Let me begin by saying that I had no opinion, whatsoever, about Michelle Bachmann’s husband. I had no idea who he was. I first saw him on TV as I was walking past the set, and my only thought was – I swear! – this guy must be on talking about support for gay marriage. Go ahead and laugh.
When I found out who is and what his crusade was my next thought was… You’ve got to be kidding me; that guy is gay. The liberal in me sprang into action. How dare I label someone gay or straight. The realist in me countered with a sneering <i>Get real; that guy is gay</i>.
Good Pandora vs. Bad Pandora aside, I honestly have no idea what the man’s sexual orientation is, but… if I were a betting woman…
Enough about me. Go read Dan Savage. Here’s a sample:
Gay people who point out how fruity Bachmann is aren’t saying there’s something wrong with being fruity, or with being gay, or with guys who look, speak, walk, or dance the way Bachmann does. A lot of us look, speak, walk, and dance that way. And we don’t think there’s anything wrong with us for looking, speaking, walking, or dancing that way. I’ve never met a gay man who objected to Modern Family‘s Cam, who looks, speaks, walks, and dances the Bachmann way. And we certainly don’t think there’s anything wrong with being gay. But Marcus Bachmann sure does. He thinks there’s a whole lot wrong with being gay. And when we point out that this same Marcus Bachmann acts like a huge homo—like a huge, messy, married, dishonest, closeted version Cam—we’re not mocking the fruits. We’re hoisting that pansy with his own hateful petard.
Marcus Bachmann is attacking us and we’re claiming him. We’re embracing him, we’re saying that we recognize ourselves in him, we’re turning the stigma Marcus Bachmann promotes back on Marcus Bachmann.
“We recognize ourselves in him.”
Priceless.