# So... what's with all the anti-gay people at the RNC convention? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 30, 2004, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whats-with-all-the-anti-gay-people-at-the-rnc-convention/262222 "2004-08-30T13:28:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2004, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whats-with-all-the-anti-gay-people-at-the-rnc-convention/262222/21 "2004-08-30T22:50:38Z")
> [@Mockingbird](#): > > I have known many Republicans who are for gay rights and not bigots. > > That kind of bullshit cheap shot is what feeds into the partisan backbiting on here. With all due respect, I don’t think it’s any sort of cheap shot. Like it or not, the GOP is a party where the bigots rule the roost. That’s not a slam; it’s fact. So yeah, the anti-gays are Republicans. That’s no slam; that’s fact. Yes, there are also gay Republicans, and straight Republicans who are in favor of legal equality for gays. But they cannot but be aware that their party belongs to the bigots. If they want to stop playing with the bigots, there’s no reason why they couldn’t start a party of their own. There’s room for a party that’s in favor of low taxes, small government, a strong defense, and all that - and that has no place for the Falwell-Robertson-Dobson-LaHaye crowd. They’d be a lot more influential on their own than as part of the Bigot Party; they’d effectively be the swing vote in American politics, and would likely be able to call the tune. But as long as they stay and vote Republican, they’re still part of the bigots’ strength of numbers, no matter how tenaciously they fight against the bigots within the GOP. That’s just the way the political math works, and no amount of ersatz political correctness can change the way the numbers add up. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2004, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whats-with-all-the-anti-gay-people-at-the-rnc-convention/262222/22 "2004-08-30T23:29:44Z")
Don’t forget, Bush is _counting_ on those anti-gay bigots to help him get elected. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2004, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whats-with-all-the-anti-gay-people-at-the-rnc-convention/262222/23 "2004-08-31T00:02:06Z")
> [@Liberal](#): > > But what about Motorhead? No one ever thinks of Motorhead. Hi, boys and girls, I’m Biffy the Elephant Shrew and I’m the Insectivore of the group. ---
**Author:** ![Mockingbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c68b51/32.png) [@Mockingbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mockingbird)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2004, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whats-with-all-the-anti-gay-people-at-the-rnc-convention/262222/24 "2004-08-31T00:05:03Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > With all due respect, I don’t think it’s any sort of cheap shot. > > Like it or not, the GOP is a party where the bigots rule the roost. That’s not a slam; it’s fact. > > So yeah, the anti-gays are Republicans. That’s no slam; that’s fact. > > Yes, there are also gay Republicans, and straight Republicans who are in favor of legal equality for gays. But they cannot but be aware that their party belongs to the bigots. > > If they want to stop playing with the bigots, there’s no reason why they couldn’t start a party of their own. There’s room for a party that’s in favor of low taxes, small government, a strong defense, and all that - and that has no place for the Falwell-Robertson-Dobson-LaHaye crowd. They’d be a lot more influential on their own than as part of the Bigot Party; they’d effectively be the swing vote in American politics, and would likely be able to call the tune. > > But as long as they stay and vote Republican, they’re still part of the bigots’ strength of numbers, no matter how tenaciously they fight against the bigots within the GOP. That’s just the way the political math works, and no amount of ersatz political correctness can change the way the numbers add up. I don’t disagree with anything you’ve said. My remarks and concern was on the broad generalization which just reinforces the polarization of the board and stops a good segment of both sides from hearing each other. ---
**Author:** ![Survivor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/51bf81/32.png) [@Survivor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Survivor)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2004, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whats-with-all-the-anti-gay-people-at-the-rnc-convention/262222/25 "2004-08-31T00:05:55Z")
> [@Jeff Olsen](#): > > They were going to a Fred Phelps rally and got lost? Dude, you **so** owe me for a new monitor after that! This coffee ain’t ever gonna come off! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2004, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whats-with-all-the-anti-gay-people-at-the-rnc-convention/262222/26 "2004-08-31T00:59:17Z")
> [@Liberal](#): > > But what about Motorhead? No one ever thinks of Motorhead. Hey, don’t look at me. I was just listening to “Ace of Spades” on my iPod. ---
