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 lobbyMay 23rd, 2012
Sometimes you learn the coolest things on Twitter. The Ohio Republican Party has named Matt Borges their new executive director. Borges had served as the executive director for Gov. John Kasich’s inauguration committee. In 2004, he was convicted of a misdemeanor for soliciting illicit campaign contributions and questions surfaced again over his fundraising for Kasich’s inauguration, which means that his GOP creds are totally solid. He’s also a registered lobbyist at the statehouse. His many clients include Equality Ohio, for whom he is trying to shepherd a non-discrimination bill through a House committee. Borges, being a lobbyist, is simply a hired gun. I have no idea whether he is gay or even pro-gay. Nevertheless, Columbus resident Linda Harvey is “outraged,” and Ohio’s tea party factions aren’t too thrilled either:
“It’s why we’re so detached from regular operations of the Republican party,” said Tom Zawistowski, president of the Ohio Liberty Coalition of tea party groups. “We have some shared goals and work on some of those shared goals, but we certainly don’t have shared values.”
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Bose in St Peter MN
May 23rd, 2012
Good stuff.
I can only wonder how tangential a GOPer’s tie to nominally pro-gay issues has to be to trigger the “wrong values” complaint.
If Borges had a gay sibling, and was a member of the sib’s wedding party, would that be enough?
If Borges donated a token amount to the Karger presidential campaign, would that disqualify him in the eyes of Ohio GOPers?
Or is it enough that he doesn’t break into a nervous sweat over shaking hands with an LGBT person, and doesn’t mind earning their business?
StraightGrandmother
May 23rd, 2012
Face it,There is a segment of the population that simply hates you guys.
It’s incredible, it really really is. I finally figured out those TeaPartiers. It took me a long long long time. I really thought they were simply a bunch of economically conservative libertarians. Now I know better.
Bose in St Peter MN
May 23rd, 2012
And if you ask me, SG, the animosity is hardly limited to LGBT folks, it’s focused as much or moreso in the direction of you and anyone who is happy to live peacefully, side-by-side, with LGBT folks.
Zach Wahls said recently, graciously, wisely, that he is not an LGBT ally, he is a member of the LGBT community.
You, too, are not an ally, but a member.
Gus
May 24th, 2012
The Teas in Ohio have never been “economically conservative libertarians.” Their own roster of candidates read like a tent meeting roll call. Since the beginning of the Tea Party in Ohio I have tried to explain to the Cato influenced MSM to drop the libertarian nonsense, maybe now they are waking up after all the heavily Tea congressional districts voted for Santorum in the primary. From the beginning I have labeled the group, “Teavangelicals.” We should not separate the “Tea” from the “Evangelical,” especially in Ohio.
As a pastor’s kid raised with a strong sense of separation of church and state, (Dad would not even allow voting machines on church property) I find it difficult not check out where a candidate attends services. It violates my core belief that it doesn’t matter, but now it really does matter on a whole host of subjects, not just the LBGT issues.
Marlene
May 26th, 2012
Gus — I have an even better moniker for them: TeaBirchers!
Don’t forget that the Koch’s daddy was one of the first fundraisers for the ultra-crazy, lunatic-fringe, WTF right-wing nutjobs, the John Birch Society.
This group is *so* delusional, they claimed that KAL Flight 007 was taken down by the Soviets strictly to assassinate some Representative who was a major player for the JBS.
These loons make even the religious reicht/Christian Taliban look sane.
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