One of the reasons my online nym is “dyke” is because by using that word proudly and publically, I take away the power of homophobes to use it against me. Coulter has once again accomplished her mission, and has everyone talking about her use of the term “faggot” to slur Edwards. People on the left are decrying her, again, for being an eliminationist extremist, and unrepentent fascist, and rightly suggesting that the way to use this outburst of hers is to chain it to those Republicans who praise her. Mitt “I hate faggots too!” Romney introduced Coulter at this event, and said that he “liked her.” She has also endorsed him. So from now on, never refer to Romney without also attaching some term relating to his homophobic friends, OK?

Quiddity has a great post up with the conservative response. Oh, look at the pearl clutching. “Ann was a bad, bad girl. We’re so upset.” No, they’re not. I know it, you know it. Because if they were at all interested in stopping homophobia, they wouldn’t be supporting the party that has introduced bill after bill for the express purpose of denying me my civil rights. They wouldn’t endorse politicians who whip up theocratic bases with the boogeyman of the homosexual. They would speak out about incidents of gay-bashing and inequality in the work place, in our laws, in our culture. Winger pundits never bother to “defend” queers until one of their own has gone a tad too far, and threatened to upset favorable political conditions. Their supposed concern is little more than calculation, mixed with a the need to keep a hand in the pockets of rich, closeted Republican donors.

Speaking of the closet, let’s take a closer look at Bareback Andy, and his supposed awakening at the CPAC hate-fest:

It’s a fair point. I once called her a “drag queen posing as a fascist.” But I didn’t mean that as a compliment. My only response to my reader is that seeing her live in front of a young, cheering crowd made me feel a lot less complacent. Being a gay man in a crowd that cheers a woman denigrating someone for being a “faggot” is an educative experience. Seeing college kids line up to worship her tore me up. These kids deserve better. They’re young and smart enough to be interested in conservatism - and this is what they are getting? From a stage where two presidential candidates just spoke? I guess I’ve been a bit of a smug ironist who just got mugged by conservative reality.

How he’s managed to avoid being bashed or strung up all these long years in friendship with fascists is beyond me. He’s surprised? No, he’s an idiot. But standing in the middle of a lynch mob crying for your blood will wake up even the densest moron. It would be Christian of me to say that I pity him, but I’m not a Christian.

Sully is the epitome of the gay Republican: they love the humilation, and only when things threaten to turn physically violent do they regret their choice to sell out. He’s happy to turn a blind eye when it suits him, the better to maintain his access and opportunity to promote himself. I’m sure he flatters himself as some sort of “outlier” in his own party, who is “working to change it from the inside.” Well, that sort of thing only works with the people you’re trying to change have some modicum of respect for you. Republicans, the real power in the Republican party, have nothing but contempt for puppets like Sully. The Dominionists, even the gay ones, would be perfectly happy to consolidate their power on the ashes of a million dead Log Cabin Republicans, burned in the fires of Inquisition-minded mobs, if they thought that’s what it takes.

But the reason why I am expressing such anger at Sully is because he is the top of a pyramid of shite, of protective filth that emboldens the fascists, the cover they smear themselves in any time America gets a glimpse of what lies at the core of their movement. The pundit reactions Quiddity lists are more than just insincere, they are a vile and fallacious substitute for action. Now that they have “distanced” themselves from Coulter, they are able to don the mantle of “civility” and “seriousness,” and take up their places once more as the voices of legitimate political commentary. Never mind another dead gay teen, forget about that lesbian who lost her job, who cares that another baby languishes in an orphanage because the only people who want to adopt him are gays denied their right to do so. Michelle Malkin isn’t homophobic, so let’s continue to give her far reaching airtime on television and inches in prime national newspaper real estate. Sully is the lynchpin that makes this process possible. He is the faggot they can point to as they say, “See, we’ve got one! We’re inclusive, we’re not homophobic!”

Until and unless conservative authorities make a plain, clear stance against homophobia, and back it up with action, we should continue to call them out for their hypocrisy. We should continue to tie the rancid, rotting flesh of the Coulter demon around their necks, reminding them at every turn that they are engaged in the politics of hate for hate’s sake. Others around the blogosphere are at this moment composing and posting about all the Republican officials who have slobbered grateful kisses of admiration upon Coulter, publically and without reservation. It’s up to you to keep that meme alive.

(h/t Tinfoil Hat Boy for inspiring this post)