Republicans Making Anti-Gay Pitch to African-Americans

As reported by The Advocate, the Republican party is reaching out to African-American voters by honing in on their presumed homophobia. This story was the result of a report issued by the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force.

According to the Advocate, the GOP is relentlessly reaching out to African-Americans through their churches. President Bush's faith-based initiatives (which I spoke out against in my "Faith Based" Federal Funding post on February 24) have focused on African-American churches. Additionally, right-wing evangelical ministers exploit racial and socioeconomic ills by blaming them on GLBT people.

“You want to know what the single biggest problem facing inner-city black neighborhoods is? Homosexuality,” stated the Reverend Louis P. Sheldon of the Traditional Values Coalition, a far-right religious organization.

I suppose it's the gays and lesbians that are dealing drugs and killing people-good to know. It is beyond my comprehension how anyone could fall for such bigoted and idiotic rhetoric, but some people do.

The NGLTF report includes this quote; "I'd be excited to see the GOP finally making a serious push for black voters — if the party was offering fresh ideas on police profiling, housing discrimination, unemployment and other issues of importance to black folks. But the focus (isn't) on any of that. Rather, it's on the gosh-darned 'homosexual agenda.' "— African-American author Leonard Pitts Jr.

That actually makes sense, doesn't it? Even if you feel that there is a "homosexual agenda" and that all GLBT people are an abomination (a view I clearly do not share), surely you can realize the grossly disproportionate amount of energy and resources being used against GLBT issues.

At a time when the United States is spending billions of dollars fighting a war on foreign soil; while this nation is still extremely vulnerable to terrorism; when there are millions of people faced with poverty, homelessness, unemployment, hunger; when there are millions of people who do not have access to medical treatment they desperately need; when there are millions of people living within our borders illegally; WHY ARE POLITICIANS AND EVANGELISTS PUSHING THOSE ISSUES ASIDE AND ATTACKING THE GAYS?

Because GLBT people are easy targets.

Because the politicans and evangelists don't have answers for those difficult issues, but they do have a plan to discriminate against GLBTs.

Because there are enough people that either hate gays or at least want to restrict their rights for those issues to resonate and bring these "leaders" political strength and financial wealth.

Maybe it's not all the homosexuals' fault, though. Maybe our current leaders need to discern God's will and act upon it. Failing that, the people of this nation need to demand new leadership.