deserves all the vitriol the internet can throw at him. We would support him if he supported gays. We would not support him if he were a Democrat and continued to vote for policies that treated gay and trans people as less than equal.
DCguy
Yes
Greg
That’s what he gets.
Wolfwalk
Not so Scout. I’m a71 year old lifelong Democrat and ultra-liberal and if it were a Democrat actively seeking to push back history, end our civil rights and those of others, overturn Roe v Wade, harm our environment and our planet and was closeted to boot, then I would be among the first to demand that that person step down, resign and get lost. As would most Democrats. You don’t see Al Franken in the Senate nowadays, do you? Democrats asked him to step down, not Trump supporters.
PinkoOfTheGange
Um no I wouldn’t, not if he pulled off the same tirade with all the relevant words reversed.
jkthsnk
Is your drag coverage misogynistic? STFU Queerty.
Magiqua
Drag is actually quite misogynistic period. At least the way it has become over the past few decades…
MrMichaelJ
Sorry but ANYONE who wants to try to complain about the venom he’s getting needs to back up and STFU. When you’re a gay man, closet or not, and made it your life’s goal to make sure those men who have the courage to be true to themselves, and others, something of which you do not, then, yes, you get every f’n thing that’s coming to you.
jckfmsincty
Ms. Graham is vying for an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress. Good luck.
Goforit
An insult is only as effective as the person to whom it is directed. Calling Lindsey or any other bigot gay, is only an insult because they believe it to be insulting. Call me gay and I take it as a compliment.
wbhauck
It’s homophobic. I’m not defending him or his stance on LGBTQ issues. I’m saying that if you think calling someone gay or making jokes about men having sex then you are saying gays are a joke, that we’re something to laugh at, or worse … something to be hated.
PinkoOfTheGange
So jokes about an out gay man having adult relations with a woman would be….what?
jrh311
In SNL’s defense, Kate has played MULTIPLE male characters, and not for the purpose of feminizing them. And don’t forget Melissa McCarthy’s portrayal of Sean Spicer.
DHT
Anyone consider that he may not be defending Kavanaugh so much as he is defending his own sex life? He may in fact be as creepy a predator as the guy he is defending.
Kangol
Mike Rogers nearly outed Lindsey over a decade ago. If he puts another right-winger on the Supreme Court, though, there’s no guarantee that Lindsey’s or any other gay/bi person’s same-sexual life will not be recriminalized. Remember that same-sexual acts were only nationally decriminalized in 2003, when Anthony Kennedy & the liberal justices ruled to strike down sodomy laws in Lawrence v. Texas. Before that, states were still trying gay men on gay sex acts (and straight couples could also be charged). There still are no laws preventing discrimination against LGBTQ people in a majority of US states, even though same-sex marriage is now federalized, and right-wingers would need only 1 more vote and the right case from a state or plaintiff with standing to strike it down or weaken it. Don’t think they won’t, either.
DCguy
Oh so now we’re defend bigots who seek to harm the LGBTQ community and are probably self hating closet cases?
This is typical hand wringing B.S. designed to absolved bigots of feeling any backlash. Grahamn has attacked our community for years, and screams “Closet Case” at least other people fake a girlfriend when they’re trying to hide in the closet. Not Grahamn, he makes it perfectly obvious, still attacks the community and then we’re supposed to feel sorry for him.
Sorry no.
josafelina
Graham is CONSCIOUSLY trying to destroy a woman’s life. He is ACTIVELY trying to seat a Supreme Court Justice who will more than likely vote down Roe v Wade. He is HELL BENT on getting someone in the SCOTUS who will toss out dual-sovereignty doctrine, making it impossible for states to charge any of those who Trump may pardon.
People calling out a closeted viper is not the issue. There is no internalized homophobia at play here. There is no misogyny, or shaming here. It is simply people exercising what little control we have in a dire situation.
In summary Queerty, grow up.
jcoberkrom
Is it OK for liberals to crack misogynistic gay jokes at Lindsey Graham’s expense? NO NO NO
I understand the urge but it is NOT okay.
