Another closet gay hippo crate is a hippo crate

[Droid101]

http://www.desertdispatch.com/news/left-8007-arrest-report.html

SACRAMENTO • A day after State. Sen. Roy Ashburn was arrested for drunken driving, a Sacramento TV station reported that the lawmaker was leaving a gay bar with another man shortly before the pre-dawn arrest Wednesday.

CBS 13 in Sacramento reported Thursday that Ashburn, who represents the Barstow area, was arrested after leaving Faces, a gay nightclub in midtown Sacramento.

A male passenger, who was not identified as a lawmaker, was also in the car but was not detained, according to CBS 13.

Ashburn was not immediately available for comment.

Ashburn, a father of four, has a history of opposing pro-gay legislation.

Ashburn's office released a prepared statement about the arrest:

“I am deeply sorry for my actions and offer no excuse for my poor judgment. I accept complete responsibility for my conduct and am prepared to accept the consequences for what I did.

I am also truly sorry for the impact this incident will have on those who support and trust me – my family, my constituents, my friends, and my colleagues in the Senate.”

[Ancalagon]

Another closet gay hipocrate is a hipocrate

Those freaking doctors, all high and mighty! ;)

[The Winslow]

Hypocrite: someone who is dishonest.
Hippocrates: some Greek dude from Antiquity.

[Ancalagon]

But seriously? I would guess that *every* conservative, anti-gay political group has a few of those (extra closeted homosexuals). Given the size of the GOP, I would be astonished if there weren't a few dozens!

[Droid101]

Those freaking doctors, all high and mighty! ;)

Hypocrite: someone who is dishonest.
Hippocrates: some Greek dude from Antiquity.

I hate you both. I even Googled it, because I couldn't remember how to spell it, and Google lied to me.

[Hatter]

As Dan Savage says:
Here’s hoping that all straight folks everywhere one day realize that anti-gay ravers come in just two flavors: assholes who are externalizing their own internal struggles against homosexual desires (Ted Haggard, Larry Craig, Charlie Crist, Joseph Ratzinger, et al.) and assholes who are attempting to compensate for and/or draw attention away from their own moral shortcomings (David Vitter, Mark Sanford, John Ensign, Vic Toews, et al.).

[Ancalagon]

To perhaps expand on what Dan Savage has said, I would say that there are probably people who believe that homosexuality is wrong because it's what they understand the bible is telling them, without being closet cases or trying to hide some other personal fault.

And while I really disagree with that belief, if that's what they want to believe well... ok, go ahead. What I really can't understand is when homosexuality is made a "priority" by moral crusaders - why focus on that, when there are so many other moral wrongs going on, like poverty, corporate greed or human rights violations? Wrongs that create a *lot* more harm? It's when you ask that question, that suddenly Dan Savage's cynicism becomes rather enlightening...

[Name Lips]

As far as I can tell, these particular self-hating gays don't think of themselves as gay. They think of the "act of homosexuality" as a sin, but don't think that being attracted to men makes them "a homosexual." To them, homosexual is not a state of being.

This is core to their beliefs. If homosexuality is a state of being, then it stops being a choice. If it's not a choice, it can't be a sin. And the Bible says it's a sin. And the Bible is always right.

So they think of themselves as cursed with a weakness, a prediliction for this particular sin that is a personal struggle to overcome and conquer. They find a wife and raise a family not because they're sexually attracted to women, but because they know it's the "morally right" way to live their lives.

But they never truly feel fulfilled. They always feel on some level like they're denying a part of themselves. It is this disparity that drives them mad - they externalize the part of themselves they hate -- hating "the gays" for tempting them into sin instead of hating themselves for finding men sexy.

The end result is the kind of twisted human being you see in these articles. Some of them give in to the "temptation" of man-flesh, and some of them don't. But they all hate gays because, under all the bravado, they really hate themselves and can't figure out how to deal with it.

