Wednesday, January 08, 2014

Why Do Some Gays Defend Their Oppressors?

The debate continues to rage over Itay Hod's quasi outing of GOP Congressman Aaron Schock (pictured at right).  Joining the prissy sanctimonious set who, were they Jewish in the 1930's would have a defending Hitler's right to privacy, is Jonathan Capehart of the Washington Post.   The standard bullshit one hears from these folks runs more or less like this per Caprhart:
There is no timetable to coming out. There is no “right time” or “perfect time.” It is an intensely personal journey that involves stages of self-discovery and self-acceptance before one is ready to share his or her truth with friends, family, colleagues and, in this case, constituents.
News bulletin to Capehart - who lives in the gay friendly District of Columbia - being barred from marrying in my own state of Virginia, having no employment or public accommodation protections is also intensely personal.  Multiply that times the thousands and thousands of gays nationwide and the equity comes down on the side of outing people like Schock.  If Schock wants the privacy of deciding when to come out, then he needs to (i) not hold public office and/or (ii) stop backing anti-gay legislation.  You don't get to deprive others their civil rights and then get to have your victims give deference to your personal sensibilities.  

For those who forget chock's voting record, Capehart provides this summary:
Schock has consistently gone against measures supported by the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community. He has supported an amendment to the Constitution to ban same-sex marriage. He opposed President Obama’s 2011 decision to not defend the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) against court challenge. Schock voted against the 2010 repeal of the ban on gay men and lesbians serving openly in the armed forces. And he voted against the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act. Schock’s voting record is so anti-gay that he earned a zero percent rating from the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest LGBT rights organization.
 The LGBT community will never have full equality as long as some of us  continue to protect our self-loathing, closeted enemies.

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