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Jimmy LaSalvia and Chris Barron from the conservative gay group GoProud
The Republican gay group GoProud has been given a lot of negative names by many in the lgbtq community from “quislings” to “sell-outs” to “Uncle Toms.”
While I’m not as descriptive of my displeasure of GoProud, believe me when I say that it’s there.
I’m not a fan of GoProud for many reasons.
Now I could go on about how it is representative of the bourgeois myth of the gay male that I found so offensive when it was trotted out by Showtime network via that abysmal show Queer As Folk.
And I could make a point to mention how I have yet to see any gay men of color in the group (although I have been assured that black gay men are members).
But my single problem with GoProud is not necessarily what the organization represents, but what it hasn’t done.
There is a consistent degree of immaturity with GoProud which I find annoying. Spokespeople of the group, Chris Barron and Jimmy LaSalvia, seem to go on and on about the so-called intolerance of the “gay left” and how they are “pariahs” because they are conservative Republicans.
They seem to take some sort of demented pleasure in this whining.
Meanwhile . . .
Tony Perkins of the anti-gay hate group the Family Research Council is still looked upon by members of the Republican Party (and members of the media) as a legitimate conservative leader.
Peter Sprigg of the Family Research Council is still being called to be an “expert witness” in front of state legislative committees, when he is not creating phony social studies on the the lgbtq community.
Republican speaker of the House John Boehner is still wasting taxpayer dollars defending DOMA via abysmal junk science.
Republican state legislative bodies are attempting to pass all sorts of mean-spirited anti-gay laws, such as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill in Tennessee.
And the National Organization for Marriage is trying to wreak havoc on marriage equality nationwide while simultaneously sitting on its haunches and waiting for the Republican primaries to end so it can attach itself to the winner like a fungus.
It’s not the “gay left” behind these endeavors, but conservatives and the Republican party. However, to my knowledge, GoProud has commented on very few – if any – of these anti-gay actions within the enclave it claims to be a member of.
And therein lies the problem I have with GoProud.
I may not agree with its philosophy as a Republican group, but I would respect the organization more if it spent as much time calling out the Republican party and the religious right for their attacks on the lgbtq community as it does whining about the “gay left.”
Pointing the finger at the supposed monsters on the other side of the fence while ignoring the fire breathing dragons in your court makes you look rather hypocritical.
Does GoProud have any gumption? Does it have any guts to challenge the disgusting status quo within the Republican party – the status quo which rewards you in terms of how anti-gay your position is or how many ways you can show your homophobia without shouting the dreaded “f” word.
I doubt it. Instead, GoProud seems to be going hardcore with the martyr act, thereby devoting too much time and energy to splitting the lgbtq community into opposite and divisive camps.
I sincerely hope that this is not an intentional goal of GoProud. It leaves one wondering just who is really pulling the strings of the organization.
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My own take on GOProud is that it is a group of conservative homosexuals — not gays, but “homosexuals,” as the likes of Tony Perkins and his ilk are so fond of styling us. They are not noticeably pro-gay, except for an occasional statement in favor of marriage equality. They’re not putting anything behind their “gay activism,” but seem merely to be riding along on the coattails of those who have actually made a difference.
Whining about the “gay left” on the part of GOProud (and others, such as GayPatriot) is simply the only thing that’s left for self-styled “gay conservatives” who have no loyalty to the gay community and no pro-gay agenda of their own.
I haven’t seen an anti-gay policy yet that they won’t support. All they do is rubberstamp the entire GOP platform
They are not pariahs because they are conservatives; they are pariahs because they are neo-mattachinistic lickspittles to intractable and unyeilding homophobes.
Thoughts for the day: What I don’t get about GOProud and the LCR is why the hell they want to be part of a political party that has made it abundantly clear that them and any contributions they wish to make are not welcome. If their goal is to reform the party from the inside out, I think that the past 12 years have seen this idea proven to be an outright failure, not to mention a colossal waste of time, money and energy that could have been spent so much more productively. And if they think there is a place for them (or any gay people) in this fantasy version of how most of the rabid conservatives think America should be run, they are gravely mistaken.
Lets take this one step further. For argument’s sake, say the lunatics get their wish. Do GOProud and the LCR they honestly think they will be treated any better by those who would like to see us rounded up and detained, retained as favored pets or relegated to some similar status? Get real. Once they outlive their usefulness they will be tossed aside like the rest of us, where they will be considered misguided idealists at best, traitors to their own cause at worst.
Barron has benefitted from the “intolerance” of the gay left- marriage equality in DC. the reason they demonize “gay left” is because republicans demonize anything they consider “leftist”- Obama, Pelosi, democrats, feminists, gays, socialists, islamists,securalists,etc. GOproud also demonize these groups and individuals as well. They believe they will get more respect and credibility within republican circles if they follow the party line. But it hasn’t worked. Note their exclusion from this year’s CPAC. no matter how hard they try , to their own party they are still a bunch of homosexuals , a threat to military, country, family. the religious right of the party makes no distinction