Dang...even the LGBT community has right wing nutsacks!

[SpankMe]

I'm not peddling right wing talking points by posting this, so please don't flag it. I'm just putting on display a right wing perspective that may be worthy of criticism.

Summary:

Amherst is having a "Rainbow Graduation", which is a special side ceremony to acknowledge special accomplishments of UMAss Amherst LGBT seniors.

A gay commentator and Amherst student wrote a commentary after he received an invitation to this event, saying he wasn't flattered, but, rather, was "mortified" to receive the invitation.

His perspective is that gays once advocated for equality, mainstreaming and agnosticism as to sexual orientation in society - and yet here they are self-segregating and emphasizing their own accomplishments over those of non-LGBT students.

He states at one point: "Are we incapable of standing out from the student body on our own merits, rather than our sexual proclivities?"

And elsewhere he expresses this contradictory thought: "...we also shouldn’t act like the sheer act of being gay is an accomplishment. It really isn’t, even if some people still do have to overcome additional obstacles due to their orientation."

In the first thought, he reduces all LGBT identity to "sexual proclivities" - which is asinine. And in the second, he confuses the idea of "being gay as an accomplishment" with what I'd call "having the courage to maintain your identity and dignity in a world where anti-LGBT forces are still active everywhere".

No matter where you stand, it's still an accomplishment - if not an act of bravery - to be "out" and living your life openly in these days where forces trying to enshrine "religious freedom" into law are gaining ground.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/lifestyle/voices/why-i-refuse-to-attend-my-colleges-lgbt-graduation-ceremony/ar-BBWhnH2?li=BBnb7Kz

[marybourg]

1. Haven't you ever heard of the Log Cabin Republicans?

[hlthe2b]

2. Not sure that should surprise you. RW nutjob women, African Americans, even the token Muslim...

There are a few opportunists who will readily sell their soul in every "group"...

[wryter2000]

3. "Sexual proclivities"?

This guy needs to buy a clue.

[Downtown Hound]

4. There were blacks who fought for the Confederacy

There were Vichy French who fought for the Nazis. There have been the Log Cabin Republicans for as long as I can remember. This is nothing new. There are turncoats in every group of people.

[Fullduplexxx]

5. I have a male friend who is gay and supports trump. He said the caged kids were the fault of the

Parents and he doesnt feel badly for them in the least

[Politicub]

6. There are plenty of wingnuts and there always will be

The GLBT community isn’t a monolith. A lot of conservative gays are motivated by greed. Others get attached to the “stick it to the libs” mentality for reasons that I don’t understand.

Then there are the gays dispatched by the GOP to give cover for odious GOP policies that affect civil rights. For example, Peter Thiel is both a greedy gay man and someone willingly used by the GOP to give them a way to paper over their homophobia.

Then there are gay people who want to have a community that they can hate and fear to make them feel better about themselves.

All of these garden variety right-wing and conservative gays disgust me as a gay man.

BTW, I love how you described coming out as an act of courage. People risk being ostracized from their families, even today. The commentator is likely a child of privilege who is unable to empathize with people unlike himself.