Anti-Gay Rising Star on CNN?

Be prepared. This October, CNN could be following up it’s successful “Black in America” and “Latino in America” series with an in-depth look at “Conservatives in America.”  Most details are under wraps as of now, but what we do know is that at least one of the main subjects of the series is building a career on his anti-gay street cred.

Ryan Sorba first registered on the gross meter in February by using the stage at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) for an uncomfortable anti-gay tirade. Sorba claims, via his Facebook page, that CNN is following his “conservative activism” for the next six months for a “1 hour documentary to be aired world wide in October.”

Of course my first response to this guy being featured on national television was not necessarily a positive one. He proudly professes views that link him with the most fringe opponents of equality. So on one hand it is disgusting that those views will get this type of exposure, but on the other hand, from everything we know about Sorba, he is incapable of being likeable and therefore, there isn’t enough creative editing in the world to make him look like a respectable human being.

I hope rumors of the documentary are true and I hope CNN just lets the camera roll on Sorba because it will inevitably change some hearts and minds on LGBT equality. Sorba isn’t exactly what the media world calls a disciplined spokesman. It doesn’t take much to coax him into a full on homo-hating rage as illustrated by the extremely entertaining exchange between Sorba and a young gay conservative at CPAC.

So what are some of the specific signs of crazy we can expect from the documentary? Well Sorba has been working on a book called “The Born Gay Hoax,” he is an advocate of so-called “ex-gay reparative therapy,” and he is an avowed super fan of Dr. Scott Lively, one of the American evangelicals credited with getting Uganda’s “kill the gays” bill up and running. Such a nice young man.

The Washington Post emailed Sorba to try and confirm the reality of the CNN documentary and this is what he responded with:

Let Tammy Bruce and/or Andrew Sullivan know that I am going to publicly challenge both to a debate soon! You don't think they would be afraid to debate do you? Lol.

Viva la conservative revolucion,

Sorba

First of all, Tammy Bruce, who is an influential conservative lesbian, and Andrew Sullivan, one of the most intelligent people in the LGBT movement, would absolutely destroy Sorba in a debate so lets all hope for a resounding acceptance of the debate, even though neither would probably stoop to Sorba’s level. Second, did he seriously write “LOL” to the Washington Post? Lastly, I don’t know if Sorba has heard of Arizona, but I’m not sure his conservative friends appreciate him writing about the conservative movement in Spanglish.

What do you think? Does giving airtime to the Ryan Sorba’s and Ann Coulter’s of the world help our cause by showing how crazy they are? Or does it stump the growth of the conversation and create more anti-gay behavior?

Photo credit: FLC