I hope that in the future this becomes classified as a mental disorder, the way homosexuality used to be. These people really need professional help to come to grips with their own personal reality.

[Hatter]

Not that I always buy into rumors, but the latest is that Ashburn had left the club with a young Latino man. Given his staunchly anti-immigration voting record we could perhaps assume he was escorting the young man to the border.

[Cat of Ulthar]

On the homepage this keeps showing up as "Another closet gay hippo..."

[bunny]

On the homepage this keeps showing up as "Another closet gay hippo..."

That's one big closet. Tell the hippo to get out. I need more space for my shoes.


I'd like to add another group, even though it is now concidered un-pc. My SO's late grandfather believed in gay rights, but he didn't hide the fact that the idea of same sex couples being intimate made him feel disgusted. While I think this reaction is becomming less prominant in a society that accepts homosexuality, it still seems to be a strong gut reaction in some. This doesn't seem to stem from any moral sense of right or wrong or anything to do with religious beliefs. It's more like the initial reaction people have to someone with a birth defect (and I'm not saying that homosexuality is a birth defect, I'm just trying to find a comparable gut reaction).

The majority of society, I think, has gotten used to homosexuality (to paraphrase the slogan). However, I still now and again run into people who are anti-gay because of the fact that they still feel disgusted by it. These people usually sound like idiots when they make their arguments, but the gut reaction remains the basis for their feelings.

I can't entirely dismiss the validity of what they feel. I get the same lurch when I see a ridiculously young trophy wife with an old man like Hugh Hefner or that guy that Anna Nicole Smith married.

Still, It's not a valid reason for legistlation, and it's not a valid reason to speak up and get all worked up over other peoples business when no one is being hurt.

[Kilmore]

It's obvious. It's no fun it it's legal. Therefore, if you're a lawmaker make it illegal, thus more fun.

[The Theocrat of Poon-Tang]

The thread title reminds me of that old Star Trek where the Klingon threatened to turn Spock into a "Veggie Table".

[Ancalagon]

He has now admitted that he is gay.

This admission to me, feels a lot honest and frank than some of the fierce denials or half-assed admissions of "sins" we've had in the past. I wish him the best. I can't imagine spending most of a lifetime constantly fighting your own sexual identity. I hope that he gains some measure of peace, and perhaps he will try to undo some of the harm he has done.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8556852.stm


US anti-gay rights senator Roy Ashburn comes out as gay

A US Republican senator who has regularly voted against gay rights measures during his 14 years in office has confessed that he is gay.

Roy Ashburn came out in an interview with a radio station in California, the state he represents.

He has been on leave from the Senate since his arrest last week on suspicion of driving under the influence.

Mr Ashburn said his votes reflected the way his constituents wanted him to vote, not his own "internal conflict".

"I am gay... those are the words that have been so difficult for me for so long," the 55-year-old father-of-four told KERN radio.

Mr Ashburn said he felt the need to address rumours that he had visited a gay nightclub near the Capitol before his arrest on suspicion of drinking and driving on 3 March.

Last year, Mr Ashburn opposed a bill to establish a day of recognition to honour slain gay rights activist Harvey Milk.

He has also voted against efforts to expand anti-discrimination laws and recognise out-of-state gay marriages.

Mr Ashburn said he does not plan to run for any public office after his term ends later this year.

[Xavier Lang]

His 4 kids have my sympathy.

[Hatter]

Facebook amusement.

1,000,000 Gay Men and Allies Against Roy Ashburn Having Sex Ever Again. (http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=380052532672&ref=search&sid=1269483231.304500720..1&v=info)

[Harry]

http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/06/02/rel.haggard.announcement/index.html?eref=igoogle_cnn

(CNN) -- Ted Haggard, the megachurch pastor and former National Association of Evangelicals chief whose career was undone by a gay prostitution and drugs scandal in 2006, is expected to talk about the next step in his career Wednesday.

With his family by his side at his Colorado Springs home, Haggard is expected to a make "surprise groundbreaking" announcement, according to a news statement Tuesday.

