Recently, a Republican operative in southwest Missouri decided to come out of the closet and announce to the world that he is gay. That is really no big deal. I mean it makes no difference to me whether he is gay or not. It doesn’t affect my life. What I did find troubling was the angle in which the article was written. The headline to the article was, “Gay Republican challenges Party’s Hate.” The premise of the article is that as long as a political party stands opposed to same sex marriage, that party is filled with hate, bigots, and homophobes. I was intrigued, so I delved more into this.
The operative that I am referring to is Lucas Case, a person with whom I am friends with on social networking sites, and with whom I know, as I have worked with the Republican Party in southwest Missouri. I was shocked to see some of the comments that I saw. I listened to some of the interviews that he posted links to, and I read his comments to those who dared disagree with him. I heard him say that anyone who opposes gay marriage is exhibiting a form of hate. Really. Now where I come from hate is a pretty strong word. I am opposed to same sex marriage, yet I could care less what someone does in their bedroom. Its none of my business.
I would challenge anybody to give me an example of bigoted or hateful behavior that has been exhibited by someone within the Republican Party. In fact, the party platform addresses the issue of marriage as being defined as a union between one man and one woman. Those that would allege the party hates gays point to this platform as the only example of hate in the party. I have had friends within the Republican party for years, and I have never seen one person exhibit the kind of behavior that is alleged in this article. The issue really is for those that would allow same sex marriage, they have to claim that they are hated, that they are treated so horribly by society, but yet they can provide no specific example of how they are hated on. This is similar to how the liberal left became so powerful within the black community. They pointed to differences and said the Republicans wanted blacks to be less successful. In California, when I opposed affirmative action in higher education. I was told by Democrats that I hated blacks, and didnt want them to get an education, because I felt it was wrong that the government place one minority group against another and gave special advantages to one and not the other. It is the same kind of thing here. Same sex marriage advocates say that if you oppose same sex marriage, you hate me and my lifestyle choice. And lets be clear it is a choice.
So while I have rambled, let me be clear on something. I am opposed to same sex marriage. I have long held religious convictions that I take very seriously. I don’t hate gays. I have been known to support some form of civil union proposal. I just believe marriage is between a man and a woman. That is the way God designed it, and it has been that way since the start of civilization. Just because you choose to be involved in a same sex relationship, don’t accuse me of hate. And that is my word!
