Texas GOP: God Wants Republicans To Have an Anti-Gay Platform
The Texas GOP has been under fire of late for adopting a 2010 party platform that is certainly a mix of fire + brimstone + bile. See, according to the Texas GOP, gay people should be arrested and not allowed to parent children. Straight folks who help gay people get into loving relationships? They should be arrested, too. And children should all be taught that homosexuality "tears at the fabric" of society.
Indeed, Texas welcomes you to the Middle Ages.
Instead of backing away from such a seemingly hateful platform, GOP leaders in the Lone Star state are embracing their institutionalized bigotry, and trying to defend themselves against accusations of homophobia and, well, insanity. Take Melinda Fredricks, the new Vice Chair of the Republican Party of Texas. According to Fredricks, her Party is not homophobic or mean. It's just that God wants them to lock gay people up in jail.
"A large portion of our base is Christian, and we believe that homosexuality is contrary to what God says is appropriate behavior," Fredricks said. She added that "Homosexuality must not be presented as an acceptable ‘alternative’ lifestyle in our public education and policy, nor should ‘family’ be redefined to include homosexual couples."
Yikes. Well, it's a good thing that crazy people can't easily amend policies to dictate what gets taught in Texas schools.
Perhaps this isn't entirely that surprising. Heck, Fredricks even admits in her quote that this isn't really a principled position. It's just that most of the members of the GOP are religious radicals, and well, they get to dictate what Texas Republicans believe.
But the kicker is a follow-up line from Fredricks. See, she doesn't want anyone to think that just because the Texas GOP officially says that homosexuality tears at the fabric of society, that the Party is made up of a bunch of homophobes. On the contrary, they "love" gay people.
"You can’t say people are subhuman. (Homosexuals) still deserve the dignity entitled to them," Fredricks concludes.
Now there's a word, "dignity," that I'd be curious to hear Fredricks wax on about. Does she mean the dignity to fall in love with the person of our choosing, and live a happy, wonderful life? No. Does she mean the dignity to at least be intimate with someone in the privacy of our own bedrooms? No. Does she mean the dignity to at least live a life where our very existence isn't taken as a threat to the children and the health of the planet? No.
Me thinks Fredricks meant to say "Iron Fist" instead of dignity.
Meanwhile, Republican National Committee chair Michael Steele has yet to condemn the Texas policy. That may harsh Steele's mellow, but suffice it to say, anything less than a full condemnation from Mr. Steele has to represent at least a tacit endorsement of the Texas GOP platform from the national Republican Party.
Photo credit: cathleenemily
Michael Jones
is a Change.org Editor. He has worked in the field of human rights communications for a decade, most recently for Harvard Law School.
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