Hypocrites

A Minnesota state senator who bucked his party in voting against a measure that would have brought a gay marriage amendment to the floor of the legislature has revealed that he is gay, RAW STORY has learned.

The senator, Republican Paul Koering, has also endorsed efforts to expose gay politicians who wield their power to oppose gay rights.

"Somebody who is possibly in the closet and uses their bully pulpit or their position to bash gay people or to make gay people;s lives difficult... and are in essence leading a double life - people like that need to be exposed for the hypocrite that they are," Koering says.

I just don't understand how sexual identity has anything to do with politics, but unfortunately the Republican party insists on it. I respect Koering for being honest, and I'm quite sure that his life will be vastly better for having done it. It is always better to have people in your life who value you - instead of some mistaken perception of who they think you are.

While Mr. Koering "gets it" to a certain degree, he does not entirely. He used to be a loyal follower of Hitler, but now he's a Jew for Hitler. I really am surprised that he hasn't followed his thinking through to it's logical conclusion.

He's gay - and now honest about it. He's despises hypocrisy, as I do, and favors outing closeted gay Republicans who support an anti-gay agenda. Yet, he remains in the Republican party.

Perhaps he's only Republican because of necessity. Perhaps it's not possible to get elected at all as a Democrat. Still - it's better to lose in presenting an accurate reflection on your point of view, then to win based on a lie.

He's also mistaken in one other crucial area.

Koering says he supports the Defense of Marriage Act Minnesota has on its books, which prevents the state from recognizing gay marriages. But he feels that a constitutional amendment takes things too far. He says legalizing gay marriage at this point would be moving "too fast."

"Society just isn’t ready for that yet," he remarked. "You can only push things so far – things only change so fast. I think they’ve changed fast, and they’re changing even faster, and there’s a rush of these people to have a constitutional amendment because they know that society is changing and people’s hearts are changing."

It doesn't really matter if society is ready. Again, I keep going back to Loving vs. Virginia, where over 70% of the American public was opposed to inter-racial marriage, yet the Supreme Court struck down anti-miscongeniation laws anyway. That is the heart of the equal protection clause of the Constitution.

I'm going to write Mr. Koering and suggest he change his party affiliation and renounce support for DOMA.

Finally, here's another quote of his - dripping with truth.

"And I sometimes find that, I feel that the people that you find who are hollering the loudest and who are putting people down the most are the ones that have the most to hide," he added. They're so uncomfortable in their own skin that they have to tear everybody else down to make themselves feel good."

** update **

One last quote, albeit unrelated to this story..

Closets are for hangers. Winners use the door. - Bruce Springsteen.

** update 2 **

This is why politicians like Mr. Koering needs to leave the Republican party.

PORTLAND, Ore. - The Oregon Supreme Court on Thursday nullified nearly 3,000 marriage licenses issued to gay couples a year ago by Portland's Multnomah County, saying a county cannot go against state matrimonial law.

Now I wouldn't say the judges were being "activists" because I disagree with the ruling. They interpreted the law. However, it is the Republican party that is responsible for it.

Groups like the Log Cabin Republicans need to wake up.