Rumors that Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina is secretly gay are persistent, but they normally are not given voice outside of some rowdy political blogs. Yet, every once in a while, someone down in South Carolina can’t help themselves. Back in 2010, William Gheen went there:
William Gheen, head of the conservative, anti-“amnesty,” anti-illegal immigration group Americans for Legal Immigration PAC (ALIPAC), spoke at a Greenville, S.C. Tea Party rally this weekend and called for Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) to “come out of that log cabin closet.”
According to Gheen, being gay is “a secret that Lindsey Graham has.”
Gheen told the crowd: “I hope this secret isn’t being used as leverage over Senator Graham, so today I think Senator Graham, you need to come forward and tell people about your alternative lifestyle and your homosexuality.”
“Barney Frank is more honest and brave than you,” Gheen continued, referring to the openly-gay Massachusetts congressman.
That spectacle even made it onto The Daily Show, where Jon Stewart noted that Graham was being accused of importing immigrants from Gaysylvania over a rainbow bridge.
Coming, as it did, amidst the debate over the Senate’s immigration bill, the seemingly unrelated issues (of immigration and Graham’s sexual orientation) became fused in some people’s minds. Gay activist John Aravosis accused Graham of opposing a provision in the law called the Uniting American Families Act (UAFA) (that would have protected foreign-born gay spouses from being deported) as a kind of compensation for the perception that he is gay.
The obvious question arises as to why Graham is holding gays hostage in the immigration bill.
One theory is that UAFA is Graham’s legislative beard. A beard is a woman a gay man socializes with in order to throw off suspicions that he’s actually gay. In this case, the theory goes, Lindsey Graham is using UAFA in order to throw off the suspicions of the Tea Party voters back home who are challenging him in a high-profile primary. Their suspicions are that: A)Graham is a liberal; and B) he’s gay.
Mr. Aravosis headlined his piece: It’s time to out Lindsey Graham, which kind of made sense until Aravosis said this: “I don’t know if Lindsey Graham is gay. But I’m having a difficult time believing that he’s straight…”
It seems that everyone is certain that Senator Graham is gay, but no one ever provides any proof. And now we have this:
Four of U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham’s announced challengers in June’s Republican primary pledged support for each other Thursday if any of them end up in a runoff with the Seneca incumbent.
But a news conference announcing their alliance on the State House steps took an unexpected turn when the most minor of the candidates, Dave Feliciano of Spartanburg, took the podium and called Graham “ambiguously gay.”
Feliciano said, “It’s about time that South Carolina (says) hey, We’re tired of the ambiguously gay senator from South Carolina. We’re ready for a new leader to merge the Republican Party. We’re done with this. This is what it’s about, all of us coming together and saying, one way or the other, one of us is going to be on that ballot in November.”
A former police officer from Spartanburg with no political experience who recently announced he’s running for Senate, Filiciano signed the pact with state Sen. Lee Bright, Easley businessman Richard Cash and Orangeburg Attorney Bill Connor before the news event began and each candidate gave a statement.
Dave Feliciano and John Aravosis are attacking Lindsey Graham for being gay, but for diametrically-opposed reasons. And, yet, neither of them know what Graham likes to do in the privacy of his own bedroom.
I don’t know quite how to deal with a situation like this. It seems like bullying behavior, first of all. But the hypocrisy of closeted gay Republicans opposing gay rights is infuriating. But no one has any proof that Graham is a hypocrite on this issue. If someone is going to out him for being a hypocrite, I am fine with that. But you have to have proof to do something like that. Otherwise, I think you are just being a prick.
But, then, he’s Lindsey Graham, one of the most dishonest and bloodthirsty politicians in the U.S. Senate. When has he ever been careful about the truth?
I don’t know. He doesn’t deserve it, but I think people should leave him alone on this issue.
Having lived through generations where coming out of the closet was an extraordinary act of courage because mainstream America would, in no small measure, shun you. I can understand a man of Lindsey’s age not wanting to go there, gay or not. If he is straight, there are no words that can assuage the talk of his gayness.
Right now, this gay talk is blackmailing him and apparently he is blackmail able because he does take strange stands that color him reactionary.
