esrosedotblog

THE SOUTHERN CLOSET

This week, a tea bagger used the rumor that Lindsey Graham is gay for a little pandering and demagoguery.

That resurrected my own slight interest in the subject.

My own general take on Graham is that he is a good guy who is a Republican and does a pretty good job.

He does vote against the gay side on various issues but he is ambiguous about repeal of DADT.

"'Don't ask, don't tell' is a policy I think has served the country well," said South Carolina Republican Lindsey Graham, a prosecutor in the Air Force Reserve. "Why should we change it? I'm not going to be persuaded to change military policy by a bunch of political activists. If the military leadership tells me that 'don't ask, don't tell' needs to be changed, I'll certainly be open-minded to that."

As for the gay thing? Well, he does set off my gaydar.

He is the quintessential "southern sissy".

This article goes to some detail on the subject although they do not use the term.

Is Lindsey Graham gay? --Seven Minutes in Gay Hell: Is Lindsey Graham in S.C.'s airtight closet?

The funny thing is that this article was written in 2007!

So the seven minutes of gay hell is repeating itself.

The "southern sissy" is an institution. In the south, each town has a town drunk and a town fairy. Often more than one. Sometimes they are the same guys.

They play the piano in the motel lounge out on the town line. They are the choir director. They are sometimes hairdressers but that is more a northern and metrosexual thing. Most hairdressers are straight as an arrow.

The south treats "sissies" as it does its "coloreds". They are tolerated as long as they stay in their place and allow the occasional white woman or man to make a close friend of them in the way that someone has an imaginary friend or, perhaps, a doll.

You have to see it to believe it.

The old maid and the bachelor are long time roles played by gay volunteers. They serve a social purpose. Librarians. Teachers. Dedicated people with no distracting home life.

This is the other end of the spectrum from lynching. Someone who has not known their place. Who stepped over the line. There is no middle for a lot of these people.

Oddly, there are more closeted gays who are Republicans than Democrats. Well, not odd. The Demos are the party of equality and openness. How can you be out when your party has put anti-gay stuff on the party platform?

One might ask why a gay man or woman would be a Republican but, in the south, this begs the question. If one has political aspirations, a rightward lean is essential. To go all the way and be a GOoPer secures the deal. It is like a gay man or woman getting married to the opposite gender.

Sometimes you have a more courageous type who chooses not to be married for cover or otherwise. As a life long bachelor, if he is gay, we cannot call Graham a hypocrite on that score.

It is an interesting situation.

I am not for outing except for those who harm the cause. One could argue that any closeted behavior is harming the cause.

I don't.

I am all for the Larry Craigs to be outed.

I would probably leave Lindsey alone.

The same thing, incidentally, follows with Democrats who choose to be single and devote their lives to a career in politics. Janet Napolitano is having her own particular set of rumors and speculation. I don't think she is gay and, if she is, I don't think that she needs to come out.

One other thought.

There is a prevailing notion that a lot of people who are in the closet are in denial about their sexuality and that coming out is good for them. We are only doing them a favor by gossiping.

What a crock of shit that is.

Even if it might be true, it is none of our business.

None.

Labels: gay life, gay politics, Republicans