The punishment and intimidation of conservative gays...

Dennis Prager On "Outing" Gay Conservatives

...And why do gay Republicans and conservatives deserve to have the most private part of themselves revealed to the world?

Because, the activists argue, conservative gays are hypocrites, and hypocrites deserve no mercy.

But this argument is nonsensical. If the activists believe this argument, they do not think clearly. If they don't believe it, then they "out" gay conservatives for another reason: They wish to punish gays who do not follow the leftist party line on same-sex marriage and other gay-related issues, and they wish to intimidate other non-outed gays from adopting conservative values on such matters.

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They wish to punish gays who
do not follow the leftist party line
on same-sex marriage and other gay-related issues,
and they wish to intimidate other
non-outed gays from adopting
conservative values on such matters.

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Why is the hypocrite argument nonsense? Because it is a non sequitur. Gay opposition to same-sex marriage has nothing whatsoever to do with hypocrisy.

Why can't a gay person oppose redefining marriage to include two people of the same sex?

Why can't a gay person believe that it is best for children to start out life with a mother and father as opposed to two fathers and no mother or two mothers and no father?

Why does one have to be a heterosexual in order to make that argument?

Why is one's value system shaped by one's sexual orientation?

Why does the fact that one is gay and engages in homosexual behavior mean that he must advocate redefining marriage?

Why can heterosexuals think outside their sexual orientation and advocate same-sex marriage but homosexuals cannot think outside their sexual orientation and advocate retaining opposite-sex marriage? ...

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they are certain that conservatives
in general are bad people,
not merely wrong on the issues

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... Why do so many on the left believe it is OK to damage the lives of gay conservatives? Because they are certain that conservatives in general are bad people, not merely wrong on the issues. And because they particularly wish to punish any gay or black person who dissents from the liberal positions on gay and race issues.

For the left, it is a virtue for an American to differ with American leaders, a virtue for a Catholic to differ with Rome, a virtue for a Jew to differ with Israel. But it is utterly unacceptable for a homosexual to differ with gay organizations. Such a person must be crushed. And the way to achieve that is by exposing his sexual life to the world. And then justify it by declaring him a "hypocrite."

He also points out in this column how the same applies to race, using the treatment of conservative Clarence Thomas as an example. Spot on.