ThinkProgress has a list of the seven most virulently anti-gay members of the U.S. House of Representatives. The one amazing thing about it is that neither Michele Bachmann nor Steve King are on the list. Imagine how bad you have to be to outrank those two!
The most anti-gay member of Congress has been freshman Rep. Tim Huelskamp (R-KS). As the author of his state’s constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriages and civil unions, during his previous tenure as a state senator, his anti-gay fervor in Washington is not unexpected. In his first 18 months, he has authored an amendment to ban a directive that allows military chaplains to voluntarily solemnize same-sex unions, an amendment to “prohibit the use of funds to be used in contravention of the Defense of Marriage Act,” and a bill to ban the use of military facilities for any same-sex unions. He also co-sponsored three measures to criticize the Obama administration for not defending the Defense of Marriage Act, to direct the Speaker of the House to defend the law instead, and to delay implementation of the Don’t Ask Don’t Tell repeal…
- Rep. W. Todd Akin (R-MO), a sixth-term Congressman who warned in 2006 that “anybody who knows something about the history of the human race knows that there is no civilization which has condoned homosexual marriage widely and openly that has long survived.”
- Rep. Dan Burton (R-IN), a fifteenth-term Congressman who is retiring at the end of 2012 and who has previously opined that “Marriage between a man and a woman has been the foundation of human civilization for thousands of years all around the world.”
- Rep. Phil Gingrey (R-GA), a fifth-term Congressman who has cited God as his reason for supporting an anti-gay constitutional amendment and whosaid in May “I don’t like the secularism that’s occurring in this country one bit and I think it is incumbent upon those of us [that] stand strong, to stand very strong, in regard to that and say ‘look, [my wife] and I believe that marriage is a sacrament.’”
- Rep. Vicky Hartzler (R-MO), a first-term Congresswoman who wasspokeswoman for the anti-gay constitutional amendment effort in Missouri and has compared same-sex marriage to pedophilia and letting three-year-olds drive cars.
- Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-CO), a third-term Republican who came under fire for racially insensitive comments that associating with President Obama was like “touching a tar-baby.”
- Rep. Donald A. Manzullo (R-IL), a tenth-term Congressman who recentlylost renomination after reportedly telling House Republican Leader Eric Cantor (VA) that the devout Jew was not “saved.”
Wow.
23 comments
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Bronze Dog
June 29, 2012 at 12:49 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Naturally, they all have an R by their name.
I’m curious what crazy things the wingnuts would say in a failed attempt at tu quoque.
fastlane
June 29, 2012 at 1:01 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Lookie there, any time KS makes it to the top of a list, it’s never a good thing.
YankeeCynic
June 29, 2012 at 1:07 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
I would love to watch what would happen if, during a debate with any of these people, somebody asked “Is your marriage such a shambles that just the idea of two loving people getting married is an existential threat to it?”
I would imagine the enraged spluttering alone would make it worth it, let alone the incoherent response.
Zeno
June 29, 2012 at 1:12 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
In 1948 Strom Thurmond led a crowd of Southern bigots out of the Democratic Party over the civil rights plank in the party platform (for which Hubert Humphrey will always deserve the thanks of decent humans) and Richard Nixon completed the process of welcoming the racists into the Republican Party with his cynical Southern Strategy (taking advantage of reaction to Lyndon Johnson’s signing of the 1964 Civil Rights Act and 1965 Voting Rights Act). Since then, racists and bigots have had a home in the GOP. Although in past years they have may had more success in toning down the rhetoric (e.g., Council of Conservative Citizens instead of White Citizens’ Council), it’s hard to keep all of that hate and vitriol hidden. The Tea Party (a wholly-owned GOP subsidiary) let a lot of it out into the open. The GOP took over the South at the cost of its soul (but the problem is obviously not limited to the South; the entire party is infected).
Nepenthe
June 29, 2012 at 1:17 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
In regards Rep. Donald A. Manzullo (R-IL), isn’t that just standard Christian thought? I mean, it’s a bit dickish to actually point it out, but I’m pretty sure most sects believe that non-Christians are not “saved”.
slc1
June 29, 2012 at 1:24 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Re Nepenthe @ #5
Nepenthe’s mistake was openly saying it directly to Representative Cantor. Not a good idea to antagonize the guy who holds the purse strings. There was a similar brouhaha several years ago when an official from Mississippi stated that god doesn’t listen to the prayers of Jews. He was strongly rebuked by former New Hampshire Senator Warren Rudman, himself Jewish.
baal
June 29, 2012 at 1:26 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Wow is right.
M. Bachmann has had so few pieces of legislation is (i’m guessing) the reason she’s not on the list. She’s been known to literally freakout (cowering, yelling and screaming) for merely being in an elevator with a woman who happened to be a lesbian. And then there is this.
jamessweet
June 29, 2012 at 1:34 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
So, I was skimming rapidly… very rapidly, it seems… and I thought for just a moment that this said “a directive that allows military chaplains to voluntarily sodomize same-sex unions”. I, uh, I… wow… Maybe restricted to just the Catholic chaplains?
