I'm sure from reading the title everyone knows who I'm talking about----Sen. Larry Craig. For those of you who haven't heard, the Idaho Senator was caught soliciting sex in a men's restroom in an airport in Minneapolis. At the time, he pleaded guilty to the charges. When the story broke, however, he quickly said that he wasn't guilty but that he would resign from the Senate. Then he said he would try to withdraw his guilty plea. A few days later, Craig announced that, even though he said he was going to resign, he decided not to. And ever since the GOP leadership has been trying to get him out of Congress. Here's my take:
I don't personally harbor resentment towards Craig for the act. Everyone makes mistakes. I do, however, have a problem when a man preaches about being "moral" and he consistently votes against gay rights and then goes and does what Craig did. Craig can say he didn't do it, but, from listening to the police tape, its obvious Craig was guilty. And for Craig to deny the obvious just further infuriates me. If there is any reason why Craig should resign, it is because of his hypocrisy and his clear failure to live up to what he promised his constituents----"good, moral, family values."
The problem I have with the GOP is that they don't want Craig to leave because of the crime or even because he is a hypocrite. They want him to leave because he is gay. Republicans can deny it all they want, but if it really is because of "moral reasons", then Sen. David Vitter should be pressured to resign as well. The GOP doesn't find it necessary to speak out against hiring prostitutes(as Vitter did), but they do for Craig? My problem is, not that I'm defending Craig, that he was treated completely unfairly solely because he's gay(or should I say we all know he's gay even thought he won't officially confirm it).
The Republicans feel Craig, a gay man, tarnishes their "family values" appearance. News to the GOP: you lost that warm, family appearance when you voted not to give children healthcare, and when you called for an 8 year old to be hung, or when you refused to raise the minimum wage for years. "Compassionate Conservative"-----give me a break.
3 comments :
The GOP is the biggest detriment to full acceptance of homosexuals. Gays are an easy target for the evangelical vote. All you have to do to stir up the fundamentalists is to preach the word of hate towards us gay people. We have no "secret agenda". We're not out to "recruit children". You can't make someone something that they're not. I couldn't make a straight person gay anymore than the GOP or fundamentalist America could make me straight. It's NOT a choice. It's basic sexual attraction. I have no idea why some people are sexually attracted to their own gender and I really don't care anymore. If the GOP didn't preach hatred of gays and instead preached acceptance and tolerance, their gay members wouldn't have to hide in the shadows or solicit sex in public restrooms.
One final thought. Most married gay men marry because of society's belief that homosexuality is a choice and that a good woman can make a gay man straight. It doesn't happen. What you get are married gay men whose wives have an unfulfilled love life and married men meeting gay men on the downlow for fulfilling sex. The refusal to accept homosexuality not only leads to a dismal life for the confused gay person but also for their spouses. If America accepted them for who they are and didn't try and make them feel shameful for being who God created them to be, a lot of pain and suffering could be avoided by gay people and the people they marry. They could be free to marry the person to whom they are actually attracted instead of who society feels they should marry.
^Yea, the GOP needs to be more accepting. They feel as if the only good person is the white, straight, happily married man, and we have to work to change that belief. I, as a white, straight man, feel that it is my duty to speak out against discrimination based on race, sex, or sexual orientation.
And I will point out once again that it was and is wrong for Republicans to single out Craig when Vitter did something just as bad. The difference between Craig and Vitter------Craig is (seemingly) gay.
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