GO Proud(Gay Republican Group) Backs Pres Hopeful that said: 'Homosexuality a Sin & Choice
by Frances Martel |
Surprisingly competitive 2012 Republican candidate Herman Cain has mostly made a name for himself by promising a healthy economy and and a strong pro-Israel foreign policy, but today he is making headlines for his admission that he believes homosexuality is a“sin” and a “choice.” This belief may put him at odds with some of his loudest supporters on the right– namely, the members of GOProud, the controversial gay conservative group. But GOProud board chairman Chris Barron is standing by Cain in a statement released earlier today.While many stalwart conservatives have gone to bat for Cain since his breakout performance at the Fox News debate, GOProud– and Barron in particular– have been vocal in insisting that Cain not be dismissed due to his corporate experience and his unhesitating honesty in adhering to his beliefs. After that first debate, GOProud lauded Cain for his support of the Fair Tax. Barron later wrote in the Daily Caller that Cain was the only night’s winner that actually attended the debate (besidesSarah Palin). Up until this morning, it was safe to say that Cain had a friendly symbiotic relationship with gay conservatives.
And not all of them have forsaken him. Barron wrote a post in defense of him almost immediately after his comments, as, he says, his personal opinion has no bearing on how he would govern. “The bottom line is that Herman Cain’s personal position on whether being gay is a sin or a choice has no bearing on whether the policies he supports would be good for gay and lesbian Americans,” he says, while openly disagreeing with his claim. He continues:
The truth is that Herman Cain is running on a campaign centered on conservative policies that would improve the lives of all Americans – including gay Americans. Herman Cain supports the Fair Tax – a proposal that would not only jump start our economy, and free up much needed capital, but a proposal that would also eliminate inequity in the tax code – immediately putting treating gay couples the same way straight couples are treated.Herman Cain supports repealing Obamacare and replacing it with a market based solution that would lower costs across the system, empower individuals and increase the gay people’s access to insurance policies that offer domestic partner benefits.Herman Cain understands the real and present danger that the spread of radical Islam poses to our way of life. Herman Cain hasn’t been shy about speaking out about the need to confront and stop the spread of radical Islam – a barbaric ideology that brutalizes women, religious minorities and gays.
For Barron, it appears, what President Cain would do in practice is far more important than what he might say in theory. Part of the reason Cain can receive this sort of treatment after said comments compared to, say, Rick Santorum, is that Cain never promised to be a social libertarian, but until now he also never gave the impression he judged others for their lifestyles. His website’s “Faith and Family” section noticeably says nothing about abortion or gay marriage, instead highlighting the Cold War and the fight against communism as examples of how faith can strengthen the nation. He has also said that he has nothing against appointing qualified openly gay people to his Cabinet, as long as they loved America (which garnered kudos once again from Barron, particularly because it was said in front of a “family values” group).
To a certain extent, his insistence that “that’s their choice” in the CBS interview today is consistent with this. He implies more that he believes people have the right to choose to be gay than that he looks down open LGBT people for “choosing” to sin. He responds that it is a “sin” because the Bible says so, but he never insists that everyone should be forced to follow the rules of the Bible like he does. In fact, the lack of specific promotion of faith in his campaign– other than faith in God in some form that is not the radicalized Islamic version of that ideal– indicates that he doesn’t think anyone cares about how he personally prays. His statement appears to be one made out of ignorance to the consequences of alienating an entire segment of society marked by an immutable characteristic, not one of malicious intent or bigotry. If he had spoken out of hate, he would never have taken the risk of telling a socially conservative group that he has no problem appointing an openly gay person to his Cabinet.
But as much as his statement, in theory, may do nothing to prevent his Fair Tax initiatives from helping gay couples move towards economic equality (as Barron argues), so too his apparent lack of malice does nothing to assuage the negative impact of having a high-profile, respected political thinker proclaim that those born gay could simply choose not to be. This is the key problematic element to his statements that supporters like Barron ignore when they don’t give said statements a full-throated challenge.
The promulgation of the lie that LGBT people consciously decide they will adopt an entirely new set of social challenges because alternate sexualities are just that appealing implicitly permits and encourages discrimination. Most sins are not punishable by law, but society certainly treats sinners differently from non-sinners. A society where a trait not of one’s choosing could label one a sinner is one in which the public humiliation of a person because of that trait becomes not only acceptable, but encouraged. Society promotes the ridicule of sinners because sins hurt individuals and the fabric of society– no one really feels sorry for Newt Gingrich or Rep. Anthony Weiner because their choices directly led to their demise and damaged others. Encouraging this sort of attitude towards someone for something they did not choose creates a Kafkaesque situation where the individual has no comprehension of their misdeeds and sees no negative impact to their natural way of being. The confusion directly leads to tragedies like the recent wave of gay teen suicides, the most prominent among which was the suicide of Rutgers student Tyler Clementi.
It is clear from the collected statements of Herman Cain that he does not understand how his declaration that he believes homosexuality is a sin– maybe not murder, but more like adultery– trickles down within the social sphere in a way that drives innocent people to suicide. Cain has strong gay allies that understand where he is coming from, like Barron, who have collectively worked wonders to make him a surprise frontrunner. What he needs is not to be scolded for his beliefs, but to be enlightened into changing them. Cain’s reaction to his Palestinian Right of Return gaffe has proven that he is amenable to adapting his thinking to the facts, and unashamed to say he once got something wrong. Herman Cain is not alone in his misconceptions. While the term has grown to be somewhat of a punchline, the moment is ripe for a “teachable moment”– a GOProud-hosted event about perceptions of homosexuality and true tolerance of the LGBT condition, with special guest Herman Cain. All of conservative America’s eyes will be glued to the discussion– Herman Cain is a big draw, if you haven’t heard– and only good could come out of the continued interaction between conservatives and groups they have traditionally avoided. Or they could do what they did the last time social conservatives boycotted an event in their name: throw agiant dance party.
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