GOP: Gay Friendly? [View All]

Quick spoiler alert: the title of this article is intentionally misleading. That elected Republicans are anti-gay-rights is almost expected - it is the common wisdom. The broader conservative movement that the GOP is associated with has an anti-gay streak that they label with the euphemism "traditional family."

Their anti-gay stances are listed in the GOP Platform and seen in their actions. Since winning back a lion's share of positions in statehouses last fall, the conservative movement has wasted little time addressing what it proclaimed as one of this country's most dire concerns: the gays.

From Indiana to Minnesota, Republican politicians propose further bans on LGBT rights. Almost every GOP congressperson voted against the repeal of the "don't ask, don't tell" ban on open LGBT military service. Their arguments ranged from comparing gays to those in wheelchairs, to claims that ending the ban would destroy the nation. The GOP also largely opposed extending hate crimes protections to LGBT citizens. Current GOP Speaker John Boehner said those protections should be reserved for "immutable" characteristics - perpetuating the conservative myth that sexual orientation is a choice. In March, the Montana legislature, in a symbolic gesture of anti-gay bigotry, voted to keep in place a sodomy law, applicable only to same-sex relations, previously ruled unconstitutional

How do the potential 2012 GOP presidential nominees view the LGBT community?

Perhaps the current most outspoken critics of everything LGBT is former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, who is currently seeking the GOP nomination for the presidency and recently won the South Carolina straw poll

Finish the article at: http://www.peoplesworld.org/gop-gay-friendly/