UPDATED How to grab the gay equality issue from the Left

I have a proposal for attracting to conservatism a demographic that’s up-for-grabs. There are three blog publishers who are in a position to do this. Each one could do it alone, but it will make a bigger impact if they hold hands and make the leap of faith together.

My proposal is that at least one publisher of a conservative group blog make their blog a conservative-gay-friendly space by doing the following:

  1. Publishing columns that are in favor of homosexual equality by authors who make their case in terms of the values of conservatives, such as liberty, the Constitution, capitalism, strengthening marriage and the family, and so on.
  2. Refusing to publish any column, podcast, radio show or TV show expressing opposition to equality for homosexuals.
  3. Allowing debate on the merits of homosexual equality in the comments on each piece, but setting a high standard for approving comments by refusing to publish any that are rude or include personal attacks or name-calling.

Hear me out — this is NOT censorship.

After all, regarding item two above — every conservative online publication — and CPAC — has a point-of-view and rejects writers and performers and speakers who oppose it. For example, conservative women do not have to argue with opponents of their equality — and I remember when equality for women WAS controversial. No one gets to advocate white supremacy, or call for a return to the days of segregation. Muslims and anti-semites do not get to argue for the destruction of Israel and of Jews. No one is allowed to claim that Islam is misunderstood by Muslims carrying out its instructions to kill infidels. You don’t get to glorify socialism, fascism, Communism, Leftism, totalitarianism, statism, Hitler, Mussolini, Mao, Stalin, Che, Chavez or Castro.

So there ARE boundaries that it is not considered censorship to enforce.

The first thing establishing this policy will do is create a space that gives lesbian and gay conservatives the dignity of advocating for their own equality instead of only being allowed to fight for the liberty of others because their own cause is too insignificant. After all — Obama, the economy, Iraq, Afghanistan — we have bigger problems. Well, you know what? We figured out how to give blacks and women their equality during the Viet Nam war, Watergate, the oil embargoes, inflation, double-digit interest rates and the Iran hostage crisis. So there’s every reason to get going on the process of equality for homosexuals right now and no excuse for stalling.

Second, such a policy will result in a blog that lesbians and gays could enjoy reading, so they can get acquainted with the ideas of fiscal conservatism in an atmosphere of comparative peace. Discrimination has forced so many lesbians and gays into entrepreneurial careers that they are the natural constituency of fiscal conservatism. Obama and the Democrats have broken their promises to lesbians and gays, who are starting to realize that the Left also has social conservatives — Protestant blacks, Muslims, illegal and legal Catholic immigrants — who are intractably allied AGAINST equality for lesbians and gays. This means lesbians and gays who would be open to conservatism are a demographic up-for-grabs.

So, in the face of such hatred, exploitation and betrayal on the Left, why don’t more lesbians and gays leave?

Lesbians and gays act like battered wives and refuse to leave their abusers because they don’t have any safe place to go. They don’t know that fiscal conservatism is an option as their new home. They don’t know how much the Leftist mainstream media and blogosphere lie to them to keep them in the fold. And all they see of conservatism is social conservatives who demonize them.

But social conservatives do not own every square inch of the conservative movement. And welcoming lesbians and gays does not mean the loss of religion, God and good values. After all, one of the first organizations founded at the dawn of the gay rights movement was the Metropolitan Community Church. And the aspirations of lesbians and gays for equality are noble ones: to marry, to create a family through adoption, and to serve their country in the military with exactly the same openness about their sexual orientation that straights have, along with the same duties.

Finally, setting this policy will take from the Left one of its favorite accusations against conservatives of bigotry. It also will expose the Left’s fraudulent tolerance and real abuse and exploitation of homosexuals. Imagine the contortions of deception that Obama and the Democrats will be forced into in order to halt the stampede of their gay cash cows! Obama might even have to keep a promise!!!!!11!!!!1!!!! Seriously, isn’t it worth doing for that alone?

Dear gentle readers, what do you think of this proposal?

