Gays and John McCain | Issue Letters

|| Letter ||

Issue 1005
April 08, 2008

Gays and John McCain

While I appreciate the desire for the Advocate to show "balance" by publishing gay Republican views, James Kirchick's advertorial for John McCain was more deserving of being published on April Fool's Day than as any serious contribution to the political discussion. As I read it, Kirchick's argument boils down to: McCain has taken very antigay positions on nearly every issue important to GLBT citizens -- including actively campaigning against both gay marriage and domestic partnership rights; but hey, he voted against the Federal Marriage Amendment and says he's OK with gay people, and, um, he's a different kind of Republican, so we should support him!

Then, rather than acknowledge all the pro-GLBT facets of the Obama campaign, Kirchick tries to tie him to John Kerry's supposed opposition to Massachussets's gay marriage decision and Donnie McClurkin's appearance at an Obama rally (conveniently forgetting McCain's ties to Bush and pandering to John Hagee and Jerry Falwell). Oh, and Kirchick adds that Obama may raise taxes (as opposed to continue to run up the deficit, I suppose).

I would hope the Advocate would have higher editorial standards than to publish a piece like this. It isn't balanced, it isn't factual, and it's nothing more than an excuse-making exercise for a gay McCain supporter. I would hope that neither the Advocate nor Kirchick are so foolish or blind as to not understand the substantial differences that a McCain presidency would mean to GLBT rights versus an Obama or Clinton presidency. With Democratic majorities in the House and Senate, ENDA, Hate-Crimes Protections and a host of other important advances for GLBT citizens are not just possible, but very likely. With McCain, they are Dead on Arrival. He doesn't support them and he certainly won't sign them into law.

If Kirchick wants to say that he doesn't care about his civil rights as much as his tax bracket and that's why he's voting McCain, that's fine. At least that would be honest. But to pretend that McCain in any way is an equivalent choice to Obama or Clinton for the presidency is absurd and for the Advocate to publish such tripe is embarrassing.

John Ruffier
Orlando, Fla.

Write a letter to Advocate.com or The Advocate >