Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Note to Progressives: Why are there gay Republicans?
I have been asked this question innumerable times by friends who identify as left/liberal/ prog, whatever. It seems inconceivable to some that thoughtful, out, gay politicians and voters could identify themselves with a party that does not broadly support their own civil rights. I refer you to Log Cabin Republicans for a more thorough examination of their principles. When progressives say, in argument with anti-gay elements, that gay people are just like us, they are our neighbors, relatives, friends, and coworkers, they are of course correct. What is missing in the formulation when we say "just like us," is that "they" must somehow agree with our own limited political ideologies. If indeed "they" are just like "us," does that mean that "they" think for themselves, come to their own conclusions, and otherwise act "just like us?" This is the tip of the hand: if we cannot come to terms with an oppressed minority disagreeing with our ideology, then our ideology is assumed to be superior to the humanity of that minority. We have impressed our own ideas upon theirs, therefore becoming oppressors of a similar order, and just as self-righteous as the oppressors we decry. This is paternalism, orthodoxy, and condescension of the worst kind.
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Here is a far more radical, one might even suspect deranged, manifestation of the symptom you highlighted in this post:
ReplyDelete"In the Netherlands, some Dutch gay people have been drawn to the messages of Geert Wilders, who inherited many followers of the assassinated anti-immigration gay leader Pim Fortuyn, and whose Party for Freedom is now the country’s third largest political party. In Norway, Anders Behring Breivik, the extremist who massacred 77 people in July, cited Bruce Bawer, a gay American writer critical of Muslim immigration, as an influence. The Guardian reported last year that the racist English Defense League had 115 members in its gay wing. The German Lesbian and Gay Federation has issued statements citing Muslim immigrants as enemies of gay people.
These depictions of immigrants — usually Muslims of Arab, South Asian, Turkish or African origin — as “homophobic fanatics” opportunistically ignore the existence of Muslim gays and their allies within their communities. They also render invisible the role that fundamentalist Christians, the Roman Catholic Church and Orthodox Jews play in perpetuating fear and even hatred of gays. And that cynical message has now spread from its roots in European xenophobia to become a potent tool in the long-running Israeli-Palestinian conflict."
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/23/opinion/pinkwashing-and-israels-use-of-gays-as-a-messaging-tool.html?_r=1&ref=opinion
Gays find themselves being fought over by two opposing political ideologies. Much like diaspora Jews who are expected to side automatically with the Left even when individually they might feel inclined to support the sturdier Right. They end up being attacked by both sides as ingrates or traitors or both.
Christopher Hitchens in his infinite wisdom once wrote about gays seeking the legitimacy of traditional marriage vows. It was a trend that ought to have been welcomed by conservatives since it meant that gays were just as interested and invested in family values as they are, and wanting to distance from the promiscuity more popularly associated with their unique type of sexuality.
People just can't let other people be. "Either you are with us, or against us".