# 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:** 2
**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, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-thiel-is-the-perfect-gay-republican/760571/21 "2016-07-22T20:18:08Z")
> [@Algher](#): > > 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). I won’t begrudge him in putting some priorities over others, but damn, sexual orientation is an integral part of who you are. My sexuality means more to me than my job or hobby, because its intrinsic and I’ll have to deal with it forever. You can change jobs. You can switch careers. You can get bored of a hobby. Its just hard for me to sympathize with someone who’s willing to do that to himself. But then again, even in France, there were collaborators, so there will always be shitheads willing to do anything for a buck, or to make sure they are not the ones harmed while selling everyone else down the river ---
**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, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-thiel-is-the-perfect-gay-republican/760571/22 "2016-07-22T23:29:19Z")
> [@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. There’s nothing “fake” about this culture war. For decades, conservatives have tried their best to make life impossible for homosexuals. They’re _still_ trying. And you know what? If the person he was backing actually showed any indication of a clue when it comes to economics, I might be able to give him \*some \*credit at least. But Trump is a grade-A idiot with exceedingly few actual policy proposals. Most of the paltry handful he has proposed are _abysmal_, and it’s no coincidence that his big beat when he went up to the stump was not the economy, but rather what an anarchist hellscape the USA has become (except not really, he was just lying through his teeth most of the time) and how he’s gonna fix it. Didn’t tell us _how_ he planned to do this, he just said he would. At this point he might as well be promising to shore up the federal debt by conquering _Leprechaun El Dorado_ for all the relationship his promises have to reality. That’s the party he’s willing to sell out to. To some people, apparently being treated with basic human decency is less important than the economy booming. I don’t get these people. I think they have their priorities completely backwards. But even for that, this is really the bottom of the barrel. Standing up and saying, “My rights don’t matter, we should instead focus on the economy and therefore vote for someone whose knowledge of the economy doesn’t go as far as to recognize that threatening to give US Treasury Bonds a haircut would be a really bad idea”. So Thiel is not just morally bankrupt, he’s also a fucking idiot. How the fuck do so many complete fucking idiots become so goddamn wealthy? I don’t get it. > [@WillFarnaby](#): > > Or maybe he just has nostalgia for quaint notions like private property and freedom of association. Ah yes, [the good old days](https://dejusticiablog.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/whites-only.png). ---
**Author:** ![raventhief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/raventhief/32/4_2.png) [@raventhief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raventhief)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2016, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-thiel-is-the-perfect-gay-republican/760571/23 "2016-07-22T23:55:54Z")
> [@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? 2% of the 400 wealthiest people. > **[The Great 8: Billionaires who will pay more](https://www.salon.com/2011/10/10/the_great_8_billionaires_who_will_pay_more/)** > > We canvassed the 400 wealthiest people in America. How many said they would pay more taxes? That's right: 2 percent Yes, 8 of the 400. Warren Buffett was one, of course, as the question was “Would you, like Buffett, be willing to pay more in taxes?” ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2016, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-thiel-is-the-perfect-gay-republican/760571/24 "2016-07-23T00:20:42Z")
> [@raventhief](#): > > 2% of the 400 wealthiest people. > > [http://www.salon.com/2011/10/10/the\_great\_8\_billionaires\_who\_will\_pay\_more/](http://www.salon.com/2011/10/10/the_great_8_billionaires_who_will_pay_more/) > > Yes, 8 of the 400. Warren Buffett was one, of course, as the question was “Would you, like Buffett, be willing to pay more in taxes?” How many are conservative compared to liberal compared to whatever? ---
**Author:** ![raventhief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/raventhief/32/4_2.png) [@raventhief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raventhief)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2016, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-thiel-is-the-perfect-gay-republican/760571/25 "2016-07-23T01:29:29Z")
> [@running\_coach](#): > > How many are conservative compared to liberal compared to whatever? Damnit, running coach. OK. So here is the list - some of the “yes” responses were qualified, some were simple affirmatives. I did fairly cursory research on those affirmative responses , even if qualified, and I have marked them according to what my lazy research indicates. Warren Buffett George Soros (L) James Simons (L) Herbert Simon (Independent/Conservative?) John Arnold (No idea) Leon Cooperman (“registered Independent”) Todd Wagner (No idea) Mark Cuban (Independent?) If someone gave heavily to Democratic causes, I marked 'em L (Like [James Simons)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Harris_Simons). Herbert Simon’s [Forbes](http://www.forbes.com/profile/herbert-simon/) profile lists more contributions to Independent causes than Republican, so he got an I/c? Didn’t find much specifically addressing political stance re John Arnold or Todd Wagner, so I gave up. Leon Cooperman is a registered Independent, and Mark Cuban is sorta [libertarian](http://www.businessinsider.com/mark-cuban-politics-philosophy-2015-8), but thinks there social safety nets are important and kinda likes the Republicans but kinda not…classifies himself as Independent. …so I marked him I as well. I am aware that I am mixing R/D and L/C, but I really didn’t want to try to perform an in-depth analysis of liberal v conservative v Dem v Repub. It’s Friday night. But I introduced the Billionaire Tax Challenge, so I felt responsible. And John Arnold has a number of Philanthropic interests, including giving $10M to the HeadStart program during the government shutdown, so I wanted to mark him L, but I figured I’d get (rightly) dinged for that, so left him as (no idea). ---