Update, 4/6/2010, Tues.: Woohoo! This post has been linked by Queerty! There was a bit of snark and a touch of doubt that I am in my right mind, as evidenced by my refusal to accept the religion of anthropogenic global warming, rebranded as climate change, just because the scientific evidence doesn’t support the theory. However, basically the post was fair, so good on them for that. There were exploding heads in the comments, but that is par for the course.

Anyway, Queerty readers, there ARE plenty of people on the Right who DO support gay equality and we are grabbing that issue and running with it. We are going to expose the lies of Democrats, who say they are helpless to keep their promises to gays because of all the bigots on the Right. Yo, yo, yo! Leftist gays and lesbians! Your problem is bigots on the Left! Democrats control the Congress and White House — if you do not hold their feet to the fire and set a deadline like July 4 to get the legislation for our equality passed and signed into law, you are making the mistake of a lifetime! Do NOT give another penny to the Democrats or one second of your labor until that happens. No excuses. No delays. No “we’ve got bigger problems.”

The Democrats are abusing you and laughing at you because they think they’ve got you trapped. Well, fiscal conservatism is a much nicer world than Leftism and is ready to welcome you with open arms. Keep coming back and I will explain why and how. In the meantime, the more Obama/Pelosi/Reid see that you WILL leave for a better offer and you HAVE one, the more leverage you have. Take it. Use it. And be prepared for the possibility that finally making the Democrats put up or shut up will reveal that they have practiced a mind-boggling deception on you for their own selfish ends.

A Conservative Lesbian is starting a new meme — the Wave of Love #wol

One of the drawbacks of conservatives’ love of individualism is that we leave our heroes to fight their battles alone instead of leaping to their side when they are surrounded by packs of Leftie wolves baying for their blood.

I have been particularly concerned for Andrew Breitbart, since he is leading such effective battles against ACORN and the race-baiting of the Left. It doesn’t matter how strong you are, a thousand cuts can take you down.

So one of my goals in going to CPAC last month was to have a chat with Andrew Breitbart. I was in luck, and had two, one of which Melissa Clouthier videoed and posted on YouTube. (I will put it in a different post.)

The main thing I wanted to ask Andrew is whether it would be OK with him if I wrote public affirmations of praise for him. I wanted him to know my fell ulterior motives. First, what you put your attention on grows stronger, so I make sure to praise behaviors I want to encourage. And I support most of Andrew’s battles (and find him talkable on his opposition to same-sex marriage equality, if you’re wondering). Andrew is subjected to such vitriol from the Left that I want to counter that to the best of my ability. Second, my praise is heartfelt and not a manipulation.

Actually, Andrew agreed to be praised before I explained my motives. But there’s no way I would have started my “praise Andrew Breitbart” program without having him understand what I was doing first.

Anyhoo, I launched my little crusade a couple of days ago when I saw Andrew retweeting some of the more toxic attacks on him to humiliate his attackers.

Then something clicked about my grasp of the Twitter gestalt. Somehow I only just realized how much it is a conversation, like the blogosphere, only vastly quicker and more nimble.

Now I want to involve ALL of the conservative Twitterverse in the Wave of Love meme, identified in tweets by #wol. To participate in the Wave of Love, when one of our own is under attack, I’m asking every conservative on Twitter to tweet a Wave of Love message saying anything positive about the person being attacked. Here are some examples:

@(nameofLeftie) God bless and protect @andrewbreitbart #wol #tcot #tlot

@(nameofLeftie) I left my heart @andrewbreitbart #wol #tcot #tlot

@(nameofLeftie) @andrewbreitbart does the reporting the “news” media won’t do #wol #tcot #tlot

@(nameofLeftie) Wave of love for @andrewbreitbart #wol #tcot #tlot

and another favorite of mine and dear to my heart for her courage, intelligence and clear vision:

@(nameofLeftie) Wave of love for @SarahPalinUSA #wol #tcot #tlot #foxnews

@(nameofLeftie) God bless and protect @SarahPalinUSA #wol #tcot #tlot #foxnews

@(nameofLeftie) We laugh at you! We love @SarahPalin #wol #tcot #tlot #foxnews

I don’t think it’s necessary to try to be witty or original — just tweet “Wave of love for (fill in name)” quickly to respond to the negativity. It could create a Twitter “trending topic.” And it will definitely make some Leftie’s heads explode. So there’s the schadenfreude bonus to consider, as well.

