I’d been reading some stories about how the Republican Party has reached a turning point on gay rights (one example here). We hear this every year, and it’s always, always wrong.
Fantasy Over
by $8 blue check mistermix| 23 Comments
This post is in: Gay Rights are Human Rights
middlewest
Actually, the narrative this time around was that republicans were leading on gay rights, and gays were going to abandon the democrats in droves for their new repub BFFs. I know this because my mom told me just last week; she’s tuned into that whole Firedoglake/Ed Schultz/email-forward lefty network. It was something to do with Megan McCain, Ken Mehlman, the LCR and other irrelevant BS. The term FIERCE ADVOCATE came up repeatedly, so I guess Obama is betraying everyone somehow again.
Nevermind. Come Tuesday, we’ll know who stands where.
Brachiator
The new don’t ask don’t tell is “don’t ask Republican candidates about gay issues.”
IM
But the tea party doesn’t carte about social issues! The just want to cut spending! just ask Weigel, he is the expert!Or Larison that you are just attacking O#Donnel for being an actual catholic.
Amanda in the South Bay
Sully or one of his minions will chime in on how Republicans are sooooo gay friendly.
In the Andrew Sullivan fantasy world there is always imminent hope the GOP will turn itself around on LGBT rights.
NobodySpecial
They HAVE reached a turning point on gay issues.
They’ve turned right around and started pissing on the gays again after they double promised to not do that anymore.
JGabriel
On the other hand, stories like this one that mistermix linked to, show that DADT is one of the few areas where the Overton Window is moving left, not right: we’ve got the right wing defending DADT rather than demanding that all gays be shot.
.
Bob L
Are you sure Misterx those stories aren’t parodys? Coulter just got drummed out of the movement for taking money from gays.
Larry Signor
I know I’m convinced.
Who’s Your Daddy?Well, maybe not.Martin
Well, my take is that the rational thinkers (not that they ever /speak/ that way before having to backtrack the next day) left in the GOP is seeing that all signs on gay rights are going against them and made the sensible decision to jump on board so as to start to pull a demographic back into the ‘neutral’ category.
And then more teabaggers won primaries and the Christian Value Voters Summit showed up, and blew that idea all to hell.
Obama pegged the GOP last year in the question time deal. The GOP has painted themselves into a corner that they can’t get out of. The rational leaders* are all getting primaried out – their capacity to turn the party toward something functional is completely lost.
*Yes, I still subscribe to the theory that many (I won’t say most) GOP leaders are rational in thought, but yield to insane positions because of their voter base. My evidence is that as soon as they get primaried, they tend to immediately talk like normal people.
ThresherK
There are only 2 ½ things more predictable than “GOP appealing to X group” headlines above the fold on page 1:
1) The inside-baseball stories’ first grafs which concentrate on “messaging efforts” rather than anything of policy.
2) The results.
2 ½) The non-front-page non-story about how the GOP tries to prevent that group from voting next time after how they went last time.
Tara the antisocial social worker
Every time I hear that, I wonder: does being gay make you rich, or does being rich make you gay?
Those of you who want to stay straight should send me all your money, just in case.
Uloborus
@Martin:
I completely agree. I think most of the GOP old guard are rational. Most of them are selfish assholes, but they’re only acting CooCoo For Coco Puffs because a cynical ploy to motivate their base has left them unable to stop without losing their jobs.
These new folks, they’re Bachmann style loons. I’m pretty sure they’re going to get their asses handed to them in November, though. I’m kind of thinking ‘big wins among regular GOP candidates due to midterms’ and ‘Tea Party candidates losing everywhere’. Unfortunately, I know quite well that this kind of speculation is… speculating. Predicting elections has always been futile.
But no matter what happens, the lesson will somehow be to double down on the crazy. I think they’ll find one, but it’s going to take a miracle to save the GOP from its base now.
