Andrew Sullivan, gay, sometimes conservative, author, editor, and blogger at The Daily Beast gets the Tweet Of The Day today for his comments on how the GOP treated Richard Grenell, Mitt Romney’s now-former spokesperson for foreign policy and national security, who resigned yesterday after a firestorm of anti-gay criticisms from the radical religious right.
“What do Republicans call a gay man with neoconservative passion, a committed relationship and personal courage? A faggot,” Sullivan wrote today via Twitter.
Expanding on the tweet, Sullivan writes:
Grenell was prepared to work for an administration opposed to marriage equality even when he supported it passionately (like, ahem, Dick Cheney). He was prepared to be ostracized by many in his own community for being a Republican, taking brickbats from the gay liberal establishment, and throwing many punches back. His neoconservatism is, so far as I can tell, completely sincere, and he has a huge amount of experience as a spokesman.
It’s sometimes hard to explain to outsiders what level of principle is required to withstand the personal cost of being an out gay Republican. I’ve only ever been a gay conservative (never a Republican), and back in the 1990s, it was brutal living in the gay world and challenging liberal assumptions. I cannot imagine the social isolation of Grenell in Los Angeles today, doing what he did.
And his reward for such loyalty, sincerity and pugnacity? Vilification.
Grenell, who served neo-con John Bolton at the United Nations, is openly gay and the AFA’s Bryan Fischer has, because of that, called him a threat to national security and promiscuous, among other equally unfounded criticisms. Bryan Fischer is the public face of the certified anti-gay hate group, American Family Association, and hosts a daily radio show during which he routinely attacks gay people, and has repeatedly said gays are Nazis. Yesterday, Fischer took credit for the Grenell resignation.
Related:
Fischer Takes Credit For Forcing ‘Homosexual Activist’ Grenell To Quit
Breaking: Gay Romney Spokesman Grenell Quits After Conservative Attacks
CNN Hosts Bryan Fischer, Who Calls Gays Nazis, To Discuss Romney And Gays