P.S.

Hashtags — the # symbol — help people search and find tweets relevant to a particular topic. “#tcot” means “top conservatives on Twitter.” “#tlot” means “top Leftists libertarians on Twitter.” Use #p2 to include Progressives.

Trap, neuter, return feral cats

This ABC News story describes a population boom of abandoned and feral cats in Miami. I expect the man they show trapping cats is taking them to be euthanized and they didn’t have the guts to say so. It is a pity that the woman they interviewed who is feeding homeless cats near her condo has not done any research online to check out the best way to help abandoned and feral cats.

One situation in which cats are most commonly abandoned is when most of their kitten cuteness has worn off and they hit sexual maturity — and their keepers suddenly have no use for them and discard them instead of neutering or spaying them. Another is when people move and cannot find a home that will accept their cat, or they cannot afford to take the cat.

Abandoned tame cats who are sexually intact breed and their kittens become feral because they are not socialized to people.

(Our Beauregard and his brother, Remington, were feral kittens. I got their mother, Spats, spayed. Ivan and his girlfriend, our dear late Sophia, were abandoned together when they hit sexual maturity.)

Alley Cat Allies teaches people how to trap, neuter and return cats that cannot be socialized enough to live in a home with people. They also teach people how to manage colonies of cats to keep them healthy. Ironically, in areas where cats are commonly abandoned, such as places with lots of condos, apartments and townhouses, keeping a managed colony of cats who have been spayed or neutered and given basic vaccinations ensures the neighborhood does not get overrun with cats — they drive away rivals.

Sassy Gay Friend saves Desdemona

Sassy Gay Friend rescues Desdemona in Shakespeare’s “Othello”! But The Second City writers couldn’t pass up referring to Rossini’s opera, “Otello”! Frankly, I hope The Second City runs Sassy Gay Friend all the way through Shakespeare and then sends him on to rescue all the doomed heroes and heroines of tragic opera. Although it wouldn’t kill the writers at least to read the plays and see performances of the operas first. Also, who believes gay men have to ask a woman any questions regarding, um, size?

Is it irreverent of me to ask on Easter weekend how things would have gone if Jesus had had a Sassy Gay Apostle?

BREAKING Westboro Baptist Church leader Fred Phelps announces he is gay

April 1, 2010 — Topeka, Kansas — Westboro Baptist Church leader, Fred Phelps, announced today at a hastily-called press conference that he is a proud gay man. Phelps’ church is infamous for its daily protests against homosexuality in its hometown of Topeka, Kansas, and across the U.S.

“I tried to hate the gay out of everyone else,” Phelps told reporters with tears streaming down his face, “but what I was really trying to do was hate the gay out of me. I told myself a thousand times a day that “God hates fags” to make myself straight. I made “God Hates Fags dot com” my church’s main domain name and its founding faith to make myself straight. I married and fathered 13 children to make myself straight. And yet still I was a fag.

“I found out that gays would counter-protest when we picketed ‘The Laramie Project’ and Gay Pride festivals.” Phelps continued, looking down and smiling through his tears. “I began to live for those days so I could gaze at those handsome men and their muscular bodies. Pride festivals were the best because so many of the men wear tight shorts and go shirtless. That’s when I would hold my protest signs at waist level so no one could see how I really felt about them. Some of the men had such a powerful effect on me that my knees would buckle. I would have to pretend I was kneeling and praying on purpose for God’s rod and staff to comfort me when all I really wanted was to press my lips against all the rods bulging in those men’s pants and feel their staffs inside me. No one ever knew the secret thrill I got from the explicit images  of gay sex on our posters or why I spent so many hours alone looking at all the photos I took at Gay Pride parades and festivals.

Phelps, who is 80, told reporters that he will have to face God soon and could not go on living a lie.

