Box Turtle Bulletin
News and commentary about the anti-gay lobby“Now you must raise your children up in a world where that union of man and box turtle is on the same legal footing as man and wife…”
News and commentary about the anti-gay lobbyJanuary 7th, 2013
In remarks to the Boston Globe, retired Rep. Barny Frank (D-MA) has scaled back his criticism of former Sen. Chuck Hagel’s (R-NE) pending nomination as Defense Secretary. But before getting to his latest comments, I think it’s important to review his previous statements in order to provide full context. On December 19, after Hagel’s anti-gay comments from 1998 came to light but before he issued his apology, Frank ignored those earlier anti-gay statements and instead focused on charges that Hagel was either an anti-Semite or, at best, not a friend to Israel. Frank opinion then was:
Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), who is Jewish, said he did not object to what has become one big point of contention about Hagel: an allusion to the “Jewish lobby,” in reference to advocates for Israel in Congress and elsewhere.
“I don’t think there’s anything wrong with having Portuguese lobbies, Jewish lobbies, Greek lobbies,” Frank said. “I think he’d be very good. … You need someone intelligent to help cut that budget.”
After Hagel apologized, Frank changed his mind on New Year’s Eve:
Then-Senator Hagel’s aggressively bigoted opposition to President Clinton’s naming the first openly gay Ambassador in U.S. history was not, as Sen. Hagel now claims, an aberration,” Frank said. “He voted consistently against fairness for LGBT people and there does not seem to be any evidence prior to his effort to become Secretary of Defense of any apology or retraction of his attack on James Hormel.”
Frank added, “And to those of us who admire and respect Mr. Hormel, Sen. Hagel’s description of him as aggressive can only mean that the Senator strongly objected to Hormel’s reasoned, civil advocacy for LGBT people. I cannot think of any other minority group in the U.S. today where such a negative statement and action made in 1998 would not be an obstacle to a major Presidential appointment.”
Today, Frank began walking that back:
“I was hoping the president wouldn’t nominate him,” Frank told the Globe today.
“As much as I regret what Hagel said, and resent what he said, the question now is going to be Afghanistan and scaling back the military,” Frank said. “In terms of the policy stuff, if he would be rejected [by the Senate], it would be a setback for those things.”
…”With the attack coming out of the right, I hope he gets confirmed,” Frank said today.
I don’t think Frank is being inconsistent. He’s framing his support for Hagel based on the larger question of what a Defense Secretary will be called upon to do in the coming months. But when it comes to LGBT policy, it’s worth noting that all policy originates in the White House, and the buck will always stop there. And this particular president — who dismantled DADT, who is acting on the conviction that DOMA is unconstitutional, who has come out in support for marriage equality — has earned a measure of latitude that no other president has come close to deserving in all of American history, at least insofar as LGBT policies are concerned. I will have more thoughts on this topic later.
Update: I want to add that this in no way means that I find Hagel’s apology acceptable as a final word. It opens a door, but that doorway is yet to be walked through.
Latest Posts
Featured Reports
In this original BTB Investigation, we unveil the tragic story of Kirk Murphy, a four-year-old boy who was treated for “cross-gender disturbance” in 1970 by a young grad student by the name of George Rekers. This story is a stark reminder that there are severe and damaging consequences when therapists try to ensure that boys will be boys.
When we first reported on three American anti-gay activists traveling to Kampala for a three-day conference, we had no idea that it would be the first report of a long string of events leading to a proposal to institute the death penalty for LGBT people. But that is exactly what happened. In this report, we review our collection of more than 500 posts to tell the story of one nation’s embrace of hatred toward gay people. This report will be updated continuously as events continue to unfold. Check here for the latest updates.
In 2005, the Southern Poverty Law Center wrote that “[Paul] Cameron’s ‘science’ echoes Nazi Germany.” What the SPLC didn”t know was Cameron doesn’t just “echo” Nazi Germany. He quoted extensively from one of the Final Solution’s architects. This puts his fascination with quarantines, mandatory tattoos, and extermination being a “plausible idea” in a whole new and deeply disturbing light.
On February 10, I attended an all-day “Love Won Out” ex-gay conference in Phoenix, put on by Focus on the Family and Exodus International. In this series of reports, I talk about what I learned there: the people who go to these conferences, the things that they hear, and what this all means for them, their families and for the rest of us.