In 2006, Haggard admitted he had received a massage from a Denver, Colorado, man who claimed the prominent pastor had paid him for sex over three years. Haggard also admitted he had bought methamphetamine but that he threw it away.

After the allegations were made public, Haggard resigned as president of the influential National Association of Evangelicals, an umbrella group representing more than 45,000 churches with 30 million members.

He also stepped aside as pastor of the 14,000-member New Life Church, which he started from his basement.

The church's independent investigative board said he was guilty of "sexually immoral conduct."

[Ancalagon]

Oh dear lord, I hope he won't be going to announce he's cured! :rolleyes:

[Limper]

But what about packaging material for gay hippos?

[Hatter]

Apparently he's opening up a church for sinners. I have no idea why this is national news. I'm also reasonably convinced that the guy is a charlatan and doesn't believe anything he's selling.

[Ancalagon]

Apparently he's opening up a church for sinners. I have no idea why this is national news. I'm also reasonably convinced that the guy is a charlatan and doesn't believe anything he's selling.

I too am skeptical about this development, but well... at least the cover story seems spiritually healthier.

[DarwinOfMind]

Hippo Crate but I couldn't find a closet it would fit in...

[Random Encounter]

I thought that by Christian doctrine all churches are for sinners?

[Ancalagon]

I thought that by Christian doctrine all churches are for sinners?

Yes... but not all of them choose to actually be vocal about the fact.

[Harry]

So Ken Mehlman came out of the closet. That doesn't automatically make him a hypocrite, right?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/08/26/AR2010082605269.html?hpid=topnews

Supporters of same-sex marriage have a new and unexpected advocate: Ken Mehlman, a former chairman of the Republican National Committee and manager of President George W. Bush's 2004 reelection campaign.

Mehlman, now a private citizen and businessman, disclosed that he is gay in an article published online Wednesday in the Atlantic. He said he plans to participate in a fundraiser next month for the American Foundation for Equal Rights, which supports legalizing same-sex marriage.

"It's something I wish I had come to terms with earlier," Mehlman said by phone Thursday. "It has made me a happier and better person. But I wish I had had the courage to have spoken out earlier."

Mehlman, who enjoyed a remarkable rise in Republican politics, is among the most prominent officials in the party to say that he is gay. His is an announcement of the most personal nature and yet one with potential political implications - and one that is drawing charges of hypocrisy from his critics.

Mehlman said he only recently accepted that he is gay. Asked whether he would have been able to accomplish what he did in the party had he come out then, he demurred. "I'm not going to speculate on that," he said. "I don't know the answer to that."

The disclosure comes at a time of heightened debate about same-sex marriage, resulting in part from a federal court decision that overturned California's voter-approved ban on such unions, and amid evidence of shifting attitudes that over time could put the Republican Party on the wrong side of public opinion.

Views on the issue have changed dramatically in the past five years, and although there is majority support for same-sex marriage in only a handful of states, attitudes nationwide continue to shift in the direction of greater tolerance on matters of sexual orientation and same-sex marriage. There is also a sizable generation gap on the topic, with younger voters far more likely to accept and endorse same-sex marriage than older voters.

As party chairman, Mehlman worked to broaden the base of the Republican Party, particularly by trying to attract more African Americans. He went so far as to condemn the party's infamous "Southern strategy" under Richard M. Nixon, an explicit effort to use racial divisions to peel white voters from the Democratic Party in the South.

"I tried hard to expand the party into new neighborhoods," Mehlman said. He now wishes the gay community had been among them, he said.

The immediate reaction to Mehlman's announcement was generally sympathetic. He said Bush and former first lady Laura Bush, whom he told before he went public with the news, responded in a "wonderful" way. Other Republican friends have been similarly understanding, even those who disagree with his position on same-sex marriage, he said.

