Coulter Slams Gay Rights - at Right-Wing Gay Meet-Up

Right wing icon Ann Coulter appeared at GOProud's Homocon over the weekend and delivered exactly the sort of speech for which she is known--an address from the vantage of the political right. Gay bloggers promptly expressed shock.

The right-wing icon's address was promoted in advance as a coup for the gay conservative group. The 2010 Homocon was GOProud's first edition of the event, and was meant to raise funds and visibility for the group--a sort of Grand Opening for an organization that espouses conservative fiscal views from a gay standpoint.

In her Sept. 25 speech, delivered in the apartment of PayPal founder Peter Thiel, Coulter decried marriage equality and made remarks that some saw as carrying racist overtones. The response from the GLBT blogosphere--despite Coulter having made similar remarks in the past, including telling one Muslim student in Canada to ride a camel rather than to fly in a commercial airplane--was to accuse Coulter of having turned on her gay conservative hosts and her audience.

"Homocon is exactly what Ann Coulter did yesterday. She conned a group of homosexuals to give her money while she demeaned them and went on in a very racist fashion," a Sept. 26 article at LezGetReal said. "She then went on to parrot the usual run of why lesbians and gays should not be allowed to get married including stating that 'Marriage is not a civil right. You're not black,' " the article added.

The article then said that Coulter sidestepped questions about her personal views of whether or not homosexuality is a "choice," adding that the right-wing author and commentator also called for an end to no-fault divorce for heterosexual married couples.

In the course of her speech, Coulter reportedly referenced an array of fringe-right fixations, including an accusation that the political left intended to force inappropriate material on young children in sex-ed classes.

"I don't agree with Ann Coulter about gay marriage, but there was a real conversation here," said GoProud head Jimmy LaSalvia. "That's what we're trying to start. We want people to see that it isn't 'us versus them.' "

The socially conservative group focuses on federal and fiscal issues rather than on questions of social equality. The LezGetReal article said that GoProud had expected that Coulter would stick to fiscal issues.

Coulter's "racially insensitive" remarks were also reported on by TPMTPM, including one of her jokes, in which Coulter said, "Blacks must be looking at the gays saying, 'Why can't we be oppressed like that?' "

Coulter also expressed the notion that gays would be well served to back abortion foes, saying, "[A]s soon as they find the gay gene, you know who's getting aborted."

But Coulter refused to engage those in the audience who challenged her on the seeming contradiction of social conservatives calling for smaller, less intrusive government while at the same time demanding the legal exclusion of gay and lesbian families who wish to partake in matrimony.

The lack of paradox in Coulter's remarks--even though she was addressing a gay crowd at a gay event--was set out in a Sept. 25 Politico article. "GOProud is an explicitly gay group that isn't particularly focused on gay rights, and Coulter's speech--full of conservative red meat, and only the occasional Judy Garland joke--reflected its focus," the Politico article read, going on to note, "The gay right is thriving at a moment that the mainstream gay rights movement faces a profound crisis."

Democrats Not Such Great Allies?

Politico observed that although GLBT equality advocates have allied themselves with Democrats, the Democratic majority has made little progress on equality for gay Americans--despite President Obama's campaign promises and opportunities to enhance legal parity for gay families, gay individuals, and gay servicemembers. "The gay right, meanwhile, has taken its place at the vanguard," the Politico article said. "Former Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman used his coming out as gay last month to raise more than $1 million for the legal effort, led in part by former Bush administration Solicitor General Ted Olson, to win a constitutional right to same-sex marriage." Moreover, another conservative gay group, the Log Cabin Republicans, recently won a court victory with a verdict against "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," the law that bans military service by open gays and lesbians.

However, "We're Joe Miller; Log Cabin is Lisa Murkowski," Chris Barron, the founder of GOProud told Politico. "We're not interested in having a seat at the table as part of the establishment."

"Of course, those promises [by the Democratic party to gays] weren't delivered because Republicans blocked most of them," noted a Sept. 27 Esquire.com article on the Coulter-headlined event.

The Politico article also offered something of an explanation from Coulter on her abrasive brand of humor. "The people who get gay jokes are gays," Coulter said. She added that when she makes gay jokes to Christian audiences, "Out of sweetness they don't laugh."

"Coulter's talk drew a mixed response, but her presence marked the increasingly mainstream Republican embrace of gay rights," Politico added.

"Right wingers have always liked gays. Look at all of Ronald Reagan's gay friends," Coulter said.

But Esquire.com called the relationship between GOProud and Coulter "inexplicable" and "masochistic," and spoke of "the conflicted loyalties of gay conservatives: who do you listen to when Republicans demonize you to win an election?"

Politico also recollected that fringe-right publication WorldNetDaily had dropped Coulter from its own event this month because she had agreed to speak at Homocon. WorldNetDaily's Sept. 17 event, called "The Taking America Back National Conference," was slated to include speakers such as Alan Keyes and Tom Tancredo, as well as assorted comedians, talk radio personalities, and a home-schooling advocate. The event's land-based activities were scheduled to be followed by a weeklong Caribbean cruise. When WorldNetDaily dropped Coulter--who had been touted as the event's keynote speaker--for agreeing to appear at the gay event, a war of words ensued between Coulter and WorldNetDaily editor Joseph Farah. Farah questioned Coulter's conservative bona fides; Coulter called Farah a "swine."

Relations between Coulter and GOProud seemingly were more cordial from the start. To GOProud's invitation, Coulter reportedly replied, "Of course I'll do it. I'm the right-wing Judy Garland!" That exclamation found its way to the event's poster, which featured a caricature drawing of Coulter and was emblazoned with the slogan, "The right wing Judy Garland!"

"We did not invite Ann Coulter to speak at Homocon 2010 because we believe she has 'evolved,' " Barron stated. "Quite the contrary, we invited Ann Coulter because of who she is, who she has been, and who we know she will continue to be--the smartest, funniest, most provocative conservative author and columnist around. If anyone needs to evolve, it's the uber-PC gay left and their enablers, not Ann Coulter."

Barron also had a message for left-wing gays, reportedly tweeting, "Dear Gay Left--save your 'outrage' over Homocon. We could give a shit what you think."