Florida Agenda

By Ed Cook

There is no way I can express why I am a Republican in a few short words. Yet I know that many will express hate and anger at me. I’m used to it. Yet because of FREEDOM, I’m not offended or discouraged. Gay isn’t who I am, and it is far from defining what I am. I am a father of four children. A grandfather. A salesman. A Christian. A friend. A Republican. A conservative. A trainer. I am Old Superman. A bodybuilder. I am partner to a man with who I’m madly, deeply, and completely in love. Coming out as a Conservative Republican has garnered me more hatred by far from my LGBT friends than coming out of the closet did from my straight friends and family!

Frankly, I was surprised at the hate, anger, and lack of tolerance from my LGBT friends. I have been “un-friended” on Facebook for merely expressing my views. I have been called names, and been treated with intolerance. Some have totally cut me off, and want nothing to do with me. For a community that asks for tolerance, I was taken aback by the lack of tolerance from many. In 2004, the Log Cabin Republicans [took the Federal government to court] over Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell [DADT], not the Democrat leadership.

Perhaps Jimmy LaSalvia, the executive director of gay conservative group GOProud, said it best: “The gay left would have you believe that gay conservatives don’t exist. Now we see that almost a third of self-identified gay voters cast ballots for Republican candidates for Congress in this year’s midterm. This should be a wake-up call for the out-of-touch so-called leadership of Gay, Inc. in Washington, D.C., which has become little more than a subsidiary of the Democrat Party.”

Conservative gays are pro life for the most part. Why? Because we believe life should be protected and respected. Isn’t it ironic that if you destroy an eagle egg in the wild, you will be fined $250,000 and serve jail time? Yet kill a human baby because of inconvenience—as 90 percent of all abortions are performed for birth control reasons, and only 1 percent because of the mother’s health—and that’s “OK?” I can also tell you when science discovers the LGBT genes or threads—and mark my words, it will— who do you think is going to abort babies who are genetically set to be LGBT? Who? Yes. It will be the liberals who will. They are the ones who believe in abortion, and that life in general is fallible and needs to be controlled and corrected.

Gay marriage is the least of our problems at this time of our crisis. If the country would accept gay marriage, would that have an impact on national security? Jobs? Our economy? No, it won’t. Everyone needs a job, whether gay or straight. We all know that the younger generation doesn’t care who marries whom. We all know it is only a matter of time when gay marriage will be accepted. Right now though, jobs, the economy, and borders are the issue.

I don’t see the Democratic Party doing anything to help. Nor is there anything in the Democratic Platform to change it.

Ed Cook is a motivational speaker, personal trainer and competitive bodybuilder. A former Fort
Lauderdale resident, he attended Brigham Young University, and lives in North Carolina.

by Marc Paige

When a gay Republican tries to persuade LGBT people to support an anti-gay GOP candidate, the argument is always the same. First, they tell us the candidate is not really that bad on gay issues. Then, when confronted with the candidate’s blatant and incontrovertible homophobia, they have two defensive retorts: 1) Democrats have a history of being just as homophobic; 2) They are not single issue voters.

Nick Stone, Vice President of the Broward County Young Republicans, recently wrote in the Florida Agenda (Jan. 26, 2012: “The Big Tent GOP”) that LGBT people should be supporting Mitt Romney for president because, “If you believe in equality under the law, a Mormon Republican is our best bet for president in 2012.” That line could have worked if gay people didn’t read newspapers, or never heard Romney speak on TV. Unfortunately for Mr. Stone, we’ve done both.

In an August 25, 2005, appearance on MSNBC’s Hardball with Chris Matthews, then-Gov. Romney explained his Massachusetts strategy to undermine marriage equality and civil unions: “So we will have a constitutional convention this year. Hopefully, the decision of our legislature will be to let the people decide. And, specifically, I hope that people will be able to decide that neither civil union, nor same-sex marriage is legal in Massachusetts.”

Romney reiterated his views on another Hardball appearance on April 12, 2006: “I am not in favor of same- sex marriage. I am not in favor of civil unions. The Democratic Party, particularly in my state, has made an error by adopting a platform that supports gay marriage.”

At the televised Fox News Iowa debate this past August, Romney called for discrimination to be inscribed in our nation’s constitution: “I believe we should have a federal amendment in the constitution that defines marriage as a relationship between a man and woman, because I believe the ideal place to raise a child is in a home with a mom and a dad.”
Last month Romney adviser Eric Fehrnstrom assured the “Huffington Post” that Mitt is also firmly against gay couples having the equivalent rights of marriage, even by another name: “He has not been in favor of civil unions, if by civil unions you mean the equivalency to marriage but without the name marriage. What he has favored was a form of domestic partnership or a contractual relationship with
reciprocal benefits.”

The “reciprocal benefits” language is taken almost directly from the anti-gay Massachusetts Family Institute (MFI). The MFI website supports a “new category of contractual relationships entitled ‘reciprocal beneficiary contracts’ to define basic benefits.” Romney and his friends at MFI are willing to allow gay couples, who have built their lives together, to form contracts for hospital visitations. Gee, thanks Mitt!

In 2006 Romney donated $10,000 to MFI, which also promotes “ex-gay therapy.” Its website states: “Our compassion is for those struggling with same-sex attraction and we encourage the healing of individuals who wish to change their choice of lifestyle.”

If Mitt Romney had his way, the armed forces would still be discharging gay soldiers, or forcing them to hide in the closet. Thanks to President Obama and the Democratic congressional majority in 2010, the military’s discriminatory policy is as dead as Osama bin Laden, while General Motors and Detroit’s auto industry remains very much alive.

I do agree with one point in Mr. Stone’s article: it is “simply untrue” that the GOP doesn’t want our votes. Republicans would like nothing more than to peel off enough gay votes to help propel their conservative agenda to victory. GOP operatives are happy to get as many LGBT voters as possible to vote against their own interests.

Mr. Stone ends his piece by writing that Romney will bring gays “real progress,” while Obama “takes our vote for granted.” Stone’s assessment is only accurate if “real progress” means closing the door forever on gay couples and families getting full federal rights, and “taking our votes for granted” means signing hate crimes legislation inclusive of sexual orientation and gender identity, ending DADT, and refusing to defend in federal court the anti-gay Defense of Marriage Act.

On a Jan. 25 town hall conference call sponsored by Ralph Reed’s Faith and Freedom Coalition, Mitt Romney blasted President Obama for his “assault on marriage.” He pledged to “propose and promote” a marriage amendment to the constitution, and unlike Obama, “defend the Defense of Marriage Act.” While there is a small but growing number of Republican politicians who are turning away from their party’s history of anti-gay bigotry, Mitt Romney is definitely not one of them.

I’m not sure if Nick Stone is delusional, or he just thinks it’s acceptable for gays to be second-class citizens. Mitt Romney’s homophobia is real and tangible. He must not be allowed
his agenda of inscribing discrimination into our constitution, and taking us backwards.

Our nation’s Declaration of Independence declares “all men are created equal.” Gov. Romney doesn’t get that America’s promise is that all of us have the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Luckily, President Obama does.