“As of today,” Phelps concluded, “the Westboro Baptist Church is out of the hate business. As a sign of my contrition for all the hurt I’ve caused and the lives I’ve destroyed, I have signed over all my church’s property and assets to the Metropolitan Community Church of Topeka. I plan to spend my days volunteering for the Topeka AIDS Project and my nights learning the words to every song Judy Garland and Ethel Merman ever sang.”

Selective outrage over Westboro Baptist Church

There’s something missing in all the coverage this week about the Appeals Court of the Fourth Circuit ordering the father of a Marine who died in Iraq to pay $16,000 in court costs to the Westboro Baptist Church as he battles the church for conducting protests and picketing during the funerals of fallen soldiers.

People seem just to be angry that the members of the Westboro Baptist Church are hurting the feelings of grieving families who are mourning the loss of a family member who has given the last full measure of devotion to America, land that they love.

I also find the Westboro Baptist Church’s protests outrageous — all of them, really, since their founder, Democrat Fred Phelps, has an extraordinarily comprehensive list of hatreds: gays, women, Catholics, every Christian who is not a member of his church, Jews, Hindus, Swedes, the Irish and India. He has, however, fought and won many cases of discrimination against black people. So there’s that.

Here’s the thing: no one I listened to yesterday seemed to object to the hatred of homosexuals by Fred Phelps and the members of the Westboro Baptist Church. Hatred of lesbians and gays is Phelps’s primary hatred — WBC’s primary URL is God hates fags dot com (the link goes to their protest calendar).

Left and Right, it is safe to hate homosexuals.

Conservatives don’t seem to mind that the Westboro Baptist Church members hate lesbians and gays. The problem was NOT the hatred. The problem was the LOCATION of the hatred: military funerals. The Westboro Baptist Church also makes a point of protesting everywhere there’s a production of “The Laramie Project,” but as near as I can tell, the conservative blogosphere has concluded Matthew Shepard was not killed because he was gay — so those protests are acceptable.

(Pro-family conservatives also said nary a peep of protest when Randall Terry threw out his gay teen-aged son and Alan Keyes tossed away his lesbian teen-aged daughter.)

This is how homosexuals get the idea that conservatives/Tea Partiers hate them.

I don’t think the discussion of equality for homosexuals should be conducted in terms of objecting to hatreds — I don’t care how you FEEL about my equality, I just care what you DO about my having it. (And I believe that religious freedom CAN co-exist with homosexual equality, despite what Chai Feldblum, Obama’s new EEOC chief, says.)

But I remain very disturbed that the core hatred the Westboro Baptist Church members use to justify their actions and their faith is so faintly damned by conservatives. I know conservatives are amazed and outraged that Leftists and homosexuals consider the Westboro Baptist Church to be the demon face, heart and soul of conservatism. I had to become a fiscal conservative to learn that this perception is unfair and wrong. But it will continue until social conservatives resoundingly repudiate the Westboro Baptist Church’s core hatred to such a degree that it stops being the safest hatred in the world to have.

P.S.

The soldier at the heart of the case in the news this week, Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder, died in Iraq in a helicopter crash on March 3, 2006. Funerals for fallen soldiers at military cemeteries received federal protection from protests thanks to the Respect for Fallen Heroes Act, which was signed into law on May 29, 2006. Openly gay Congressman Barney Frank cast one of the few votes opposing it on the grounds that freedom of speech should prevail even if the speech is hateful.

Motorcyclists also formed a volunteer group called the Patriot Guard Riders to escort military funerals and provide a screen of American flags so the mourners do not have to see the hateful signs of the Westboro Baptist Church protesters. They also rev their motorcycle engines to drown out the church members’ singing and chants.

Singer Ricky Martin comes out as gay

I just noticed on Twitter that Perez Hilton tweeted that Ricky Martin has come out as a gay man. Good for him!

Here is Ricky Martin’s announcement that he is a gay man from his official Web site:

A few months ago I decided to write my memoirs, a project I knew was going to bring me closer to an amazing turning point in my life. From the moment I wrote the first phrase I was sure the book was the tool that was going to help me free myself from things I was carrying within me for a long time. Things that were too heavy for me to keep inside. Writing this account of my life, I got very close to my truth. And thisis something worth celebrating.

