# Peter Thiel is the perfect gay republican **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 22, 2016, 10:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-thiel-is-the-perfect-gay-republican/760571 "2016-07-22T10:25:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/budget_player_cadet/32/205_2.png) [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Budget_Player_Cadet)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2016, 10:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-thiel-is-the-perfect-gay-republican/760571/1 "2016-07-22T10:25:31Z")
Peter Thiel stood up and told the republican national convention that he was proud to be gay. This is a convention that, just a few days ago, agreed to what many are calling the most anti-gay platform in republican history. It stated its position very clearly: gays shouldn’t get married, shouldn’t be allowed to raise children, should not be protected from bigoted discrimination (indeed, other people should be protected in their “right” to discriminate), and should not be protected from predatory, harmful, _non-functional_ “ex-gay therapy”. But what does Peter Thiel care? All of those things, the fact that Trump’s vice president once voted to redirect funds from fighting AIDS to fighting _gays_ (as in: [don’t spend this money researching HIV, spend it researching how to stop people from being gay](http://www.towleroad.com/2016/07/mike-pence-wanted-divert-hivaids-money-fund-conversion-therapy/)), the fact that Tony fucking Perkins was a major influence on the platform… None of it matters. It’s all completely irrelevant. Why should it matter to Thiel? Republicans want to strengthen _his_ bottom line. And after all, he’s not gonna suffer from their policies. He’s a silicon valley billionaire, what does he have to care? He’s never gonna have to worry about being thrown out of his home because his landlord or his parents decided that being gay was just unacceptable. He’s never gonna have to worry about losing his job because his boss is uncomfortable with him being gay. He’s never going to have to worry about his parents paying people to kidnap him and take him to live in the woods until he stops being gay. He’ll be juuuuuust fine. Why should he care that all these issues on the republican platform are really dangerous for LGBT individuals who aren’t as privileged as he is? He has money! He’s famous! He can make all those problems go away, and if things get _really_ bad, he can just move to Europe! This privileged, blinkered fuckwit is more interested in the nonsensical non-policies of a racist, shit-flinging howler monkey than the rights and place in society of LGBT individuals - a group _he_ belongs to. He’s the perfect idiot for republicans to take advantage of. Pride? You don’t know the fucking meaning of the word. You should be ashamed. Not of being gay, but of the veneer of respectability you give to the homophobic bigots who _still_ run the republican party. ---
**Author:** ![coremelt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@coremelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/coremelt)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2016, 10:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-thiel-is-the-perfect-gay-republican/760571/2 "2016-07-22T10:36:21Z")
Him and Milo Yiannopoulos can get together and be the right wing gay super couple. They’re both as disgusting as each other, it’s the perfect match! ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2016, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-thiel-is-the-perfect-gay-republican/760571/3 "2016-07-22T11:28:02Z")
If it were only him this would be a better thread, but he can join all his pals in the Log Cabin Republicans in voting for people who attempt to criminalize as much of their existence as possible. It’s entirely possible to be a gay Conservative. I don’t know how someone would thread the needle of being a non-self-hating gay _Social_ Conservative, given this country’s dominant society, but I’m sure it’s been done. However, the GOP went beyond Conservative and into Reactionary a _long_ time ago, and it has explicit policy planks which are fundamentally inimical to existing as a gay person. I just don’t understand some people. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2016, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-thiel-is-the-perfect-gay-republican/760571/4 "2016-07-22T12:50:19Z")
I thought this was going to be a gay version of the 19th Century canard, “The only good Indian is a dead Indian.” I assumed the perfect gay Republican would be dead. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2016, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-thiel-is-the-perfect-gay-republican/760571/5 "2016-07-22T13:01:37Z")
Sexual preference and/or orientation ought _not_ to have any bearing on political views. Conservatism is, in my estimation, more a personality trait than a reasoned position, one is conservative, and finds the reasoning from others who share the trait. There will always be conservatives, most likely. The trick is to change what they are conservative _about_. Soon enough, conservatives will try to protect Obamacare, that tried and true approach handed down for almost half a generation, from liberal crazies who want single payer. Bet me. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2016, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-thiel-is-the-perfect-gay-republican/760571/6 "2016-07-22T13:15:29Z")
“Perfect gay republican” contains three words. You can be any two of those words, not all three. The only way you can be a “perfect gay republican” is to be a democrat. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2016, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-thiel-is-the-perfect-gay-republican/760571/7 "2016-07-22T13:25:23Z")
He’s the perfect gay _libertarian_. I’ve met his type before. They are perfectly okay with society considering them deviants, as long as it’s legal to be a deviant. They tend to think a lot of other deviancies should be legal too. ---
**Author:** ![WillFarnaby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/willfarnaby/32/514_2.png) [@WillFarnaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WillFarnaby)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2016, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-thiel-is-the-perfect-gay-republican/760571/8 "2016-07-22T14:11:56Z")
Or maybe he just has nostalgia for quaint notions like private property and freedom of association. ---
**Author:** ![WillFarnaby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/willfarnaby/32/514_2.png) [@WillFarnaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WillFarnaby)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2016, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-thiel-is-the-perfect-gay-republican/760571/9 "2016-07-22T14:17:27Z")
“fake culture wars only distract us from our economic decline.” You folks are the people he is talking about. You bash the religious conservatives that you don’t understand, while you are simply the other side of the coin. He dismantled the lot of you, including the religious conservatives, with that line. ---
