I admit — and I know I will probably get a lot of hate mail and nasty comments about this, but — I support Ken Mehlman.
I’ve had enough of the hate, I’ve had enough of the name calling, and the victim playing. It’s time for us to start showing support. We lose the right to call the other side “hypocrites” for preaching love yet spewing hate if we continue to say things like:
“We should banish him…”
“Mehlman is a sellout and a whore, he gets what he deserves,”
“He [Mehlman] is a coward.”
Or,
“I hope he suffers everything we’ve suffered.”
I’m sorry but I wish suffering on nobody. I would not even wish that the Nazis or Hitler would have gone through the same thing they put Jews, Gypsies, and homosexuals through. If I wished the same fate on them, I become as bad as they are. (Sorry for following Godwin’s Law.)
Whatever happened to the little saying, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you?” Yes he did unto us things I’m sure he wouldn’t want done to him, but now is not the time for that. I acknowledge that he stood on an anti-LGBT platform to get George W. Bush re-elected, supported the federal marriage amendment, and supported candidates who, to put it simply, didn’t support us or believe in our rights.
However, now is the time to show him why he was wrong, to help prove that he was wrong. Not to hate him. If we attack him and we become those bitter bitching queens we defeat what we were fighting for.
The Right has no reason to take us seriously if we rise up against one of our own.
It is time to suck up our pride, realize that while Ken Mehlman was wrong before he now has time to fix it. I’m not saying trust him right now or ever, but at least let him process his position in life. Give him the respect and honor we all thought we deserved as we were opening that closet door.
Whether it was easy for you to come out or you lived one of the horror stories, it no longer matters because now he’s facing it and what he needs is support. Let’s not make this another horror story that young gay Republicans will fear. Let’s help him set an example for people who want to be who they are.
I’m not saying make him a savior of our movement or even a leader. If he wants that he does have to earn it. However, we can at least embrace him and give hope to a younger generation.