Larry Craig isn't a hypocrite, according to Andrew Sullivan:
When a psyche is as split and damaged as his, hypocrisy is another name for breathing. His record, moreover, indicates that he believes the right role for gay people is not the responsibilities of civil marriage, or even a publicly acknowledged gay identity, or even the decision to risk life and limb in service to country in the military. These are not values the Christianists want gay people to uphold. They believe that gay people, because we are sick, will always seek love and sex solely in public restrooms, that we should never be involved in committed relationships with one another, that we should be barred from serving our country, and stigmatized at every opportunity. And Craig has been consistent in this view, even with respect to himself.
In other words, an anti-gay person with certain homosexual tendencies isn't a hypocrite; he's just a pathetic human being. He in fact affirms anti-gay sentiments by living his own life as the worst sort of gay stereotype, because he is too ashamed of what he might be deep inside to do anything but that.
And another point from Sullivan: Why can't the National Review or the Heritage Foundation find a legitimate gay person to at least pretend to be virulently anti-gay? Can you imagine the sort of fame and money that gig would get a person? But they aren't there. As Sullivan writes, "The current GOP, like NRO, is therefore looking for the only openly gay allies they can find: those who actually hate themselves with the consistency and instability of a Larry Craig."
True enough, but I'm half-tempted to pretend I'm gay and pretend I also hate gay people so I can get that sweet, sweet job. Real journalism is hard.
Comments