The New York Times catches up with the escalating battle within the Republican Party over the Bush administration's overtures toward gays, which has enraged religious rightists. Those of us who regularly read the gay press's attacks on the president for being anti-gay, and then visit "Christian" activist sites that castigate the president for being pro-gay, sometimes feel like we're living in an Alice-in-Wonderland world.
By the way, the Times article -- unless subsequently corrected online -- mistakenly has George Bush appointing James Hormel as ambassador to Romania. The openly gay Bush appointee is career-diplomat Michael Guest, who has been blasted by social conservatives for "flaunting" his relationship with his partner. Hormel, a gay liberal philanthropist and Democratic Party contributor, was Bill Clinton's recess appointment to be ambassador to Luxembourg -- a far less important post.
Fodder for Conspiracy Buffs?
Some good news for gay Republicans:
The Republican Unity Coalition, a gay-straight alliance working to make sexual orientation a "non-issue" in the GOP, announced that financier David Rockefeller is joining the group's advisory board, on which former president Gerald Ford also serves, as reported in this Washington Post item (scroll down). Rockefeller, by the way, is a founder of The Trilateral Commission, which both far right and far left "wingnuts" accuse of trying to foster a shadow world government. Well, as long as it's a gay-inclusive conspiracy, count me in!
The Face of Hate.
Eric Robert Rudolph, charged with bombing the 1996 Olympics Park, abortion clinics, and a gay nighclub, has finally been caught. The sad part is that at least some residents of the North Carolina hills were apparently helping him evade capture, reports the New York Times, believing that he was doing the Lord's work. Sorry, folks, but Jesus actually wasn't a terrorist.
The Next Pope?
Speaking of those who take bigotry as their gospel, looks as if
a likely candidate to become the next pope is virulently anti-gay.
He's
Cardinal Francis Arinze, a Nigerian prelate who presides over the
Pontifical Council for Interreligious Dialogue at the Vatican. At
Georegtown University's commencement, he
told the grads that the family is "mocked by homosexuality."
Prejudice, alas, comes in all colors.
--Stephen H. Miller
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