Really Rick?
Thanks to my nephew Tim Jung for inspiring me to write this article. Tim shared with me an article written by Dan Savage a couple of weeks ago. He was spot on with his observations of homophobia and how the media participate in institutionalized homophobia, but I will extend it to racism and sexism as well.
I grow so tired of people behaving in extraordinarily homophobic, racist, and or sexist ways and then absolving themselves of any culpability with the glib, “and some of my best friends are gay, or black.” Really? Really? I would love to meet the LGBT, and Black folk, and women who are supporting Tea Party extremists like Newt Gingrich or Rick (the P is silent) Santorum. How does one help create and maintain a platform of HATE by signing a pledge of discrimination and then say, “but some of my best friends are gay?”
As Dan Savage points out, I suspect these “friends” are quite imaginary! Why do we never see them or get to hear them being interviewed? I encourage you to please read Savage’s article.
Social Justice For All 
I have a very catholic friend that says she is supportive, but believes and votes for all those crazies. If I bring up the crazy things they say she just ignores it. It is very difficult to remain friends. Do I break off the friendship or hope that by example one day she will change?
Dear heart,
What a horrible conundrum. Is she a dear friend? Is she able to hear you? I hate it when politics separates friends. My hope is that she will hear you and she will look at an issue of civil rights, regardless of her personal feelings.
Dan Savage has a finely tuned bullshit detector, one of the reasons I regularly read him. He is correct to call on political reporters to do a little digging when homophobic candidates assert that they have ‘gay friends’, and it makes me wonder how many other dubious claims and assertions are passively accepted by the press corps.
Society would be better served if more journalists asked public figures follow-up questions like “What evidence do you have for that?”
A creepy analogy comes to mind regarding the ‘gay friends’ claim: it is the 21st century equivalent of a Klansman’s white hood. Just as the hooded faces of the Klan amounted to a tacit admission that racism was (and is) shameful (would a proud man hide his face?), so does the ‘cover’ of having imaginary ‘gay friends’ amount to a tacit admission that homophobia is shameful.
Even a homophobe like Rick Santorum can see the risks of being PERCEIVED as a homophobe, thus the need for the camouflage provided by the ‘gay friends’ assertion. It is small comfort, but I think it is a sign that, long term, the bigots are in trouble.
Jay,
This is spot on: “A creepy analogy comes to mind regarding the ‘gay friends’ claim: it is the 21st century equivalent of a Klansman’s white hood. Just as the hooded faces of the Klan amounted to a tacit admission that racism was (and is) shameful (would a proud man hide his face?), so does the ‘cover’ of having imaginary ‘gay friends’ amount to a tacit admission that homophobia is shameful.” I only hope you are right about bigots being in trouble in the long term.
homophobia is gay.
The Internet tells me that “homophobia” is the irrational fear of homosexuals, which I find ironic considering that homosexuality is the irrational use of the sexual organs (for a purpose that is not actually sexual, which is to say reproductive).
Why don’t you guys just cuddle with each other anyway? I think cuddling would be safer than sex for heterosexuals as well. It still seems a bit weird if it’s two guys, but at least it wouldn’t be perverting the act of sex, and sex is generally trouble for anyone anyway.
http://agalltyr.wordpress.com/2013/01/16/gay-marriage-is-bad-for-society-and-so-are-condoms-and-porn/
(Gay Marriage Is Bad For Society (And So Are Condoms And Porn))
It seems clear you have a great many issues to address. I wish you the best of luck.