one of our heroes in the gay civil rights movement, david badash talks about gays gone republican.  most of the people we know were disappointed about the outcome of the election on tuesday because for years and years, the word republican has been stained permanently as our ‘enemy’ while democrats have been considering ‘on our side’.  he discusses the whether the economy and a trustworthy economic future is more important than social agenda and it has certainly caused us to wonder and look deeper into the politics of both sides.  the democrats have promised a lot of wonderful things for the glbt community but do they have the balls to actually put them in motion?   are the republicans taking the side of the glbt movement in order to secure more votes and then fuck us over in the end?   it all seems like madness and either side is certainly anything but a ‘party’.   is the repeal of dadt taking too long or is it just happening in the least chaotic way possible (with or without stephanie germanotta’s help)?

who do we trust?   how do we know which is which and which is the right one to vote for?   has this confusion led many people to just stay home and not vote and just deal with whatever shit gets slung their way?

please leave your comments below.  the most important part of any dialogue is the fact that you are having one in the first place

pink elephants david badash talks gays gone republican

Back in September, on the heels of Ken Mehlman’s coming out, and the entire McCain camp — sans McCain himself — coming out in support of same-sex marriage, I asked, “Is Gay Republican The New Black?” Well, fast-forward to election day exit polls, and the answer is a resounding, “Yes.” It seems that gays are just as human as the the rest of society, and, despite all logic, can vote in large numbers against their self interests. Or, are they?

In “GOP: Gay Old Party? More gays voted Republican than in 2008,” the Washington Post’s Jonathan Capehart writes, “If you want more data that gay men and lesbians are pretty much just like everyone else — worried about the economy, freaked out about the direction of the country and perhaps ticked at the slow pace of change with regard to their civil rights — get a load of this exit poll result.”

Here it is — based on CNN’s exit polls.

In 2006, one in four self-identified gay men and lesbians voted Republican. That number dropped to one in five during the presidential election of 2008. This year, that number jumped dramatically. Amplified by a new, out loud and proud gay Tea Party PAC, GOProud — whose nationally-noted tony Manhattan fund raising party was headlined by extreme homophobe Ann Coulter — gay men and lesbians voted against their better interests one-third of the time. In other words, an astonishing thirty-one percent of self-identified gay men and lesbians voted Republican on Tuesday.

There is no doubt some politically-aware Republicans are courting the gay vote. This week, the day after the election, former GOP presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani came out — in contrast to his 2007 position — in support of repealing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” and finding a way to praise the Log Cabin Republicans. Back when he was elected, GOP Chairman Michael Steele said his GOP needed to do a better job of wooing candidates and voters who support marriage equality.

Amanda Terkel in The Huffington Post adds, “I have been very concerned over these last two years that the connection between the gay rights community and the Democratic Party is in danger of being broken, because I think expectations were set so high as a result of the 2008 election, and people are extremely disappointed,” said Richard Socarides, a former assistant to President Clinton and senior White House adviser on gay rights.”

read the rest of the essay here

This looks interesting no?

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