**Author:** ![11811](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/1/9d8465/32.png) [@11811](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/11811)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2004, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whats-with-all-the-anti-gay-people-at-the-rnc-convention/262222/27 "2004-08-31T01:02:25Z")
> [@Liberal](#): > > But what about Motorhead? No one ever thinks of Motorhead. Won’t somebody think of the Motorheads? Nah, not as catchy as “Won’t somebody think of the children?” ---
**Author:** ![5\_time\_champ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/5/278dde/32.png) [@5\_time\_champ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/5_time_champ)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2004, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whats-with-all-the-anti-gay-people-at-the-rnc-convention/262222/28 "2004-08-31T01:12:19Z")
> [@Mockingbird](#): > > I don’t disagree with anything you’ve said. > > My remarks and concern was on the broad generalization which just reinforces the polarization of the board and stops a good segment of both sides from hearing each other. Bona Fide, Grade A Mr Republican-Speaker-of-the-House Cheap Shots like [Hastert insinuates Soros’ money comes from drugs](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=273830) polarize this Board [and this country] infinitely more than my lame attempts at humor ever could. And by cheap shot I mean, **RTF’s** newslink, not his OP. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2004, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whats-with-all-the-anti-gay-people-at-the-rnc-convention/262222/29 "2004-08-31T03:18:51Z")
> [@Apos](#): > > Fawell, who has reminded people that he still believes that gay people caused 9/11, is an acredited VIP who claims that he still has Bush’s ear and meets with him a lot. > [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/08/28/MNG4G8G43C1.DTL](http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2004/08/28/MNG4G8G43C1.DTL) I read the link, and it had someone else saying Falwell blamed gays for 9/11, not a direct, cited quote. Now I don’t doubt that it’s true. Falwell is almost as bad as Phelps for making Christians look like a bunch of doofuses. But does anyone have a link to a direct statement by Falwell about gays and 9/11? ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2004, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whats-with-all-the-anti-gay-people-at-the-rnc-convention/262222/30 "2004-08-31T03:29:14Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > I read the link, and it had someone else saying Falwell blamed gays for 9/11, not a direct, cited quote. Now I don’t doubt that it’s true. Falwell is almost as bad as Phelps for making Christians look like a bunch of doofuses. But does anyone have a link to a direct statement by Falwell about gays and 9/11? > [@Falwell](#): > > The abortionists have got to bear some burden for this because God will not be mocked. And when we destroy 40 million little innocent babies, we make God mad. I really believe that the pagans, and the abortionists, and the feminists, and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People For the American Way–all of them who have tried to secularize America–I point the finger in their face and say “you helped this happen.” [Partial transcript](http://www.beliefnet.com/story/87/story_8770_1.html) of the Sept. 13, 2001, _700 Club_. ---
**Author:** ![lel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8797f3/32.png) [@lel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lel)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2004, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whats-with-all-the-anti-gay-people-at-the-rnc-convention/262222/31 "2004-08-31T03:54:43Z")
> [@Zebra](#): > > Any ideas as to why the Republicans you know, the ones for gay rights, are not being heard at the convention for their party? Lest we forget 2000, there was a speaker on international trade who was gay. A number of TX GOP attendees protested with silent prayer. [http://abcnews.go.com/sections/politics/DailyNews/GOPCVN\_Kolbe000801.html](http://abcnews.go.com/sections/politics/DailyNews/GOPCVN_Kolbe000801.html) If he can’t even talk about international trade without protest, what chance is there of someone actually being able to speak positively about gay rights at the GOP convention? ---
**Author:** ![Apos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/838e76/32.png) [@Apos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apos)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2004, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whats-with-all-the-anti-gay-people-at-the-rnc-convention/262222/32 "2004-08-31T03:56:47Z")
> [@Revtim](#): > > There were people complaining (was it you **Liberal**?) that it looked like the RNC was going to have speakers that made them seem more moderate than the party’s platform really is. I suppose it’s at least more honest for them be openly anti-gay than to act like they aren’t or ignore the issue. But there is definately a line between featuring people that merely oppose gay rights like full marriage status (few Democrats favor that) or support the FMA (some moderate Republicans do that) and featuring people who describe homosexuality as a plauge for which the struggle against is like that of the Nazis against all humanity. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2004, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whats-with-all-the-anti-gay-people-at-the-rnc-convention/262222/33 "2004-08-31T03:56:50Z")