Prologue: Why I Went To “Love Won Out”
Part 1: What’s Love Got To Do With It?
Part 2: Parents Struggle With “No Exceptions”
Part 3: A Whole New Dialect
Part 4: It Depends On How The Meaning of the Word "Change" Changes
Part 5: A Candid Explanation For "Change"
At last, the truth can now be told.
Using the same research methods employed by most anti-gay political pressure groups, we examine the statistics and the case studies that dispel many of the myths about heterosexuality. Download your copy today!
And don‘t miss our companion report, How To Write An Anti-Gay Tract In Fifteen Easy Steps.
Anti-gay activists often charge that gay men and women pose a threat to children. In this report, we explore the supposed connection between homosexuality and child sexual abuse, the conclusions reached by the most knowledgeable professionals in the field, and how anti-gay activists continue to ignore their findings. This has tremendous consequences, not just for gay men and women, but more importantly for the safety of all our children.
Anti-gay activists often cite the “Dutch Study” to claim that gay unions last only about 1½ years and that the these men have an average of eight additional partners per year outside of their steady relationship. In this report, we will take you step by step into the study to see whether the claims are true.
Tony Perkins’ Family Research Council submitted an Amicus Brief to the Maryland Court of Appeals as that court prepared to consider the issue of gay marriage. We examine just one small section of that brief to reveal the junk science and fraudulent claims of the Family “Research” Council.
The FBI’s annual Hate Crime Statistics aren’t as complete as they ought to be, and their report for 2004 was no exception. In fact, their most recent report has quite a few glaring holes. Holes big enough for Daniel Fetty to fall through.
“Google” is a trademark of Google Inc.
© Box Turtle Bulletin. All Rights Reserved.
Posts 
Posts via daily email:
Timothy Kincaid
January 7th, 2013
“With the attack coming out of the right, I hope he gets confirmed,â€
Yes, that sounds like Barney Frank.
Rob in San Diego
January 7th, 2013
Hey Barney guess what, there is no such thing as Portuguese lobbyists or Greek lobbyists, however there is a very large and very loud jewish lobby. No other country besides israel send their lobbyists to America to get them to veto any resolution regarding israel in the U.N. Oh and how about this one, for a country that is so against the spread of nuclear weapons and technology, we actually GAVE them nuclear weapons and technology. That’s right folks, we GAVE them nuclear weapons.
Look, no one on the right and most people on the left actually care about his comments regarding that gay ambassador, because you know the irony of it is that we’d be putting him in a position where he has to get a long with gays, and I’m not talking about gay ambassadors, but gay soldiers, it’s kinda the “well take that you homophobe, now shut up and do you job.”
Is israel worried that he won’t sell them more weapons of mass destruction? Are they worried that we won’t have their back when they continue to screw up the Middle East? Are they worried that the Palestinians might actually get a country of their own right next to them?
It’s all about israel, because in today’s time you can’t say shit about israel without being labeled a hitler, an anti-semite, or some other hatter. But you know what you can do, you can talk all the shit you want of Russia, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Iran, North Korea, hell, you can talk shit about England and NO ONE CARES! But don’t say a single word about israel or how it treats the Palestinians.
TampaZeke
January 7th, 2013
I don’t understand the update. Could you please clarify? It’s the first sentence that I don’t understand. I understand and agree with the second sentence.
Jim Burroway
January 7th, 2013
The typos undoubtedly added to your confusion. What I meant to say is that I don’t find Hagel’s apology satisfying by itself. He needs to say more.
chiMaxx
January 7th, 2013
After initial hesitation, Hormel accepted Hagels apology. Doesn’t that mean the doorway has been walked through?
Jim Burroway
January 7th, 2013
I think Hagel is the one who needs to do the walking. Obviously I totally screwed up this metaphor.
Hunter
January 7th, 2013
I think what Jim means is “show me what he does.” I also think the apology was lame and opportunistic, but if confirmed, Hagel’s going to be in a position in which he cannot act on whatever prejudices he might still harbor — he’ll be under a microscope.
I do think it’s the neocon/Israel lobby that’s going to be the problem.
TampaZeke
January 7th, 2013
Thanks Jim. I concur.
Leave A Comment