Republican's reveal their homophobia
CNN.com - Activist accuses GOP of 'attacking gays' - Oct 15, 2004
When I heard Kerry bring up Cheney's daughter in the debate a little red light started blinking in my brain. I knew it was a mistake. But I didn't admit it to myself for some time. But I also found the Republican reaction revealing and what it revealed is that they really don;t understand this issue and the Cheney's sound like they are ashamed of their gay daughter. (Oh - and strangely, some of the comments seem to indicate that it's OK to call her "gay," but not a "lesbian." Huh? Ah well - I find myself in complete sympathy with the position taken on CNN by the head of the largest Republican gay activist group.
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The head of the nation's largest gay and lesbian Republican group slammed fellow Republicans Friday for "feigning outrage" over comments by Sen. John Kerry, and called on President Bush to "stop attacking gay families on the campaign trail."
Patrick Guerriero, executive director of the Log Cabin Republicans, said Democratic presidential nominee Kerry was "not wise" to refer to the daughter of Vice President Dick Cheney during the answer to a question about homosexuality during a presidential debate Wednesday night. (Special Report: America Votes 2004, the debates)
But he said Republicans "who are expressing outrage at the debate comments really have been outrageous themselves."
"The reality is the type of outrage that is being expressed by some Republicans should be expressed at themselves. They've decided to use gay families as wedge issues across America in swing states -- that is truly outrageous," he told CNN's "American Morning."
The comments come as Republicans continue to criticize Kerry over the mention, and Democrats accuse the Bush-Cheney ticket of trying to create an uproar in order to avoid talking about major issues and Kerry's success in the debate.
A CNN/USA Today/ Gallup poll taken immediately after the debate found Kerry the winner by a wide margin.
It's all pretty sad, really. It's like these folks have learned that it's politically correct not to attack gays, but in the final analysis they are ashamed of gay family members and they think that being gay is something someone chooses (which was the subject of the debate question that started all this) and he or she who chooses it is doing something obscene. Bush, Cheney, et al need to do some real soul searching here.
