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Anything But Straight
by Wayne Besen . Contributing Writer
Republicans Come To Jesus
In 1995,1 arrived in Washington, D.C., as a
fresh faced and doe-eyed 25-year-old. I wasn’t
sure what I wanted to do for a living, but I
thought working on Capitol Hill might be
interesting and the big buildings looked kind
of cool. Although I had just served as a press
secretary in a U.S. Senate primary, I wasn’t a
political junkie and all I really knew was that
Democrats were the pro-gay “good guys” and
Republicans were the anti-gay “bad guys.”
For days, I scurried down the long corri
dors of the ornate and musty congressional
offices to drop off resumes. While I was ulti
mately unsuccessful in attracting a job offer, I
did manage to attract furtive glances from
many stafers on The Hill — particularly well-
scrubbed Republicans. If there were steam
coming out of some of those Republican
offices, 1 would have sworn I was in a bath
house. Wasn’t the GOP supposed to be the
party that loathed homosexuals?
This bizarre dynamic was simply too
mind-boggling for a political neophyte like
myself to comprehend. I chalked it up to one
of life’s great unknowable mysteries, such as
“Does God exist” or “why do straight women
think Fabio is hot?”
Eleven years later, I must admit, I still don’t
get it. How can people go home with a same-
sex partner at night and then show up at work
the next morning to denounce homosexuals?
(I want to qualify this by stressing that
many Republican office holders are pro-gay
and there are many honorable Republican
activists, such as former Log Cabin leader
Patrick Guerriero.)
When I questioned gay Republicans, they
would often scoff and say that the Republican
Party is tolerant. As proof, they would point to
the offices where they worked and proclaim
that they were gay friendly environments. The
Mark Foley scandal, asjt turns out, proves that
they weren’t lying. The Republican elites in
Washington love gay people, as long as they
don’t broadcast their sexual orientation.
Read: “Don’t let the yahoos on the prairie
know you are a fairy or they will stay home on
Election Day and we won’t get our tax cuts
and promotions.”
On a recent airing of the “Chris Matthews
Show,” commentator Tucker Carlson revealed
that educated and wealthy Washington
■ I
Republicans can’t
stomach the reli
gious fanatics. “The
deep truth is that
the elites in the
Republican Party
have pure contempt
for the evangelicals who put their party in
power,” admitted Carlson.
A combustible new book, “Tempting Faith:
An Inside Story of Political Seduction,” by for
mer faith-based initiative honcho David Kuo,
asserts that top GOP strategists privately
called evangelical leaders “nuts” and “goofy”
It is easy to sympathize with evangelicals.
For more than two decades, they had
admirably outworked every other group in
America to win offices from the presidency to
lowly school boards — and still had time to
send their kids to Jesus Camps.
In the process, the GOP became part of the
conservative evangehcal religion. The creepy
worship of politicians, such as President Bush
and Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS) seems, at
times, to approach idolatry. This is why it
must be incredibly painful to find that nation
al party leaders are more likely to play show
tunes than gospel hymns once safely
ensconced in the Beltway. Indeed, gay activist
Mike Rogers has outed so many hypocrites
that it now seems more newsworthy if he
reveals a Republican is actually heterosexual.
If you are having trouble understanding
the betrayal felt by Christian conservatives,
look at it from a different perspective. Imagine
how you would feel if you came to find that
Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA) and House
Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) had
offices filled with homophobic, apocalyptic
Christians waiting for the End Times?
Incensed by the duplicity, the Traditional
Values Coalition’s Lou Sheldon has called for a
“Come to Jesus meeting” between the GOP
elite and their conservative base. It is clear
that the Republican Party is in the midst of a
major identity crises and there is no turning
back. In the “come to Jesus meeting”
Republicans will be forced to either abandon
the goofy nutjobs or reluctantly agree to cruci
fy gays.
Sorry if I don’t shed a tear, but gay conser
vatives may be getting exactly what they
deserve. They have helped elevate the very
puritans that now may purge them. It was a
good ride while it lasted, but the party is over.
The only regret is that the halls of Congress
won’t be quite as much fun to cruise once they
are gone. >
realty
As Unique As You Are
Jim Goodwill
Reaitor.'Broker . U.S. Army Colonel (Ret.J
jimgoodwill^g'utbanrea'tync.com
mobile. (7041526.8729
office. (704) 375.2010
fax (7041 375 2811
)16 W. lOtb Street, Cliarlotte. North Canoiina 28202.
14 NOVEMBER 4.2006 • Q-NOTES