So there's this new group called GOProud. They are gay Republicans, I guess, or conservative gays, which is an interesting concept, in the same way that cutting and getting caned for the pleasure of it are interesting concepts.

I generally don't pay attention to these things. Some of my best friends are gay Republicans, actually, and while I think that's absurd, there are plenty of things about me (my hair, for example), that they probably find absurd.

But GOProud caught my eye today, because it is throwing a fundraising event in New York called HOMOCON, and the special guest is ... Ann Coulter.

I wish I had been there for that phone conversation. I'm guessing it went something like this:

"Will you host a fundraiser for conservative gays?"

"What, you're a fag? I hate fags."

"We do too. It pays ten thousand dollars."

"Die queer. I'm in."

I suppose there's some way to spin this as good news for the LGBT community, beyond the fact that it will be one evening where Ms. Coulter will be too busy to blame the downfall of society on gay people on Fox News. The good news is something like this: while there's been some talk about how gays are attacking the family in the days after the Prop 8 decision came down, it's been minimal. Right-wing politicans have, for the most part, not spent tons of time talking about this issue.

I think what's happening is that we are becoming a much less valuable wedge issue for conservatives. They are finding it easier to scare people and mobilize people with reproductive rights issues than with LGBT issues, because the culture is shifting.

I'm hardly saying this is a done deal, that "the fight" is over. But I do think that having so many portrayals of gay and lesbian characters on TV and in books and movies is beginning to have a huge effect.

So let Ann Coulter talk to the gays who want things to remain the way they have always been. Maybe it'll be an odd take on a roast, where she just puts the audience down for several hours, and the audience just laughs, and laughs. I don't get it, and I don't want to get it, but I raise a glass in their honor.
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Waldorf to Your Astoria
Waldorf to Your Astoria
Waldorf to Your Astoria
The blog of author Bill Konigsberg
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About Me
Tempe, AZ, United States
Author of Lambda Literary Award-winning novel OUT OF THE POCKET (Dutton). For more information, go to www.billkonigsberg.com
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