DHT
I don’t think joking about a closeted gay man is misogynistic…the jokes would stop if he came out.
dwes09
What is it with these people who seem not to understand that homophobia is not misogyny! And most of the tweets posted here are not homophobic either, but simply noting that many consider
Graham to be a closeted gay man. On the other hand, the memes posted are vicious!
It clearly is counterproductive for progressives and liberals to try and insult Graham by noting his probably being a gay man on the DL, but it is fine to insult him for his hypocrisy. It is to be encouraged!
DHT
The jokes are being hurled not because he is a gay man, but because he is a self-loathing closeted gay man.
Doug
“So because he’s… anti-GLBT, he deserves all the vitriol he gets?”
Uh… yeah!
Curtispsf
Senator Lindsey Graham reminds me of Blanche Dubois saying “Why I do believe my reputation has been besmirched”.
radiooutmike
I had never before heard of rumors that LG was gay. It does make for some interesting theater. The right would gain so much more credibility if they just accepted LGBT, minorities and what have you. Then they could at least make some credible arguments for conservatism.
Often identity politics is called a foul by the right. They cite the hodge podge of all the letters, colors and sexes of the left as an abnormality to upstanding Americans. Their identity is white, rich, hetero male along with their fecundity.
DHT
you haven’t heard the rumors because they are fairly recent, people have only been talking about this for the last twenty years or so.
unreligious
It’s pretty sad to read the comments here and see the mental gymnastics going to to defend the indefensible. Sorry but the homophobic comments directed at Mr Graham are as despicable and wrong when coming from so called progressives as they would be coming from conservatives. If you can’t criticize him without resorting to homophobic remarks then you are sadly lacking in character. In actuality many of these comments and tweets show just how much of a thin veneer is so called progressives support of gay people.
dwes09
The support of progressives for LGBT people is solid. And solid as a rock when compared to the disingenuous lip service of the right as regards us. The center and the left have fought and legislated on our behalf. The right could not give a s#!t. But the assumptions of who the audience is die hard. The hetero male gaze is still seen as the standard. So there is still work to be done regarding thoughtfulness in comments (a term I prefer to “political correctness”)
dean089
“When you do it it’s bad, when we do it it’s OK.” That’s the American way.
yaletownman
As a RAPEpublican he is the enemy of LGBTQ people, women, just about any social and racial minority.
I don’t care who are what he is as long as he gives the same respect to others. Pointing out what he appears to be is a way of pointing out his hypocrisy. When he lets others live and let live he will be afforded the same respect because no one will even care. Hell, I don’t care if he’s gay or not. I don’t want and I don’t think anyone else does either.
Heywood Jablowme
As demonstrated by the comments here, the only people who pretend to be concerned about this sh*t are gay Republicans, i.e. traitors (in both the self-hating-gay sense and traitor-to-the-U.S.-like-Trump sense).
DuMaurier
That isn’t completely true. People like Michealangelo Signorile (definitely no “gay Republican”) have written about being disturbed by this. Personally, I’m of two minds; I try to focus on the intent and the subtext, which is “I don’t think there’s anything embarrassing about being gay but I know you do and that’s why I’m jokingly accusing you of it.” But I’ve never been comfortable with it; if you look at these jokes and, out of context, they sound exactly like what a regressive homophobe would say I think it’s fair to be uneasy. To me it’s something to consider calmly, without veering to one unthinking extreme or the other.
rbernard
In a word, YES.
sfhairy
Yes, yes it is. Queerty, you are not the gay police. Move along, nothing to see here except hilarious meme’s.
bbbbmer
when are journalists going to start confronting graham on his weekend proclivities toward a certain d.c. brothel that specializes in underage youthful boys?????? worst kept secret in the district…. along with pence and mitch mcconnell….. they HAD to know what ‘devil’s triangle’ is…. i mean, THEY MUST DO IT at least SOMETIMES….
Bob Scardino
Lindsey Graham needs to have a nice long talk with the Benham Brothers, preferably after a nice long soak in a hot tub.