"We failed": Gay Republicans who fought for acceptance in Texas GOP see little progress

[TexasTowelie]

by Eric Neugeboren, Texas Tribune


In June 1998, a group of gay and lesbian conservatives, pushing for greater representation at the Texas Republican Party convention in Fort Worth, found themselves in a frightening clash with members of their own party.

Members of the Log Cabin Republicans were protesting at the gathering of party faithful after a state GOP official made offensive comments comparing the group to the Ku Klux Klan and pedophiles. The group was also protesting the rejection of their request to host a booth at the convention — the second time in a row they’d been denied — where they hoped to share information about their organization.

Counterprotesters surrounded the Log Cabin members, wielding signs with homophobic slurs and phrases like “The Gay Life = AIDS Then Hell.” They pushed and spat and shoved their fingers in the faces of the gay Republicans.

Richard Tafel, the former executive director of the national Log Cabin Republicans which bills itself as the “nation’s largest Republican organization dedicated to representing LGBT conservatives and allies,” attended the Texas convention that year and recalls thinking he was in serious danger as they advocated for respect from members of their own party.

Read more: https://www.texastribune.org/2022/07/24/texas-log-cabin-republicans/

[NoRethugFriends]

1. The Log cabin Repubklican can all go fuck themselves

Money trumps all for them.

[onecaliberal]

2. For fucks sake. Have an original fucking thought and join the struggle.

Stop spitting in the wind.

[OrlandoDem2]

3. I guess better late than never.

[PortTack]

4. No..they didn't fail. They tried and were shown the door. The only fail would be to continue to try

And convince them you’re an equal. Move on! That’s never gonna happen

[CurtEastPoint]

8. you said exactly what I am thinking.

[catrose]

16. They gave it 25 years. Time (long past) to be done

[PortTack]

26. ☝️☝️☝️☝️☝️

[JohnSJ]

5. First, it was their failure, and second, that it took them 20 years to figure out what the

Republican Party was, is incredible

[Walleye]

6. Maybe they should change their name to log cabin Democrats

[msongs]

7. gay republican favorite fashion look....

[Midnight Writer]

9. "Thank you, sir! May I have another?"

Another example of people puzzled that their support for the "leopards eating your face" Party means that leopards eat their face.

[Ferrets are Cool]

10. That seems to be such an oxymoron

[3catwoman3]

11. Are they surprised by this?

They shouldn’t be.

[LakeArenal]

12. Why do blue collar workers claim to be Republican?

Why do white woman vote Republican?

Self hate?

[walkingman]

21. I managed a union workforce for 30+ years here in Texas and almost all

of the members voted Republican. The only reason they belonged to the union was the tradition and pressure on not doing so was greater than otherwise.

As a Regional Mgr. I have always been pro-union. It made my job easier. The contract took away HR issues and ensured that everyone was treated equally.

Whether people want to believe it or not - the culture that Ronald Reagan created around unions destroyed the movement.

Why do Blue collar workers vote Republican? I think it is because they think that their employers care about them....in reality when it gets down to the nitty, gritty they are just a number and expense.

Why do white women vote Republican? I think it for the same reason that white men do....racism and in a broader sense in support of white patriarchy. As issues such as Climate Change denial, government control over their bodies, and economic inequality become more "in their face", I think it will change (hopefully).

[LakeArenal]

23. Thanks. It was a rhetorical question tho.

[walkingman]

25. I understand - just hit a nerve. ☮

[bbernardini]

13. "SLUGS FOR SALT! SLUGS FOR SALT!" nt

[Comfortably_Numb]

14. Owner of face eating tiger shocked when tiger eats his face.

I know hope springs eternal and all that, but FFS, republicans live and die by their hate so quelle surprise!

[Thomas Hurt]

15. Does this rise to the level of self-delusion, it sounds like self-delusion to me...

[Paladin]

17. What the hell were you expecting, gay Republicans?

More importantly: What are you prepared to do about it?

[enki23]

18. Well, fuck them.

They're fascist assholes.

[walkingman]

19. I know one of the leaders in the Austin chapter and I promise you

he needs to stay in the GOP - I wouldn't piss on him if he was on fire. It has nothing to do with him being gay - just a sorry POS.

[3Hotdogs]

20. og Cabin Republicans -- Chickens, voting for Col. Sanders.

Same as latino immigrants, voting for Repukes. And best of all was Orange Anus, pointing to the lone black guy at one of his rallies.

[LakeArenal]

24. Blacks for Trump... Ridiculous slogan.

[tanyev]

22. The primary fail was thinking you would ever succeed.

[Ford_Prefect]

27. You simply cannot have it both ways. The contemporary GOP doesn't respect ANY human beings.

They are a very exclusive club and intend to make it more so.

Gay conservatives are now learning just who's in charge of the GOP and it ain't anyone who will listen to them, except for those few who are billionaires. The party of Reagan, and Shrub for that matter, was erased with the rise of the Tea Party. With that came the fervent absolutist Right Wing along with the fascist evangelical mob.

I can resect the desire for a traditional conservative thinker to find some hope in the philosophy they imagine grounds conservative politics. I have to say though that they are fooling themselves in maintaining that perspective. One essential feature of American conservative thinking is that some animals are naturally superior to others. Conservatives Über Alles doesn't fit the broader Constitutional scheme envisioned by the founders.