GOP = Gay Outing Party?

Would it not be simpler for the GOP to just drop all references to the perils of homosexuality in its party platform? The hypocrisy factor has got to be just KILLING them at this point and yet they're still deep in denial about the issue.

Here we go again -- this time with Larry Craig, Republican Senator from Idaho. Taking a look at the Idaho Values Alliance website, found here -- http://www.idahovaluesalliance.com/news.asp?id=481 -- we see Sen. Craig being honored for his ostensibly pro-life stance in weighing in against a stem cell research funding bill. Nothing to see there beyond a photo of Sen. Craig and a blurb about the bill.

The interesting part is what appears in the next paragraph.

A stern warning appears in the "Bonus Bytes" section about the sordid secret of anonymous airport bathroom trysts between gay men (most of whom, I can only assume, are on the DL or they wouldn't be sneaking around in airport bathrooms).

So what did Sen. Craig get hauled in for by the cops?

And to what did he, of his own accord, plead guilty?

Soliciting sex in an airport bathroom (lewd conduct was the specific charge in this case).

What is going on, America?

It seems like every other DAY now there's some high-ranking leader-- either in conservative political ranks or in the religious right -- who's being outed by the police or by a gay lover. And we won't even get into how many Republicans have friends, family members, etc. who are gay and quash all discussion of it if the subject comes up in an interview.

I wish they could just say, "Y'know, the reality is, there are gay people in America. They pay taxes. They are our neighbors, our family members, and our friends. They fight our fires, police our streets, serve (at least while closeted) in our military, and teach in our schools. Heck, they even win election to public office and preach in some of our most conservative pulpits. And whatever God makes of that is God's business, but we are not going to make it OUR business anymore to deprive these folks of their civil rights. We are going to stop criticizing, demonizing, and persecuting this segment of our citizenry. Oh -- and we want to apologize for having done that for the entire prior history of our party."

That way they could have it all -- stay right with God, stop judging and punishing and ostracizing gays and lesbians, and most of all stop making themselves look like self-hating closeted gay idiots. Speaking of which, if someone isn't following Fred Phelps around with a camera and trying to catch him soliciting gay sex, they should be because that man has got to be hiding something...