Tisei Discusses Being Openly Gay in GOP [Poll]
The Republican congressional candidate was featured in a recent Daily Beast article.
It's sure to be an interesting election season when Rep. Barney Frank praises the candidacy of a Republican for Congress.
Republican congressional candidate Richard Tisei was featured in a Daily Beast article this week about gay politicians in the 2012 election.
According to that article, Frank criticized what he called homophobia in the Republican party but "sees an opportunity for the party to start repairing its image on gay issues" if Tisei is elected to Congress. While not an actual endorsement, it sheds light on a possible trend of sexual orientation becoming less of a partisan issue.
If elected in November, Tisei would be the first openly gay Republican member of Congress. And he's hoping that will affect change.
“Within the Republican caucus, just being there will make a big difference,” Tisei reportedly told The Daily Beast. “We’ll never have true equality in the country regarding these issues if we don’t have advocates on both sides of the aisle.”
The Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund, which works to elect LGBT candidates to public office, has endorsed Tisei. And according to the Daily Beast article, the Fund expects to endorse more gay Republican candidates as the election season progresses.
UPDATE: The Daily Beast has since amended their article with a statement from Rep. Barney Frank:
In a statement sent to the Beast after this article was posted, Frank stressed that “the Republican Party has become increasingly hostile to openly gay candidates,” but “has also long treated Massachusetts as an exception… in the interest of maintaining control of the Congress.” Tisei’s candidacy, said Frank, is “of limited relevance to the LGBT effort to win equality.” He added that were the Republican to win, “it would be a setback for LGBT issues,” since “the effect would be to help perpetuate a rigid and militant anti-LGBT majority in the House.”
Thomas J Burke
9:17 am on Friday, April 27, 2012
It is not sexual orientation that matters. Psychiatrists studying gays said it is not a unique illness but a symptom of serious mental illness. Every one of the many gays that I have known had mood swing. So the question is should we put the mentally in in charge of society.
Bill Kelly
10:30 am on Saturday, April 28, 2012
This is the most ignorant post I have ever read on this site.
Bryan McGonigle
10:55 am on Saturday, April 28, 2012
FYI... In the early 1970s, after mountains of scientific data disproved earlier theories that homosexuality was a mental illness, homosexuality was removed from the DSM classifications of mental disorder. That was 40 years ago, and no credible researcher has since even suggested it was a mental disorder or a symptom of mental disorder. In fact psychological studies on gay people have suggested that any psychological problems associated with homosexuality are caused by a societal and family rejection of that person rather than with being gay. With homosexuality being widely accepted in modern times, that has subsided. Also the psychiatrist who authored a famous study promoting "reparative therapy" many years ago has not only retracted it and admitted it was inaccurate, he has recently publicly apologized for it.
Clif Lund-Rollins
11:39 am on Saturday, April 28, 2012
When I first read the title of this article my immediate reaction was "Why is this a topic of discussion in the year 2012?" and then I read the appallingly ignorant posting of Mr. Burke and I was sadly brought back to reality.
Anne Sweeney
4:09 am on Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Why is is that the republicans in Massachusetts are democrats ?
Why is it that the Republicans and the Democrats cannot govern ?
Why is it in Hamilton that the people never know whats' good for themselves or their community ?
Why is it that the everyone associated with the Hamilton/Wenham School system seem to know it all ?
Why do we give Obama, Biden, and Duval Patrick a pass ?
And how can Elizabeth Warren get away with calling herself a native american indian. Cherokee for God's sake. She looks like a Cherokee as much as my Silky Terrier looks like a Pit Bull, c'mon people ?