Dr X
June 29, 2012 at 1:34 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Rep. Phil Gingrey:
Gingrey’s wife is named Billie Ayers. Why is he palling around with a terrorist?
Alverant
June 29, 2012 at 1:52 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
So Manzullo demonstrates that bigotry is acceptable in the GOP as long as it’s not directed at its leaders.
d cwilson
June 29, 2012 at 1:56 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Must have been hard to pick just seven.
netamigo
June 29, 2012 at 2:37 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
From Wikipedia: “Huelskamp and his wife Angela live in Fowler. They have four adopted children.” I wonder if his marriage has been consummated.
slc1
June 29, 2012 at 4:37 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Re slc1 @ #6
Dammit, I meant to say Manzullo’s mistake. Getting senile.
Dr. Elementary
June 29, 2012 at 4:42 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Glad to see the ol’ home state of Missouri is TWICE as backward as anyone else. We’re #1 (in awfulness)!
archfiend
June 29, 2012 at 5:32 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Hmmm. My $0.02 on the subject, at least concerning the two I’m most familiar with:
Burton: near as I can tell, one of the biggest jerkwads to ever get elected to the House more than once. Basically, a red-in-the-face suburban Indianapolis loudmouth who’s pursued all sorts of nonsense ranging from philandering while simultaneously whining about Bill Clinton’s dalliance with Monica Lewinsky to making a pathetic pit bull defense of Roger Clemens and active, aggressive anti-vaccination kookery. Retiring soon. Good riddance.
(Cite: http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2012/01/rep-dan-burton-goodbye-and-good-riddance
Manzullo: recently whined about lack of civility in Congress on WBBM-AM in Chicago, which is ironic considering the statement to Cantor (who runs his party’s own caucus, for crying out loud!); has hobnobbed with Rockford-area neo-Confederate Thomas Fleming and even published an article in Fleming’s Chronicles despite actively denying Fleming’s neo-Confederate ties.
(Cite: http://books.google.com/books?id=LfWdaR9wHEEC&pg=PA7&lpg=PA7&dq=donald+manzullo+neo-confederate&source=bl&ots=UOlTiRprVZ&sig=Ux7vsKHkMEKNpntF-_jtdhRMPfg&hl=en&sa=X&ei=ZhzuT4ejFYii8AST1LC5DQ&ved=0CEwQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=donald%20manzullo%20neo-confederate&f=false , especially pages 6 and 7)
dan4
June 29, 2012 at 7:39 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
@12 “I wonder if his marriage has been consummated.” Why on earth would you “wonder” about such a thing?
WMDKitty
June 29, 2012 at 7:52 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Um, yeah, because Christians (and other monotheists) came in and destroyed those civilizations.
netamigo
June 29, 2012 at 8:55 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
dan4: Some of the worst bigots turn out to be closeted gay men who refuse to admit even to themselves that they are gay. Oftentimes they adhere to extreme right-wing religious groups as support groups to try to counter their homosexual urges. We see them sometimes outed where they may finally admit the truth or continue to deny it.
dan4
June 29, 2012 at 11:39 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
@18: “We see them sometimes outed where they…continue to deny it.” Huh? DENYING that one is gay is an example of an “outing?!”
netamigo
June 29, 2012 at 11:56 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
dan4: For example, former Senator Larry Craig
teele
June 30, 2012 at 1:44 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Phil Gingrey: “I don’t like the secularism that’s occurring in this country one bit and I think it is incumbent upon those of us [that] stand strong, to stand very strong, in regard to that and say ‘look, [my wife] and I believe that marriage is a sacrament.’”
It’s real cute that he believes that! He and his “rib” can trot over to church every week and get married all they want, but if Rev. Billy Bob or Father Ted isn’t certified by the state to pronounce them married, they aren’t really married – except, of course, “in the eyes of God.”
I’m always curious, too, about these folks who maintain that homosexuality is a “lifestyle choice.” I’ve always wanted to ask one of them if they actually sat down and thought about whether they wanted be straight or gay (not just whether or not they wanted to reveal their preference). Homosexuality is not a lifestyle choice; religion is a lifestyle choice.
interrobang
June 30, 2012 at 3:49 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
I’ve always wanted to ask one of them if they actually sat down and thought about whether they wanted be straight or gay
Apparently someone did actually ask one of these types that, and his answer was “Every hour of every day,” to which the sane people in the world kind of rolled their eyes and said, “Buddy, if you have to think that hard about being straight, you’re not straight.”
stace
July 2, 2012 at 7:38 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Glad to see the ol’ home state of Missouri is TWICE as backward as anyone else. We’re #1 (in awfulness)!
Well, it is the home state of Rush Pimplebum, after all.