Some people are taking great joy in the fact that Tom DeLay’s likely replacement as majority leader, David Dreier of California, is rumored to be gay and refuses to deny it.
It’s an interesting situation, but I don’t understand taking joy in it. Although Dreier’s record on gay-issues is mixed-to-poor, he is against the ban-all-gay-marriage amendment. I certainly don’t want to see him denied his rightful promotion because of the bigotry of his compatriots in the GOP house.
If he is denied the position because he won’t deny he is gay, that will be a good time to hammer the GOP for institutional discrimination, but it won’t be a happy development.
Meanwhile, Chris Bowers has an interesting quote about what to expect in a DeLayless House leadership:
David Dreier’s gayness and Californianess could contribute to the ‘complete and total chaos’. Let the dominos fall.
Update [2005-9-28 16:13:12 by BooMan]: They threw Dreier over. They screwed him. I hope the Log Cabin Republicans are taking note of this development. Dreier looks like he’s had his guts ripped out. You look the other way on the GOP gay-bashing and they’ll stab you in back. If this were a public sector job it would be against the law to deny Dreier his promotion. Fucking bastards.
Someone on TV this morning — i forget who — suggested that Delay will be behind the scenes pulling the strings.
So will Dreier just be a front man?
(And I’m with you on the gay issue thing. It’s still a tough world for gays, as evidenced by the big closets that a lot of prominent gays, including movie stars, feel they must hide behind. Not everyone is cut out to be out in the open .. it’s a very tough way to live.)
causes the GOP heartburn that just confirms their hatred. But it is nothing to celebrate. If it causes them to be disfunctional, I can celebrate that.
Heh. Funny, especially given that “screwed” as an epithet is an anti-gay term.
That’s why I titled my comment “yeesh” when I linked to Raw Story’s headline: Gay Republican set to become House Majority Leader.
If anything, promoting that angle will strengthen homophobic Republican supporters defense of DeLay – no matter how much of a criminal he is.
It’s just all very uncomfortable and unnecessary.
that it doesn’t look like it will be Dreier. They just said the Rethugs are behind closed doors having a meeting. I really wanted them to promote David Dreier as the first Gay leader of the Republician Congress. It would have been a giant step forward for all equal rights and Gay rights. It would have been a win win for us. I do hope they promote Dreier so he will be the first Gay leader of the Republician lead Congress.
If they promote him, it sure won’t be for altruistic reasons. This is coming from the administration that wants a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage.
We should support and rejoice if it is Dreier. They would be supporting and putting their best above their hatred for Gay people. It would be a terrific day for gays everywhere if the Repugs put a gay man in as the leader of the Republician Lead Congress. I support this 100%.
I hope they’re not changing their minds because of all the headlines — and stories (e.g., at Kos) saying that Dreier is reportedly gay.
(Seems to me that the GOP could do worse. Dreier is genial. Have seen him on Bill Maher’s show several times … some of his comments are nuts, but at least he’s not a big blowhard … then again, in private … oh never mind … )
Sorry about that last little bit. I was typing blowhard with the true meaning intended … but my sick mind took over …
I love your sick mind…don’t apologize…I LOVE IT…Keep it cuming.
with gayness.
I got no problem with closet gayness.
I do got problems with latent, repressed gayness because it tends to manifest in homophobic suppression of gays by men who want to prove they are not gay by hating and hurting gays.
On the other issue: From his grins today, it is clear that Delay does not intend to give up any of his power in the House. He figures everyone will treat him like the Speaker even tho he doesn’t officially have that title. Hell, he owns most of them and they still have to do his bidding.
Yeah, I fear this stepping down business is just a ruse. We shall see. (Who can we count on to tell us if Delay is indeed still in charge?)
…
I do got problems with latent, repressed gayness because it tends to manifest in homophobic suppression of gays by men who want to prove they are not gay by hating and hurting gays.
I quibble a bit with this in that, since I’m not gay or lesbian, I can’t imagine what it’s like to live with that in this homophobic world, and so if people are repressing their gayness, they probably have some serious issues that deserve consideration, sympathy — and, hopefully, in time, help with dealing with such repression.
Unfortunately, repressing your natural sexual preference tends, as I stated, to manifest in ways that harm others and it’s hard to sympathize with that. I’m sure there are some latent types who lead sad lives of self-denial and channel their energies into helping others. But, I’ve met more of the former and very few of the latter.
