Some Anti-Gay Crumpets With Your Tea

This past weekend marked the first ever National Tea Party Convention. It's a movement born out of alleged frustration with how much money the federal government is spending. But as their roster of speakers shows, the Tea Party Movement is also just an extension of the radical religious right. They may boo and hiss at big government when it comes to your pocketbook, but boy, do they sure love big government when it comes to policing America's bedrooms.

Perhaps the most notable anti-gay celebrity speaking at the Tea Party Convention was former Alabama Judge Roy Moore. He became famous last decade for refusing to remove a statue of the Ten Commandments from his courthouse, despite being ordered to by federal officials. In the time since that dust up, Gov. Moore has gone on a crusade, one might say, toward what he sees as a perversion of American values. And boy, does Moore really not like the steps that President Barack Obama has taken toward advancing LGBT equality.

"[Obama] has ignored our history and our heritage, arrogantly declaring to the world that we are no longer a Christian nation," Moore declared in his Tea Party gig. "He has elevated immorality to a new level, setting aside the entire month of June to celebrate gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender pride. He now threatens to change our law to allow homosexuality in our military."

Word has it that President Obama is also considering changing the name of June to, simply, "Debauchery." At least in Roy Moore's head.

OK, so maybe Tea Party organizers didn't know Roy Moore was going to get on stage and dither on about social issues. Good thing they turned his microphone over to ... Pastor Rick Scarborough? You mean the guy who consistently compares homosexuals to drunkards, thieves, and swindlers?

So much for the Tea Party Movement being about economics. Pastor Scarborough even led the crowd in Nashville in a prayer condemning homosexuals -- to the tune of "Amens" from the crowd, according to Time Magazine.

Forget this being a new movement. Forget this being the wave of political activism of the future. Tea Party? No, it's just an extension of the same old religious right politics rooted in racism and homophobia. Call it this decade's version of the 1980s so-called "Moral Majority," only with different clothes.

There's definitely a space for independent-minded folks who are fed up with the stagnation in Washington. But the Tea Party movement isn't it.

Photo credit: a1mega