That conservative would be political commentator Guy Benson and he is not out of the conservative closet but the gay closet and of course, the gay left goes mad.
From the website Qweerty the reaction was, well less than positive. Of course their position is clear that if anyone is not for same-sex marriage, then of course it's only because of homophobia and the fall back position of bigotry.
As Mr. Benson points out, most of the people that are opposed to same-sex marriage are not bigots. In fact I will make the point that it is on religious grounds (my personal opposition) that most are against it. Another reason is that for the most part, few if any state legislatures have changed marriage laws. That has been done almost entirely by courts.
But that is for another time.
The point is that Qweerty does not mention that Mr. Benson is in fact and indeed in favor of civil marriage for same-sex couples. But he favors broad laws that protect religious contientous objection to participating in any way a same-sex marriage ceremony.
Because according to the headline, being a gay and conservative is not inspirational.
Since I am friends with Mr. Benson on Facebook, long before this revelation, I found the response to be overwhelming support for Mr. Benson and the fact that, as an aside in the upcoming book, "End of Discussion: How the Left’s Outrage Industry Shuts Down Debate, Manipulates Voters, and Makes America Less Free (and Fun)", co-authored with partner in crime, Mary Katherine Ham. The reason Mr. Benson felt he even needed to address the issue is a chapter in the book. "Bake Me A Cake, Bigots!" Mr. Benson, correctly, felt that he should address how such an issue can personally affect him.
And he comes out on the side of liberty and individual rights over group think and group rights. Which is a distinctly conservative position.
And here is an aspect of policy that Mr. Benson readily acknowledges.
That at this point in time, the overall Republican position, at least in regards to same-sex marriage, will not change. And in this from the gay-friendly magazine The Advocate does make the point that some who are gay, even conservative, may be less than welcomed in the current GOP.
So, here is my take.
Until I started blogging, I had no idea there was such a thing as gay and conservative. I mean, I heard of the Log Cabin Republicans, but I looked at them as a liberal GOP group in the way I look at the Ripon Society. And while in college I was told they were gay Republicans. Meh was my reaction. It still is. And to me, they are still to liberal for my taste. Not because they support same-sex marriage and or are gay-friendly.
But back to my finding out about gay conservative Republicans.
So going around the internets, I fall into a site called Gay Patriot. I think, hmm, let me take a look. My reaction was WOW! There are gays, lesbians and others that think the way I do?! That believe in individual liberty and basically leaving people alone. That realize the fundamental threat to the United States are not obscure pastors wanting to kill gays and lesbians and transsexuals. The real threat are radical Islamics. That group think is dangerous. I thought that this is not an anomaly. And we are finding out more and more that it indeed is not an anomaly. The only reaction the left has is to defame.
I have more respect today for Guy Benson because he told his story. He did not have to. But he believed in being honest since he and Mrs. Ham wrote a chapter in their book on a subject that is very much personal to him.
So another conservative that happens to be gay comes out of the closet. He gets overwhelming support on the right. Of course, there are opponents. But all the left can do is get mad.
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