**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 23, 2016, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-thiel-is-the-perfect-gay-republican/760571/26 "2016-07-23T01:50:10Z")
> [@raventhief](#): > > 2% of the 400 wealthiest people. > > [http://www.salon.com/2011/10/10/the\_great\_8\_billionaires\_who\_will\_pay\_more/](http://www.salon.com/2011/10/10/the_great_8_billionaires_who_will_pay_more/) > > Yes, 8 of the 400. Warren Buffett was one, of course, as the question was “Would you, like Buffett, be willing to pay more in taxes?” 8 of of the 12 that responded. ---
**Author:** ![raventhief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/raventhief/32/4_2.png) [@raventhief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raventhief)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2016, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-thiel-is-the-perfect-gay-republican/760571/27 "2016-07-23T02:06:24Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > 8 of of the 12 that responded. True. The vast majority just ignored the question. ---
**Author:** ![asahi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asahi/32/8693_2.png) [@asahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asahi)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2016, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-thiel-is-the-perfect-gay-republican/760571/28 "2016-07-23T02:13:20Z")
> [@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. It’s the religious conservatives who want to restrict the liberties of gays, not the lot of us. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2016, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-thiel-is-the-perfect-gay-republican/760571/29 "2016-07-23T03:33:31Z")
> [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](#): > > 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! Well, yeah, his wealth gives him the opportunity to organize his priorities in a particular way, focusing on what I assume he thinks is his best shot for lower taxes and less regulation of industry. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2016, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-thiel-is-the-perfect-gay-republican/760571/30 "2016-07-23T04:41:39Z")
Yep, I never understood this. America is a great fucking country that allows at least the appearance of social mobility. People should be proud and bragging that they made it to a higher tax bracket because that means they are making more money. Instead it’s a buncha pansy ass whiners about how they be job creators and shit. They have sucked off the teat US infrastructure, educated work force, world order, freedom from despots, etc. Fuck 'em. And I say that as someone that pays a decent chunk of tax in a pretty high bracket. I don’t think I’m getting fucked over, more like I’m paying my fair share. Shesh, I used to have this argument with colleagues when I worked at Microsoft. Bill Gates pays less tax and a percentage than I do. I give you he pays more absolute tax but so fucking what? I think it’s because some people think that by a miracle, they too, will become filty fucking rich and don’t want to risk that might happen and they would have to pay a progressive tax. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2016, 9:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-thiel-is-the-perfect-gay-republican/760571/31 "2016-07-23T09:02:43Z")
> [@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: He is. He’s got a big Memorial in Washington DC, just actoss from the Washington Monument. ---
**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 23, 2016, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-thiel-is-the-perfect-gay-republican/760571/32 "2016-07-23T11:30:09Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Well, yeah, his wealth gives him the opportunity to organize his priorities in a particular way, focusing on what I assume he thinks is his best shot for lower taxes and less regulation of industry. Assuming this is what he’s going for: him putting personal enrichment above the rights of other LGBT individuals is fucking shameful. ---
**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 23, 2016, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-thiel-is-the-perfect-gay-republican/760571/33 "2016-07-23T15:49:32Z")
> [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](#): > > There’s nothing “fake” about this culture war. For decades, conservatives have tried their best to make life impossible for homosexuals. They’re _still_ trying. > > And you know what? If the person he was backing actually showed any indication of a clue when it comes to economics, I might be able to give him \*some \*credit at least. But Trump is a grade-A idiot with exceedingly few actual policy proposals. Most of the paltry handful he has proposed are _abysmal_, and it’s no coincidence that his big beat when he went up to the stump was not the economy, but rather what an anarchist hellscape the USA has become (except not really, he was just lying through his teeth most of the time) and how he’s gonna fix it. Didn’t tell us _how_ he planned to do this, he just said he would. At this point he might as well be promising to shore up the federal debt by conquering _Leprechaun El Dorado_ for all the relationship his promises have to reality. > > That’s the party he’s willing to sell out to. > > To some people, apparently being treated with basic human decency is less important than the economy booming. I don’t get these people. I think they have their priorities completely backwards. But even for that, this is really the bottom of the barrel. Standing up and saying, “My rights don’t matter, we should instead focus on the economy and therefore vote for someone whose knowledge of the economy doesn’t go as far as to recognize that threatening to give US Treasury Bonds a haircut would be a really bad idea”. > > So Thiel is not just morally bankrupt, he’s also a fucking idiot. How the fuck do so many complete fucking idiots become so goddamn wealthy? I don’t get it. > > Ah yes, [the good old days](https://dejusticiablog.files.wordpress.com/2015/05/whites-only.png). Not granting privilege to gays is not the same as “making life impossible”. In any case Thiel was courageous to say that to the Republican Convention. Leftists like you were already poised to hate Thiel for giving the speech. He did not attempt to mince words for the only group that may have applauded him. That’s called courage, you do not see it much in politics. I agree Trump is terrible on economics, but that doesn’t mean Thiel did not dismantle the culture warriors on both sides with that line. ---