For many years, there has been only one place where I am in touch with my emotions fearlessly and that’s the stage. Being on stage fills my soul in many ways, almost completely. It’s my vice. The music, the lights and the roar of the audience are elements that make me feel capable of anything. This rush of adrenaline is incredibly addictive. I don’t ever want to stop feeling these emotions. But it is serenity that brings me to where I’m at right now. An amazing emotional place of comprehension, reflection and enlightenment. At this moment I’m feeling the same freedom I usually feel only on stage, without a doubt, I need to share.

Many people told me: “Ricky it’s not important”, “it’s not worth it”, “all the years you’ve worked and everything you’ve built will collapse”, “many people in the world are not ready to accept your truth, your reality, your nature”. Because all this advice came from people who I love dearly, I decided to move on with my life not sharing with the world my entire truth. Allowing myself to be seduced by fear and insecurity became a self-fulfilling prophecy of sabotage. Today I take full responsibility for my decisions and my actions.

If someone asked me today, “Ricky, what are you afraid of?” I would answer “the blood that runs through the streets of countries at war…child slavery, terrorism…the cynicism of some people in positions of power, the misinterpretation of faith.” But fear of my truth? Not at all! On the contrary, It fills me with strength and courage. This is just what I need especially now that I am the father of two beautiful boys that are so full of light and who with their outlook teach me new things every day. To keep living as I did up until today would be to indirectly diminish the glow that my kids where born with. Enough is enough. This has to change. This was not supposed to happen 5 or 10 years ago, it is supposed to happen now. Today is my day, this is my time, and this is my moment.

These years in silence and reflection made me stronger and reminded me that acceptance has to come from within and that this kind of truth gives me the power to conquer emotions I didn’t even know existed.

What will happen from now on? It doesn’t matter. I can only focus on what’s happening to me in this moment. The word “happiness” takes on a new meaning for me as of today. It has been a very intense process. Every word that I write in this letter is born out of love, acceptance, detachment and real contentment. Writing this is a solid step towards my inner peace and vital part of my evolution.

I am proud to say that I am a fortunate homosexual man. I am very blessed to be who I am.

I looked at a few videos of Ricky Martin singing and chose the one above for the hotness of the opening sequence of the naked woman in the swimming pool, but also because he is alone in the crowd for most of the video. Yes, straight people, we feel like that a lot. What I would LOVE is if homosexuals not only had full equality as citizens but also full equality to tell our stories for general audiences. I think it would be INCREDIBLY HOT if Martin made his future music videos romancing a male partner because then you would see the chemistry between them that he would never have with a female partner. Seriously, gentle readers — it would be HOT! HOT! HOT!!!

Welcome, Rush-lanche! Thank you, Mark Steyn!

Welcome, new gentle readers who just heard me on “The Rush Limbaugh” show with Mark Steyn. Also, thank you, conservative gay Newsreal blogger, Mark Koenig (see DaTechGuy’s YouTube video of him from CPAC last month), for giving me the heads-up that Mark Steyn mentioned today he was inviting calls from conservative lesbians and gays.

Here are some introductory posts:

Update, 3/29/2010, Mon.: Thank you for the post and link, Steve Schippert, at Wizbang, who proposes a new definition for a hitherto-unnoticed oppressed sexual minority:

It occurred to me that, in today’s age of political correctness, a term was missing from our collective vocabularies. I offer up the Voyeuristic Govosexual.

Voyeuristic Govosexual (n.) 1. One who takes pleasure in and promotes watching the government screw over targeted classes, groups, individuals and segments of American society.

We’ve identified voyeuristic govosexuals abound in our political discourse, from our president (“Wall Street fat cats”) to our vice president (“We will control the insurance companies”) to other elected officials and citizen activists. While not exclusive to Leftists, voyeuristic govosexualism is quite rare among Conservatives, where opportunity and individual Liberty are the centerpieces of debate and not governmental regulation, “redistribution of (someone else’s) wealth” or segmentation of society into various bitter groups.

I believe this brings the acronym for the sexual minority community up to LGBTQSVG: lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual, questioning, straight, voyeuristic govosexual.