If he is gay, he has an opportunity to turn this on its ear, come out and join the group of very courageous gays who have come before him. It would take an act of courage and yes it may lose him his seat but being demeaned is an ugly way to live as well.
That’s just the problem. Graham isn’t the only one to have these accusations leveled at him. Think of the Senator Jon Stewart savaged last night. I wish there was a way to find out where these rumors started. But there has to be good reason guys like Aravosis and Howie of DWT(both well connected), among others, think/feel the way they do. And I’m pretty sure they didn’t start it. Why hasn’t it been publicly proven? I don’t know. Maybe these ones that could prove it fear for their lives if they made that info public. Remember Mark Foley? People obviously knew about that yet it was kept under wraps for years. But that’s just the thing. I don’t feel sorry for Graham or Yertle the Turtle. They want to hurt people instead of doing the right thing and still their fellow travelers on the right don’t like or respect them one bit.
There are people who seem gay but are not. Condoning this kind of blackmail cheapens our culture. As hateful a person as Graham is, I cannot support “outing” him without proof. Now, if there were proof, I’d be all for pointing out his hypocrisy. But until that proof arrives, those who seek to make political hay on Graham’s effeminate demeanor are the ones who should be called to account for themselves.
In the world that I would prefer, Graham is allowed to lve the life he wants.
In the world he would prefer, children starve, do not receive health care.
Excuse me if I am fresh out of ‘breaks’.
No Republican deserves a break. Ever. Their politics are entirely based upon deception and personal destruction; I won’t shed a tear when they turn on each other.
This.
All fucking year long.
Graham’s “ambiguous” sexuality is based on his odd mannerisms, which seem to some as quite effeminate. No one has come up with any “page boy” scandals, or “wide stances” in men’s rooms to substantiate any of this. That’s quite an accomplishment for a politician of Graham’s tenure, if he is indeed gay. He just acts sort of swishy, which in my opinion strikes me as similar to the stereotyped southern plantation owner than any stereotyped gay person.
I would have guessed that this idea of gay stereotypes no longer had any traction in today’s society. Acting “stereotypically” gay does not mean you are gay.
I’m not sure what I think about this, and I ascribe my uncertainty to my liberal misgivings about wielding power–unlike the more-resolute commenters above.
The subtext of this blog is often our mixed feelings about becoming The Establishment. The Establishment, I think, does not hesitate to gain or consolidate power via bullying … or it doesn’t remain the Establishment for long.
Aravosis isnt being a prick, he IS a prick. Always has been.
What”s especially irritating about the gay-baiting of Graham by liberals (including Jon Stewart, who does a lot of great work otherwise) is that it’s a regression to “gays are faggy and laughable” on the part of people who act as if they’re above all that homophobia when the subject is, say, Jason Collins or John Aravosis. Sorry — bigoted mockery is bigoted mockery.
I read at Down With Tyranny that Graham has a live-in boyfriend. Inquire there for additional confirmation, if interested.
Most of his political stances are reprehensible. If he’s also gay he’s also a hypocrite, so we know he chose the correct political party.
Oh no… we don’t want him. Don’t even think about it.
LOL This did not endear him to the Tea Party
Planning an intervention for Boehner? No just sanctions on Russia.
Why would we care if he’s gay? There are an infinite number of reasons why decent human beings would vote against this man. Hypocrisy on this topic would be a small sin in the grand scheme of things. We don’t need to stoop to using rumors about his sexuality against him.
This same question was the subject of a post within the last couple of days at BJ. One of the commenters, obviously a South Carolinian, opined that Graham was asexual because commenter has never gotten gay vibes from Graham. Also noted that commenter’s neighors were all ready to get rid of the relatively newly minted South Carolina African American Republican Senator.
Back in, I think it was 2005, Howard Dean dismissed one of John’s buddies from some stupid position.
The guy went apeshit. He went on a rampage, storming around and screaming that he – John Aravosis – would crush Howard Dean like a ripe mango. That last bit is what sticks in the mind: WTF?
About the only stupid cliche he didn’t mouth was I MADE YOU AND I CAN BREAK YOU JUST AS EASILY!
So it surprises me not in the least to read of the little man dealing in character assassination through innuendo.
“I’ll crush you like a ripe mango” is kinda funny, though. If my four year old said it, I’d die laughing.