As I bi-sexual, I’ve seen, and heard from others, about the misery that results from self-denial and that’s what gives me a problem with it. Gee whiz! Everyone should just be who they are, you know. Instead of conforming to society, society should conform to its individual members.
Dreier and Blunt to take over “dual roles”. What? Like Batman and Robin?
there you go – Dreier chair of rules committee
It’s Roy Blount
Dreier will help as chair of Rules Committeee ….
Did i spell HIS name correctly?
It’s Blunt.
What are you? A Canadian or something?
Well, gawd! There are like 450,000 members of Congress or something .. I’m supposed to know all their names? And then how to spell them? (I’m lucky if I can remember all the members from the Washington state delegation! — And forget about Oregon or Idaho, my neighbors!)
At least you get party affiliations right. I turned Shays into a Democrat yesterday without his permission.
are they prejudiced against gays or Californians?
good looking, gay Californians?
Damn…I really thought this was their chance to support Gay Rights. I was really looking forward to them supporting Dreier as the first Republician Gay leader of the congress. I guess they want to keep him in the closet. I bet his is upset. This proves once again they are evil and homophobic.
Blunt finished his remarks and invited Dreier to make some and he said no.
Oh shit. That’s sad.
Come on, David. Come over to the bright side.
MSNBC said some GOP objected because Dreier is a pro-choice Republican … oh David! COME ON, BABY! Come on over … we’ll take care of you!
Delay just talked about how unified the republicans were in the meeting. Guess he didn’t think to include Dreier in that unity.
How anyone who is gay is still in the Republican party amazes me to no end these days.
My neighbor is a Log Cabin Republican. For him, it’s all about money and less taxes. He doesn’t seem to care that the party thinks he’s less of a human being based on his sexual orientation. But you know what? If he’s willing to be subservient to their cause, then he deserves whatever shit they throw his way.
Herein lies the rub a perfect example of a non-“purist” and they are absolute fools.. this is exactly what the DLC/NDN want women to support anti-women Democrats…if Kos had is way we all would be “Log Cabin” Democrats.
I saw a comment earlier (Josh Marshall, maybe?) that Dreier would be only a place-holder, that DeLay plans to be baaaack. And that Blunt has a number of potential ethical problems, as well.
Looks like DeLay still has his hands on the reins, and they just hung Dreier out to dry.
<ducks to avoid flying crockery>
Blunt on the Issues, a synopsis…party line winger.
Peace
My sense originally was that Dreier’s appeal for the post was that he’s unctuously, ambitioulsy loyal to a fault, and that he would likely agree to step aside when and if DeLay came back. And that Blunt might have not been so willing to relinquish the throne once he had a taste of the power.
The switch to Blunt might have an anti-gay component to it and I wouldn’t find that the least bit surprising. But I think it’sossible that Blunt might have enough dirt on fellow Repubs that spurnng him in favor of Dreier might have given the other Repub leaders pause.
In any case, whether Dreier or Blunt, they’re both shitbirds, enemies of American democracy.
I hope the Log Cabin Republicans are taking note of this development.
Two thoughts:
Dreier dated Bush’s sister, Dorothy, for a year?
(I didn’t even know he had a sister. Do they keep her hidden or something?)
I read that she married a democrat!! Nuff said?
I’m not convinced that some of the liberal blogs gleefully jumping all over this story didn’t contribute to Dreier’s downfall. If it did, I think it’s unfortunate and glad to see adults posting here. Kevin Drum raised questions and got trounced in comments. It seems the results of not thinking ahead is that we’ve got another Delay. Long term, doubt that that’s in the interests of the gay community or anyone else left of center.
If this were a public sector job it would be against the law to deny Dreier his promotion
Actually, it depends on which state it occured in. There is no federal ban on workplace discrimination based on sexual orientation. As of right now, only about 15 states have such a ban. If such a denial of promotion because of sexual orientation were to happen in the other 35–S.O.L.
Indeed, we can thankd Dreier, among others, for the fact that there’s no federal law–he voted against ENDA. His record isn’t “moderate-to-poor,” it sucks. He voted against the hate crimes bill this session, he voted against allowing gay folks living in DC to adopt children. He voted for DOMA. Yeah, he voted against the FMA–what a brave supporter of gay rights–but in the context of his overall record, that wins him no points.
He’s just as evil as the rest of his homo-hating party, and now he’s had their hate turned back on him. I honestly say good. This is the party he’s supported, these are the policies he’s supported, and now he’s the victim. Fuck him.