Big Tent or Big Closet?

Why would any gay person would work for the party of hypocrisy? No one can now ignore the contradiction between the G.O.P.'s public intolerance and private "Roehmosexuality."

A desperate Ken Blackwell, losing his Ohio gubernatorial race against Ted Strickland, is trying to insinuate that his Democratic opponent is not only gay but tolerant of pedophilia. The G.O.P.'s Christian voting base is demanding a "pink purge" of all gay Republican congressional staffers:

"Some Christians, who are pivotal to the GOP's get-out-the-vote effort, are charging that gay Republican staffers in Congress may have thwarted their legislative agenda...."

Back in the days of monarchy, critics who dared not assail the King charged all problems to his advisors. Our evangelical cousins display a similar refusal to face the facts: Self-hating homosexuals play a large leadership role within the Republican party, even though that party has attained power through gay-bashing.

Mike Rogers of BlogActive has "outed" Idaho Senator Larry Craig as a person who uses public restrooms for other than intended purposes. Normally, I would not bother to link to such a report; what annoys me is not Craig's private behavior but his consistently anti-gay rights voting record.

If you visit Rogers' site, you will find not only a recording of his interview with Ed Schultz but a fascinating ABC News clip about the first congressional page scandal, from 1982. Although you've surely heard about Democrat Gerry Studds (whose behavior was, in my view, reprehensible), you may not know that -- at roughly the same time -- Larry Craig felt compelled to call a press conference and deny rumors that he had solicited young men and offered drugs. He did so even though no-one in public had accused him of anything. (Doesn't the Bible say something along the lines of "The wicked man flees though no man pursues"?) As Rogers notes, "how often do politicians issue preemptive denials based on rumors?

Another closeted gay Republican congressman is David Dreier, a representative from San Gabriel Valley, California, a fairly conservative area not far from my own home town. He lived, and may still live, with his Chief of Staff, Brad Smith.

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Again, I should emphasize that his personal preferences would be of no interest to me were it not for the fact that Dreier has compiled an intolerant voting record. Not only has he voted against bills that would have prevented discrimination against homosexuals, he has even voed down the Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS, designed to provide shelter for indigent people with that disease. He also voted against a program to provide medicine to poor people with AIDS.

Denny Hastert had hoped to replace the disgraced Tom Delay with Dreier, a plan foiled when reports of Dreier's homosexuality reached the Christian Right.

The Hill — the D.C. weekly covering Congress — later reported that “Republican aides across Capitol Hill said they were overwhelmed by phone calls from conservative activists” about Dreier. A lot of those calls, House staffers told me, were homophobic about Dreier’s being gay. Slate reported, “The House ‘Values Action Team,’ a group of GOP members tasked with pushing pro-life/pro-family issues within the caucus, blasted ane-mail to their colleagues alerting them that Dreier was to be tapped as a replacement and underlining his voting record supporting stem-cell research.” These conservative GOP congressmen didn’t need to tell their colleagues that Dreier is a closet case — it’s hardly a secret on Capitol Hill.

Interestingly, Dreier was picked last year to "mentor" Tony Blair's son during an internship in Washington.

Hastert -- the accused Foley "enabler" -- is the other Republican congressional who lives with his Chief of Staff, Scott Palmer, as well as with Deputy Chief of Staff, Mike Stokke. Hastert's wife lives seaparately. When she comes to D.C., she stays in a hotel -- even on Valentine's Day.

(Note: I may soon have more on Representative Patick McHenry, who made that pathetic and despicable attempt to smear Democrats when Foleygate broke wide open. If not for McHenry's antics, I probably would not be writing posts of this sort.)