EDIT – On topic, aren’t gays the one minority Republicans get decent voting percentages out of? Since conservatives hate them more than Heathen Coloreds that has always baffled me.
bootsy
@middlewest: That’s sort of bleakly funny: John McCain is the number one threat to repealing DADT, and because his dumb daughter has a stupid book about how she doesn’t hate gays, the anti-Obama left media thinks Republicans are now tolerant.
My head is spinning.
jrg
I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that we’ll still be hearing “San Francisco Values” crap 20 years from now. GOPers won’t be attacking gays directly… They’ll just dog-whistle, and pretend they are talking about budgets or something.
Kind of like what they do when they say “Obama is a secret Muslim” or “Show us the birth certificate”… What they’re really saying is “Nigger, Nigger, Nigger”, but with some measure of deniability.
Martin
@Tara the antisocial social worker: Being rich makes it easier to be out. When you are economically at risk, adopting any unfavorable label can bump you from being on the economic bubble to spiraling into poverty.
Martin
@Uloborus: Latinos, more than gays. They’re very careful to not become too dependent on one party, and they’re remarkably diverse in their issues. Immigration is big for some, but for most, it’s no more of an issue than any other voter. We’ve got a lot of Mexican Catholics here. They’re more devout than caucasian Catholics on the whole, and issues like gay marriage, abortion, etc. resonate strongly with them. Of course, if you pass discriminatory policies like Arizona’s, you’ll attract the wrath of most of the population, so it’s a population easy to lose but not easy to win.
It’s now accepted that winning Latinos is key to long term party success. Democrats are doing alright now at attracting Latinos, but IMO they’re also very lazy about it. They’re taking the community for granted, and that’s a HUGE mistake.
As for the gay community, at some point all of these discriminatory policies will end and I expect that they’ll go the same way – the GOP will win them back as other issues become more important. Nobody should expect voters to hold a grudge for long.
kommrade reproductive vigor
No one told Texas about the new, gay friendly GOP.
Homosexuality: We believe that the practice of homosexuality tears at the fabric of society, contributes to the breakdown
of the family unit, and leads to the spread of dangerous, communicable diseases. Homosexual behavior is contrary to the
fundamental, unchanging truths that have been
ordained by God, recognized by our country’s founders, and shared by the majority of Texans. Homosexuality must not be
presented as an acceptable “alternative” lifestyle in our public education and policy, nor should “family” be redefined to
include homosexual “couples.” We are opposed to any granting of special legal entitlements, refuse to recognize, or grant
special privileges including, but not limited to: marriage between persons of the same sex (regardless of state of origin),
custody of children by homosexuals, homosexual partner insurance or retirement benefits. We oppose any criminal or civil
penalties against those who oppose homosexuality out of faith, conviction, or belief in traditional values.
Texas Sodomy Statutes: We oppose the legalization of sodomy. We demand that Congress exercise its authority
granted by the U.S. Constitution to withhold jurisdiction from the federal courts from cases involving sodomy.
Bhall35
This. Also.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_gays_in_montana
Darkrose
@Tara the antisocial social worker:
GaysSome gay white men make a lot of money. This trope is based on the idea that Andrew Sullivan is representative of the majority of gays and lesbians in this country, which he definitely isn’t.James E. Powell
The Republicans can never really give up on hating and demonizing any group. They would risk losing the voters whose sole reason for voting is to express their hatred of that particular group. The Republicans cannot afford to lose any of these Hate & Fear voters because they are, along with rich people, the core of the Republican base.
James E. Powell
@Darkrose:
I thought it was based on the assumption that pretty much all gay people were like those two guys on Will & Grace.
d.s.
Gays don’t make any more money than anyone else.
They have more money than anyone else, because they’re less likely to have kids.
Tara the antisocial social worker
I think y’all are overthinking this. The whole “gays make more money” meme is just another attempt to harness resentment of “elites” while deflecting attention away from the actual elites who bankroll the teabag movement.
In the real world, the “Defense” of Marriage Act costs my family a bundle every year.