**Author:** ![Knowed\_Out](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/knowed_out/32/7380_2.png) [@Knowed\_Out](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knowed_Out)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2016, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-thiel-is-the-perfect-gay-republican/760571/10 "2016-07-22T14:20:51Z")
It just goes to show you… the richer you get, the more conservative your platform becomes, no matter what you do in the bedroom. Money overrides all social concerns. Has any liberal rich person ever said they’re glad to play higher taxes? ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2016, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-thiel-is-the-perfect-gay-republican/760571/11 "2016-07-22T14:24:06Z")
> [@WillFarnaby](#): > > “fake culture wars only distract us from our economic decline.” > > You folks are the people he is talking about. You bash the religious conservatives that you don’t understand, while you are simply the other side of the coin. He dismantled the lot of you, including the religious conservatives, with that line. Other than the facts that our rights to private property and freedom of association haven’t been infringed, we aren’t in economic decline, and that gays and other minorities are actually oppressed, spot on! ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2016, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-thiel-is-the-perfect-gay-republican/760571/12 "2016-07-22T14:32:28Z")
> [@Knowed\_Out](#): > > Has any liberal rich person ever said they’re glad to play higher taxes? Jon Stewart has and I think he’s gotten others to say it as well. I think Warren Buffett, too. ---
**Author:** ![WillFarnaby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/willfarnaby/32/514_2.png) [@WillFarnaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WillFarnaby)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2016, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-thiel-is-the-perfect-gay-republican/760571/13 "2016-07-22T14:38:27Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > Other than the facts that our rights to … freedom of association haven’t been infringed Bake me a cake bitch. ---
**Author:** ![levdrakon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@levdrakon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/levdrakon)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2016, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-thiel-is-the-perfect-gay-republican/760571/14 "2016-07-22T14:45:43Z")
> [@Knowed\_Out](#): > > It just goes to show you… the richer you get, the more conservative your platform becomes, no matter what you do in the bedroom. Money overrides all social concerns. > > Has any liberal rich person ever said they’re glad to play higher taxes? Well, I don’t know if he’s a self-professed liberal or not, but Nick Hanauer is a well-known richie who thinks income inequality is going to bite rich people in the ass sooner or later. I don’t think you necessarily have to be a liberal to conclude things like that. I also googled “billionaire who thinks pay more taxes” and got a lot of hits of wealthy people who think they should pay more. Here’s one link: [Forty millionaires ask New York to raise taxes on wealthy in '1% plan for fairness' | New York | The Guardian](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/mar/21/40-millionaires-ask-new-york-raise-taxes-wealthy-1-percent-plan-fairness) > [@](#): > > “As New Yorkers who have contributed to and benefited from the economic vibrancy of our state, we have both the ability and the responsibility to pay our fair share,” the millionaires said in an open letter to Governor Andrew Cuomo and state lawmakers. No idea if they’re all liberals. ---
**Author:** ![Algher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Algher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algher)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2016, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-thiel-is-the-perfect-gay-republican/760571/15 "2016-07-22T15:47:00Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > Other than the facts that our rights to private property and freedom of association haven’t been infringed, we aren’t in economic decline, and that gays and other minorities are actually oppressed, spot on! Kelo vs New London is the reference to private property I assume. Economic Decline - choose which economist you want to talk to about wage stagnation, long-term employment not in a particular set of numbers, etc. Economic decline is in the eye of the worker after all. Gays have finally gotten more rights in recent years. Other than that, spot on. ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2016, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-thiel-is-the-perfect-gay-republican/760571/16 "2016-07-22T15:53:53Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > I thought this was going to be a gay version of the 19th Century canard, “The only good Indian is a dead Indian.” I assumed the perfect gay Republican would be dead. :rolleyes: No, the perfect gay republican would be Marcus Bachmann. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2016, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-thiel-is-the-perfect-gay-republican/760571/17 "2016-07-22T17:41:32Z")
Some of the gays have a lot of money. That’s the only explanation I have for people like Thiel ---
**Author:** ![Algher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Algher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algher)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2016, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-thiel-is-the-perfect-gay-republican/760571/18 "2016-07-22T18:25:10Z")
> [@YogSothoth](#): > > Some of the gays have a lot of money. That’s the only explanation I have for people like Thiel He was a conservative becoming a libertarian first. Then he was a lawyer going into Wall Street hedge fund games. Then he was a technology entrepreneur. THEN he came out to himself (and thanks to Valleywag / Gawker - to the world) much after that. I don’t think he puts gay at the top of his list of things that he is, if that makes sense (regardless of his speech). ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2016, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-thiel-is-the-perfect-gay-republican/760571/19 "2016-07-22T18:47:35Z")
I think Thiel needs to have a few words with the NBA President about who cares about bathrooms. ---
**Author:** ![TheSeaOtter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ed655f/32.png) [@TheSeaOtter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheSeaOtter)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2016, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-thiel-is-the-perfect-gay-republican/760571/20 "2016-07-22T18:58:25Z")
Thanks to recent progress by people and causes they vehemently oppose, it’s now possible to be a gay Republican, provided one is white and exceptionally wealthy. It is not yet possible to do so without being _an utter shit_, but that never stopped anyone. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-thiel-is-the-perfect-gay-republican/760571.md?page=2)