Am I the only one who finds it strange that San Diego may soon elect a gay mayor virtually no gays and lesbians vote for?
For most LGBT voters far more important than the fact that Carl DeMaio is gay is the fact that he’s a Republican. For the 40-plus years of the modern gay rights movement, right up to this moment, the GOP has opposed, often nastily, every civil and human right gays and lesbians have won. They routinely use anti-gay ballot propositions to get larger numbers of their evangelical base to the polls. They delayed for 20 years the ability of gays and lesbians to serve openly in the military.
Yet Carl DeMaio inhabits a world where gay bashing is cost-free. He yuks it up in photo ops with people like John McCain and Mitt Romney. So humiliating was his pandering to Yes-on-8-poster boy Doug Manchester I finally had to avert my gaze.
But it works both ways. A year ago July I was asked by a guy at Pridefest to sign a petition to get Prop. B on the ballot. “No thanks,” I told him. “I’m not a fan of Carl DeMaio.”
“But he’s gay,” the guy yelled after me.
Sorry, Carl. That’s just not enough.
Bill Brittingham lives in Kensington.
Want to contribute to discussion? Submit a suggestion to Fix San Diego.