Blogger Michelangelo Signorile has outed John McCain’s chief of staff, Mark Buse.
Why is it relevant to McCain’s presidential campaign? Signorile writes:
John McCain is opposed to every single gay rights measure of recent years — from a hate crimes bill, to an anti-discrimination bill to an attempt to repeal the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy on gays in the military — and is publicly on record supporting a ballot measure in California this November to strip gays and lesbians there of their legally-won right to marry in that state. If that isn’t enough to make it relevant to report on his 20-year-relationship with a close aide and chief of staff who is gay, the fact that Sarah Palin is now on the ticket — garnering support for McCain from previously reticent antigay leaders like James Dobson of Focus on the Family — surely does.
More relevant questions after the cut.
There’s also an Oregon connection… “It was around 1993, and Mark was upset, because McCain was going to speak before an antigay group, the Oregon Citizen’s Alliance…”
Has Mark Buse been assured by John McCain that his bowing to religious conservatives is all just politics, that he’s just stringing along the fundies, and that he wouldn’t sell him and his kind to the far right as president? If that is the case, what would the Christian right think about that now and don’t they have a right to know?
And, if true, how would Buse and certainly McCain then explain the choice of Palin, beyond admitting that it is simply a reckless gamble, since it’s quite possible she could become president and bring the ideologues into the White House? Is there some other plan for how do deal with Palin?
Or has McCain’s shift to the far right been more profound rather than solely opportunistic? Perhaps he does truly stand behind his positions against gay rights and perhaps he truly respects Palin’s politics that appear to erase the lines between church and state. In that case, has Mark Buse completely sold out, perhaps transformed by those years as a lobbyist and perhaps having different priorities now — gay rights be damned?
What else does the reality of Mark Buse’s life say about John McCain? Does he see his own chief of staff, someone he has known now for 20 years, as someone who should have no rights, no hate crimes protections, and no employment protection in the private sector? Does he see his own loyal chief of staff as someone who should be hounded by Christian conservatives, pressured to enter damaging “conversion” therapy programs, and made a target of violence that is inspired by the hate spewed by agents of intolerance?
And what does Sarah Palin think of all of this? Does she know about John McCain’s gay chief of staff? Is Palin an opportunist too, and is her allegiance to the evangelical right skin deep? Or, is she a true believer who would believe Mark Buse should be sent to an “ex-gay” therapy program to “convert” him to heterosexuality? If she were to become president, will she give more power to the people who would very much like to put every gay American through such a program?
Most importantly, what right did this blogger have to “out” McCain’s chief of staff?
Is it ok to infringe on someone’s sexual privacy to make a political point?
“Is it ok to infringe on someone’s sexual privacy to make a political point?”
When you’re the right hand man for a man who makes a political point of others’ “sexual privacy,” then I’d say yes.
yeah, we outted a closeted gay Republican! let’s all pat ourselves on the back
If you want “sexual privacy” perhaps you shouldn’t walk around being a hypocrite.
The GOP is the party of degenerates.
“What else does the reality of Mark Buse’s life say about John McCain? Does he see his own chief of staff, someone he has known now for 20 years, as someone who should have no rights …? Does he see his own loyal chief of staff as someone who should be hounded by Christian conservatives, pressured to enter damaging “conversion” therapy programs, and made a target of violence that is inspired by the hate spewed by agents of intolerance?”
C’mon, Signorile. You know better than this. Buse has no rights? He’s an American. Enough said.
He will be “pressured to (enter a) damaging ‘conversion therapy program'”? Who does this? I want names. Let’s out them because I will report them in a heartbeat on TheFormers.com. At the end of the day, I am willing to bet this is one area where your outing will be unsuccessful. But I am open-minded. Show me.
So, McCain is not entitled to show Christian love to a gay friend? Since when? Relationships and policy are on two separate planes. I can support policies that insure proper penalties and humane treatment for those convicted of crimes, but can I not also go into the prisons where they are incarcerated and serve their needs? Should I just damn them altogether?
So, when are you going to write about hatred and violence targeted at ex-gays? You are a reputable journalist. It’s time.
Debbie, please tell me you did not just equate gays with convicted criminals.
“hatred and violence targeted at ex-gays? You are a reputable journalist. It’s time.”
There is no such thing as an “ex-gay” Debbie. Only a person who has subverted their sexuality due to deep-seated hatred brought on by “Christian (or insert religion here) love”.
Amy, of course I did not equate gays with criminals. Please. I was citing an example of how one could have a meaningful relationship with a person while realizing the necessity of supporting policies that would serve the common good rather than the perceived special needs of that individual (i.e., their freedom). This was not a “lipstick on a pig” moment. Come to think of it, that’s the way God sees us all. He cares for our needs, not necessarily our wants, and loves us unconditionally. How wonderful it would be to see more of that kind of love in the world.
“Buse has no rights? He’s an American. Enough said.”
Buse does not have the right to marry who he loves.
11 words are more than enough.
No such thing as an ex-gay, says Beer Batter. What if I said there was no such thing as a gay person, only one who had traded his or her birthright for a “mess of pottage”? I don’t go around saying such things because I know better than to insult people whose gay identity goes to their very core. Those who reject the old same-sex self and put on the new self (sorry, I tend to speak in biblical terms) deserve that same kind of respect and understanding. Not to render it is selfish and small-minded, is it not?
On some things, people must agree to disagree … agreeably, preferably. The world is too complex for any of us to understand it completely. If we did, we’d be God.
“Buse does not have the right to marry who he loves.”
But he has the right to marry, doesn’t he? He also has the right to love whomever he chooses, and I would defend that right unequivocally. It’s constitutional. The “right” to same-sex marriage is not. Even some thoughtful gay activists agree that gay marriage does not sere the greater good.
Sorry, The word is “serve,” not “sere” — whatever that is.
Much as I hate it, let’s stop acting like McCain is alone on this policy issue. Obama is no friend of gays either.
Once again, it just seems hypocritical of the republicans. There’s McCain’s pandering to the f*kdamentalists, as well as the fact that McCain has opposed every gay rights measure in recent years. I realize that Buse needs to work, but how can a relatively “out” gay man work for McCain? Please don’t tell me that he can affect change from within, because he’s had YEARS to do that, and it hasn’t worked a bit. Further, isn’t it hypocritical of Palin to grab onto McCain’s apron strings if her personal theological beliefs support ex-gay ministries?
Let’s recap what we’ve learned about homosexuality and being republican, shall we?
Mark Foley, Ted Haggard, Larry Craig, Bob Allen, Glenn Murphy, Jr.