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October 16, 2006

Gays and Christians in Tug-of-War for GOP

You would have to be blind not to notice the tug-of-war going on in the Republican Party between those who support gay rights and members of the Christian Right, who don't. The latest chapter in this ongoing saga involves the furor over Condoleezza Rice's swearing in of an openly gay man, Mark Dybul, to serve as global AIDS coordinator. The problem was that Dybul's partner and his partner's mother attended the ceremony, and Rice had the unmitigated gall to refer to the woman as Dybul's "mother-in-law." There followed an explosion.

Peter Sprigg of the Family Research Council said Rice's comments were "profoundly offensive." He then said something that made me sit back in shock: "We have to face the fact that putting a homosexual in charge of AIDS policy is a bit like putting the fox in charge of the henhouse." What does he mean by that? Does he think Dybul will run around the world using his ambassadorial position to find other gay lovers? I'm trying hard to figure it out, but I can't come up with any logical explanation.

Sprigg then went on to connect Dybul's appointment to the Foley scandal, with the point being that the Republican Party is being taken over by those pushing what is commonly called the "gay agenda." Those who resist what science has discovered about homosexuality (that it is not a matter of choice, but rather is a matter of birth), have been horrified by the number of gay Republicans that have been pushed out of the closet in recent months. Tony Perkins, also of the Family Research Council, believes the influence of all those gay Republicans is what has prevented the Party from being proactive on conservative issues that the religious right wants. Of course, it couldn't be that religious voters have merely been used and abused by this Administration for political purposes that have nothing whatsoever to do with morality.

Republicans know they need the support of the so-called "values voters," but many also want to run from the bigotry label. It's a pretty tough bill to fill. Until now, Republicans have been able to get away with talking one way in public, and hiring their staff another way. That all seems to be changing now. The anti-gay activists are hot under the collar and they want the "perverts" expunged from "their" party. Whether Republicans give in to the Christian Right or move away from homophobia, their party will lose an important voting block – and that is an eventuality the Party seems to be desperately struggling to avoid.

I think in the end, the Christian right will wind up without a major party with which to affiliate - unless they are willing to acknowledge that the United States is not a theocracy and the rest of the country just isn't going to agree with them on every issue. The result will be a weakening of the power of both the Republican Party and "values voters."

Posted by Becky at October 16, 2006 10:49 AM