Rush Limbaugh: Pro-Gay?

You've got to wonder how a nation of Dittoheads are going to take this news. First came word that Rush Limbaugh invited openly gay musician Sir Elton John to perform the music at his wedding. Now comes word via a few conservatives that Rush Limbaugh might actually think that gay people are ... OK.

Well, maybe OK is stretching it. Limbaugh still doesn't want to see gays and lesbians tying the knot outside of City Hall, and he still thinks that gay people have so much control over the Democratic Party that the Democrats basically get raped by LGBT special interest groups. That's sort of par for the course rhetoric when it comes to Limbaugh, who has used his radio show in the past to poke fun at people with Parkinson's Disease, suggested that environmentalists might have blown up the BP oil well in the Gulf, and even compared Al Gore to Charles Manson. Yikes.

But according to some, including conservative columnist Zev Chafets, Limbaugh might sound some anti-gay notes every now and again, but when it all comes down to it, Rush is totally fine with LGBT people existing.

"On some social issues, like abortion, Limbaugh is a conventional conservative. On others he sounds a lot like Barack Obama," Chafets writes (much to the chagrin of Limbaugh, I imagine). "Last summer he told me that he regards homosexuality as most likely determined by biology, considers other people’s sex lives to be none of his business and supports gay civil unions."

Well, golly. Someone go and see if Rush is available to walk in some pride marches later this month.

Chafets, of course, to some extent has a point. Rush is first and foremost a bombastic entertainer before anything else, so it's hard to actually know what Limbaugh really believes, and what he's just saying to get someone's goat.

That said, when Limbaugh suggests that gay White House staffers are akin to pedophiles (which he's argued), or when Limbaugh says (and this is a direct quote), "When a gay person turns his back on you, it is anything but an insult; it’s an invitation,” the fact that Limbaugh believes people are born gay and should have some measure of civil rights loses its luster. Talk about one step forward, and three hundred steps back.

Lots of folks are questioning whether Sir Elton should have accepted the gig to play at Limbaugh's fourth wedding, given the fact that Limbaugh's words have in the past been pretty hurtful to the LGBT population. That's a fair question, and one that I hope Sir Elton speaks about in the near future.

But for the time being, until I hear Rush Limbaugh get on his microphone and say, "Hey, you know what? I do believe that LGBT people are born with their sexual orientation and gender identity, and they really shouldn't be demonized in society by anyone," let's hold off on sending Limbaugh invitations to join P-FLAG. His personal opinions may be one thing, but frankly, it's what he says on his radio show that has the most impact.

And in that regard, Limbaugh is anything but pro-gay.

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