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"Critical Mass" — Is Gay Republican The New Black?


No surprise here, especially if you saw any part of Glenn Beck’s “Restoring Honor” rally (also known to many as #Whitestock) this past weekend.

But moments ago, Gallup released its latest survey, titled, “Republicans Remain Disproportionately White and Religious,” which is an examination of the folks who populate the Republican party. If you have been breathing over the past two years, much of this may be of little surprise. But, just like this past February’s Daily Kos survey that, as I wrote back then, “reveals what you may have thought — or feared — about conservatives and the GOP,” the results are an important confirmation, and something the Right hates to use: facts.

Here’s what Gallup has to say:

“About 9 out of 10 Republicans are non-Hispanic whites, and more than half of these are highly religious. That compares with 62% of the Democratic rank-and-file that is white and largely less religious, with blacks and Hispanics making up a much more substantial part of that party’s base.”

And this:

“[R]eligion, along with race, is a significant factor in defining Republicans, independents, and Democrats. Eighty-eight percent of Republicans are white, compared with 71% of independents and 62% of Democrats. The majority of white Republicans are highly religious, while the substantial majority of white Democrats are less religious.”

Read it, and weep:

So here are the obvious problems:

Most Republicans are anti-gay.

Most Republicans are religious or highly-religious.

The more religious someone identifies as, the less-likely they are to support our civil rights, especially marriage.

Obviously, there’s a great deal of analysis we could do with this, but it’s not worth the time investment. We know, despite the slowly-growing, increased acceptance of gay rights we are seeing among some Republicans, the road to winning them over will be long. Worth traveling, but for many, if not the great majority, it will be a race that will last for decades.

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News

Sarah Palin: With Favorables Like This, Who Needs Enemies?

September 2, 2010 12:17 PM by David Badash
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Sarah Palin, Mama Grizzly-In-Chief, has favorables that are worse than Obama’s. Oh, and her unfavorables are worse than his too. Imagine that…

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Bigotry Watch

Watch: AC360 – Focus On The Family: Anti-Bullying Efforts Promotes Homosexuality In Kids

September 2, 2010 11:06 AM by David Badash
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On Tuesday I wrote, “Bullying Is So Gay.” Last night, on CNN’s AC360, Anderson Cooper featured Candi Cushman (Focus On The Family), Eliza Byard (Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network), and Rosalind Wiseman (Author,”Queen Bees & Wannabees”) to discuss the problem of bullying and FOF’s attack on anti-bullying programs. Focus on the Family’s new anti-gay, [...]

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Civil Rights

Watch: GOP’s Support Of Marriage Equality On Hardball

September 1, 2010 6:27 PM by David Badash
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Chris Matthews discussed the new-found Republican support of marriage equality with Human Rights Campaign president Joe Solmonese and Log Cabin Republican executive director R. Clarke Cooper on Wednesday’s show. The Steve Schmidt statements and Ken Mehlman’s coming out were prime topics. Matthews asks, “Could Scalia be the surprising vote in the Supreme Court” for the [...]

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Civil Rights

Tweet Of The Day: Lt. Dan Choi

September 1, 2010 5:23 PM by David Badash
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Lt. Dan Choi, the posterboy for “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” repeal, adds his thoughts via Twitter.


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Bigotry Watch

Maggie Gallagher Rubs Elbows With Michele Bachmann At Glenn Beck’s Rally

September 1, 2010 1:07 PM by David Badash
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National Organization for (Straight) Marriage’s Maggie Gallagher has been trying to muscle in on the media attention surrounding Glenn Beck’s “Restoring Honor” rally. First there was her star-struck, “I shook Chuck Norris’ hand!” Here’s her latest attempt, as posted on the NOM blog. A (rather poorly shot) slide show of the rally (almost entirely sans [...]

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Economics

Congress Sure Has A Boatload O’ Millionaires!

September 1, 2010 10:45 AM by David Badash
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The Hill has released its “50 Wealthiest List,” which ranks the top fifty wealthiest members of Congress. I took some time to review the data, and you know what I realized? Twenty-three of the top fifty are Republicans (that’s 46%) and twenty-seven are Democrats (that’s 54%.) But here’s the interesting thing: Congress is structured with [...]

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Bigotry Watch

Bullying Is So Gay.

August 31, 2010 5:08 PM by David Badash
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Or so the radical Right would have you believe. Specifically, “Focus On The Family” and the “American Family Association” would like you to think that part of the gay agenda, in addition to marriage equality (or, “homosexual marriage,” as the hate-mongers like to call it,) is instituting anti-bullying policies in schools. And they are outraged [...]

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Caleb Eigsti

Weddings Are Bliss! Ignorance Is Not.

August 31, 2010 2:24 PM by Caleb Eigsti
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Have you ever wondered why someone doesn’t support same-sex couples being able to marry? They can quote you the bible all they want, but they know in the end it isn’t about religion and it isn’t about their marriage, and if it is then it’s something totally different that they need to figure out for [...]

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Economics

Top Republican Wants Americans “Scared For Their Country’s Future”

August 31, 2010 12:32 PM by David Badash
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Haley Barbour, Mississippi’s Republican Governor, BP apologist, and former Republican National Committee Chairman (what is it with RNC Chairmen these days?…) was quoted this morning in The National Review bragging that “[t]he political climate today is better for Republicans than it was in 1994.” OK. Well, Gallup agrees. In this piece in Tuesday’s New York [...]

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Civil Rights

Reverend: Same Sex Adoption Could Lead To More Abortions

August 31, 2010 11:02 AM by David Badash
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I rarely write about stories outside the U.S., since there’s generally so much news to cover here, but this story caught my eye. Reading this piece without knowing it was from Australia, you could easily mistake it for the United States — and that’s pretty scary. The story’s photo caption reads, “The Rev Fred Nile [...]

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Bigotry Watch

Maggie Gallagher: Glenn Beck, Ann Coulter Are GOP’s ‘Elites.’

August 30, 2010 6:47 PM by David Badash
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Elite. It’s a baaaaad word! The moment the Right does not like something anyone says or does, all of a sudden they are classified (really, villified!) as an elite. (Or, of course, an “activist.” That’s akin to the Right’s calling you an S.O.B., but politely.) Anyway, today, the National Organization for Marriage took it upon [...]

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Caleb Eigsti

Watch: Emmy Winner Jane Lynch’s Prop 8 Film

August 30, 2010 11:39 AM by Caleb Eigsti
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Glee’s Emmy award-winning actress, Jane Lynch, stars in this comedic take on classic arguments for Prop 8. In 2008, after the elections and the votes were in, Lynch made “Love Is Love” as a response to the ridiculous nature of the very law that was being created.

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