**Author:** ![42fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/4/b487fb/32.png) [@42fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/42fish)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2016, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-thiel-is-the-perfect-gay-republican/760571/34 "2016-07-23T16:33:28Z")
[ol] [/ol] > [@WillFarnaby](#): > > Not granting privilege to gays is not the same as “making life impossible”. And basic equal rights are not "granting privilege ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2016, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-thiel-is-the-perfect-gay-republican/760571/35 "2016-07-23T17:42:35Z")
I thought Thiel was a libertarian. Trump is an authoritarian. He is hostile to checks and balances, hostile to the media, the judiciary, etc. Also Trump has 0 plans to achieve any of his goals. You’d think someone as smart as Thiel would want some plans and proposals to actually ‘make america great again’, other than soundbites. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2016, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-thiel-is-the-perfect-gay-republican/760571/36 "2016-07-23T18:00:26Z")
Libertarians voting for Trump are fucking idiots. Oh, Trump doesn’t really care about the social issues! It’s just stuff he says! Yeah, exactly. Trump doesn’t have any principles, let alone a principle for limited government. He loves big government, like most rich people. If you discount the things Trump says that you don’t like, on the grounds that he doesn’t mean what he says, then how can you believe Trump when he says things you like? You’ve already told me he doesn’t mean what he says. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2016, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-thiel-is-the-perfect-gay-republican/760571/37 "2016-07-23T18:47:26Z")
> [@Budget\_Player\_Cadet](#): > > Assuming this is what he’s going for: him putting personal enrichment above the rights of other LGBT individuals is fucking shameful. Possibly, but he’s under no obligation to care about the rights of groups, even groups he happens to belong to. Personally, I think if he believes President Trump and/or a Republican Congress (given the current state of the Republican Party) will be good for the American economy, his biggest source of shame should be his utter stupidity, but maybe he doesn’t even care about _that_ - just his personal tax rates. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2016, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-thiel-is-the-perfect-gay-republican/760571/38 "2016-07-23T22:21:17Z")
I give you Stephen King, in response to the previous question. > **[Stephen King: Tax Me, for F@%&’s Sake!](https://www.thedailybeast.com/stephen-king-tax-me-for-fands-sake)** > > The iconic writer Stephen King scolds the superrich (including himself—and Mitt Romney) for not giving back. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2016, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-thiel-is-the-perfect-gay-republican/760571/39 "2016-07-24T22:39:00Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > Libertarians voting for Trump are fucking idiots. Oh, Trump doesn’t really care about the social issues! It’s just stuff he says! > > Yeah, exactly. Trump doesn’t have any principles, let alone a principle for limited government. He loves big government, like most rich people. > > If you discount the things Trump says that you don’t like, on the grounds that he doesn’t mean what he says, then how can you believe Trump when he says things you like? You’ve already told me he doesn’t mean what he says. Yes. And he has nothing against American Empire. He didn’t oppose the Iraq War before it occurred: he told Howard Stern that he [supported it](https://www.buzzfeed.com/andrewkaczynski/in-2002-donald-trump-said-he-supported-invading-iraq-on-the?utm_term=.hdLKg0Wjlz#.duoYaq2n6P). And he doesn’t oppose American Empire now: he merely wants to turn it into a protection racket. He wants the South Koreans and Germany to pay up more. Of course they already do pay for American troops in large extent. As for the Iraq War, Trump told Stern that he wishes the first time it was done correctly. Trump has explicitly called for “Taking their oil”. This sort resource driven military action would take the American Empire into the era before Adam Smith. Seriously. This is a level of mercantilism seldom voiced today. Any self-styled Libertarians who vote for Trump don’t really care about limited government. They only pretend to. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2016, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-thiel-is-the-perfect-gay-republican/760571/40 "2016-07-25T01:57:17Z")
> [@Measure\_for\_Measure](#): > > He wants the South Koreans and Germany to pay up more. Of course they already do pay for American troops in large extent. Do you have a cite for this? Because it’s rather at odds with my preconceptions on this. From statements like ‘America spends more in its’ military than all the rest of the world combined.’ I thought that most of the expense of our involvement in Iraq was on the American taxpayers (or, actually, future generations of taxpayers, since it’s deficit spending). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-thiel-is-the-perfect-gay-republican/760571.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/peter-thiel-is-the-perfect-gay-republican/760571.md?page=3)