Ronald Reagan and Newt Gingrich?
Seems most conservatives can tell the difference between the sin and the sinner.
Seems most conservatives can oppose gay marriage and special rights for gays, but still oppose hatred and discrimination against gays.
For instance, Reagan, Newt and Romney have all have shown that they are not anti-gay.
Best-selling conservative author Dinesh D'Souza writes in his biography of Reagan, Ronald Reagan: How an Ordinary Man Became an Extraordinary Leader, a biography highly praised by Rush Limbaugh, Wall Street Journal editor Robert Bartley and P.J. O'Roarke. D'Souza writes, "Reagan's views on homosexuality were not entirely compatible with those of his evangelical Christian supporters or with those of the gay rights community. Before he became President, he once confessed his belief that homosexuality is a 'tragic illness'...Yet, as we might expect, Reagan knew lots of gays in Hollywood, and he and his wife socialized with people who were avowedly homosexual. Reagan did not support state-sponsored discrimination against homosexuals as a group." Reagan Not Anti-gay.
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Reagan, Newt and Romney all oppose gay marriage, but they find it counter-productive to discriminate or act hateful towards gays.
Here's an old interview with Newt where he expresses approval for the same tolerance that Mitt and Reagan endorsed.
Newt Gingrich (G):
L: Do you believe that homosexuality is a sin?
G: I think you have to. But, I also believe that all of us are sinners.
L: Well, but some folk’s do work a little harder at their sin than others, don’t they?
G: Yeah, but I’m just saying that I don’t want to be judgmental about others. I think that the —-
L: But we are talking about homosexuality. Scripture is very clear —- it’s an abomination to God.
G: That’s right. And that’s why I just agreed with you. I think that if you believe in the Bible, then it’s fairly clear. But, I’m not prepared to render judgment to individuals.
~Snip~ L: Well, my thinking was something like that if people are homosexuals, that tells us something about their character and we care about the character —-
G: I don’t agree with that.
L: Oh, I see. Why do you think God calls it an abomination if it says nothing about their character?
G: I think there are many good and kind and decent people who may also be homosexuals.
L: Really?
G: Yes.
L. My goodness.
G: And you live in a very narrow world if you’ve never met one.
~~Snip~~
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Just because you oppose discrimination does not mean you are for special rights for the gays or support a pro-homosexual agenda. Ask Ann Coulter.
” “Reagan’s views on homosexuality were not entirely compatible with those of his evangelical Christian supporters or with those of the gay rights community. Before he became President, he once confessed his belief that homosexuality is a ‘tragic illness’...Yet, as we might expect, Reagan knew lots of gays in Hollywood, and he and his wife socialized with people who were avowedly homosexual. “
That describes me and most conservatives and Christians.
I have, and have had since my teen years, many homosexual and lesbian friends. I have been the experiment guy for lesbians and been best friends with homosexual men, and among the closet friends of more than one lesbian, but these are the types of people that are simply homosexual, they are not members of the “Gay Power” movement.
Like Reagan and his friends, these people know my politics and views, but there are parts of our personal lives that we don’t confront each other with in the normal course of our friendship.
Masculine gays respect the straight space of their straight friends, just as lesbians often respect certain men.
Effeminate gays, well just about everyone enjoys them, my experience is that most people are fine with “Gays”, it is the “Gay Power” movement that brings out the necessary resistance to the “tragic illness”, and it’s self destructive drive that can bring down the greater culture.
If Reagan came out against that bill to ban homosexual teachers in California, well, I would like to see the details (of the bill), but the main point is that it does not put Reagan in the column of supporting the Gay Power agenda.