Mehlman was the target of criticism on some gay-related blogs Thursday, but gay rights organizations generally welcomed his statement. "What's important is that Ken has joined the fight and is willing to lend his considerable talent and influence to advance equality," Michael Cole, spokesman for the Human Rights Campaign, said in a statement. "While the past cannot be overlooked, our future is far more important and with more and more people like Ken joining our movement that future holds great promise."

After graduating from Harvard Law School, where he was a classmate of Barack Obama's, Mehlman joined Bush's 2000 presidential campaign and was dispatched to Iowa. There he quickly proved his mettle as one of the sharpest and most energetic political talents in the Bush orbit - and one well-liked by his colleagues.

When Bush entered the White House, Mehlman followed as political director. Because of his political smarts and leadership skills, he was tapped to run the reelection campaign, part of a senior management team led by Karl Rove. The campaign adopted a strategy of seizing on state ballot initiatives opposing same-sex marriage to help mobilize and turn out conservative voters.

After Bush's reelection, Mehlman became RNC chairman. He was 38. He left after the 2006 midterms, in which his party took a beating, to join a law firm and later moved to his current job, the private equity firm KKR.

For the past two years, he has stayed out of politics and out of the public eye. Unlike many who leave high-level political jobs, he has avoided becoming a pundit. In that time and with that space, he said, he began to accept his sexual orientation. A friend said that until Mehlman left politics, he was so focused on his work, on supporting the Bush agenda and on leading the party that he "never stopped for self-reflection."

One person close to Mehlman who spoke on the condition of anonymity to talk candidly said the former party leader knows that some critics will accuse him of hypocrisy for what happened on his watch. "It's something he's not comfortable with or happy about," the friend said. "As he said, he can't rewrite history at this point. It's something he has regret about."

Vin Weber, a Republican former congressman from Minnesota, said there is a reasonable response to the suggestion that Mehlman has been hypocritical: He worked for a president who had a view on the issue of same-sex marriage, and Mehlman's job was to implement the policies and strategies of the president he served, "regardless of his own views."

Republican strategists said Mehlman's disclosure is unlikely to prompt the GOP to rethink its platform. "I don't think there's going to be a rush to change the views of the party on those issues," Weber said. But he added that it should remind Republicans that there is a constituency of gay Americans who hold conservative views on many issues.

GOP leaders have been muted in their response to the Proposition 8 decision in California, showing little interest in injecting same-sex marriage into the midterm elections this fall. The legal battle is now making its way toward a possible Supreme Court confrontation, perhaps in the middle of the 2012 presidential campaign. Some strategists think that, depending on how the high court rules, the issue could once again become a political flash point with uncertain effects.

Some prominent Republicans have broken with their party on the issue, among them Laura Bush; former vice president Richard B. Cheney; strategist Steve Schmidt, who managed John McCain's 2008 presidential campaign; and McCain's daughter Meghan.

But the issue conflicts both parties, said Ed Gillespie, who preceded Mehlman as RNC chairman and who opposes same-sex marriage. "Interestingly enough," he said, "I'm aligned with President Obama and his position, and Ken is aligned with Vice President Cheney and his position. It doesn't break cleanly along party lines."

Mehlman was asked whether he thinks his statement this week will change views in the Republican Party. He said he will leave that question to others. "I'm not a political prognosticator anymore," he said.

[Ancalagon]

I think it just illustrates how difficult coming out of the closet can be - and the silly things being in the closet can make you do, especially if you are in denial!

While the past cannot be overlooked, our future is far more important and with more and more people like Ken joining our movement that future holds great promise."

Indeed!

[Hatter]

I think the headline on JoeMyGod summed up my feelings on Mehlman:

Repulsive Anti-Gay Quisling Homophobic Scumbag Asshat Closeted Former RNC Chair Ken Mehlman Has Come Out

He's a political opportunist. He's been known to be secretly gay since before the 2006 elections when the RNC still employed the cynical political strategy of motivating religious voters to the polls with threats that the homos might steal marriage from Christians. He's a hippo-crate.