LESBIAN EMAIL OF THE DAY

“Andrew, there is nothing wrong with life as a media whore, and, in fact, I applaud it. After seeing you pop up on a few programs recently, my girlfriend – who is not one to frequently compliment men as to live up to the stereotype of the man-hating lesbian – asked, “Is that the Andrew who you read online? I like him. He’s smart. And cute.” In five years together, I can’t say that I’ve ever heard her say that about a guy before.
Just a couple of quick things –
First, I don’t think for a second that you’re not supporting Bush strictly on ‘the gay thing.’ As you correctly pointed out, you’ve had no shortage of criticism of the guy on a number of issues, not the least of which have been the war and the economy.
But I don’t think that your record can beat the real problem. There’s a perception that we – by nature of being gay – must not like the Republican candidate because Republicans are always bad for gays. This is what makes so many gays single-issue voters (a concept completely devoid of logic since I’d be hard-pressed to find any presidential candidate who has done anything for us as gays). When people encounter a gay who votes for the Republican, they just can’t resolve it. We’re in denial, or full of self-hatred, or just dumb.
Now that you’ve come out against Bush, I don’t think that people can help themselves but assume that your reason is – despite what you say – because of The Gay Thing. We need to fit into people’s happily constructed assumptions of what gays should do when it comes to politics. Like you, there are lots of people calling me and rejoicing in the fact that I can’t support Bush this time around just so they can say, ‘I told you so – you can’t be gay and vote Republican.’
They need us to live up to their expectations, even if what we say, do, and think is the opposite.
Sad, but true. And if anyone else calls me and gleefully suggests that I’ve finally comes to my senses by voting for the Democrat, I might be sick. But trust me – the sickness is precipitated by the fact that it’s nauseating that Bush is the best that the GOP can do.” More not-so-lesbian feedback on the Letters Page.