Thanks for the info. I think. Jeez, I feel like wanting to throw up when I read crap like that. That’s like all the fliers Fred Phelps has, saying that when bad thinkgs happen to innocents, it’s because God punished them for their sins against his church. Really. A few years ago a police helicopter crashed here in Topeka, and two officers died. Phelps reveled in it, saying “Their copter was hurled from the sky for the sins of the TPD against Westboro Baptist Church.” ---
**Author:** ![Apos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/838e76/32.png) [@Apos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apos)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2004, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whats-with-all-the-anti-gay-people-at-the-rnc-convention/262222/34 "2004-08-31T03:59:02Z")
Falwell has recently said that the only thing he would change about his statements are that he didn’t cite the “failing church” as being to blame as well. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2004, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whats-with-all-the-anti-gay-people-at-the-rnc-convention/262222/35 "2004-08-31T03:59:05Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > Thanks for the info. I think. Jeez, I feel like wanting to throw up when I read crap like that. That’s like all the fliers Fred Phelps has, saying that when bad thinkgs happen to innocents, it’s because God punished them for their sins against his church. > > Really. A few years ago a police helicopter crashed here in Topeka, and two officers died. Phelps reveled in it, saying “Their copter was hurled from the sky for the sins of the TPD against Westboro Baptist Church.” You know, I have to admit, against my better judgment, that I sometimes feel sorry for the Reverend Phelps. It must be a terrible, souldraining burden to be the only true church in all the world. ---
**Author:** ![spectrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9fc29f/32.png) [@spectrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spectrum)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2004, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whats-with-all-the-anti-gay-people-at-the-rnc-convention/262222/36 "2004-08-31T05:23:39Z")
> [@Mockingbird](#): > > Damn. > > And still there are gay republicans who will vote for Bush and don’t seem to care about this. > > :mad: When the Republicans get their way, and have us all stripped of our rights, and probably rounded up so we don’t spread our gay germs, those filthy, worthless Republican-voting faggots are the only ones who will deserve it. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2004, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whats-with-all-the-anti-gay-people-at-the-rnc-convention/262222/37 "2004-08-31T05:39:55Z")
What’s this “when” business? ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2004, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whats-with-all-the-anti-gay-people-at-the-rnc-convention/262222/38 "2004-08-31T12:52:44Z")
> [@spectrum](#): > > When the Republicans get their way, and have us all stripped of our rights, and probably rounded up so we don’t spread our gay germs, those filthy, worthless Republican-voting faggots are the only ones who will deserve it. So a gay man who wants to keep his tax refund has no business voting in his own economic interest? It has to be in solidarity with the people that share his sexual orientation? A gay woman that believes she and her loved ones are safer from terrorism if Mr. Bush’s policies are followed should swallow that concern and vote in solidarity with people that share her sexual perference? Gay rights are the single, most important, all-encompassing item on the political horizon? ---
**Author:** ![Trion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ccd318/32.png) [@Trion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trion)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2004, 12:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whats-with-all-the-anti-gay-people-at-the-rnc-convention/262222/39 "2004-08-31T12:55:22Z")
I didn’t realize that those ideas were mutually exclusive. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2004, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whats-with-all-the-anti-gay-people-at-the-rnc-convention/262222/40 "2004-08-31T13:02:06Z")
So, is gay and antigay like matter and antimatter? Would make for interesting TV, that’s for sure. _Survivor 9: Repulican National Convention_ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whats-with-all-the-anti-gay-people-at-the-rnc-convention/262222.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-whats-with-all-the-anti-gay-people-at-the-rnc-convention/262222.md?page=3)