CPAC 2013: 5 Most Anti-Gay Speakers

Does the recent brief in support of same-sex marriage submitted by Republicans to the Supreme Court speak to a change in the position of many in the party regarding LGBT rights? It’s hard to say if that’s the case when the issue continues to be banned from conversation.

As PolicyMic pundit Frank Halger reports, for the second year in a row, CPAC banned groups representing the LGBT community such as GOProud and the Log Cabin Republicans from participating in the event. As you might imagine, this is a flawed plan when it comes to confronting the politics of same-sex marriage and other points of contention for anti-gay Republicans. 

In this political climate many very adamantly anti-gay voices will be represented at CPAC 2013. Below we’ve listed five of the most anti-gay of the bunch. 

1. Rick Santorum

Rick Santorum has long suffered for his anti-gay stances when it comes to the Google search. Any reader of sex advice columnist Dan Savage is well versed in the saga that unfolded following a 2003 statement in which Santorum compared homosexuality to bestiality and pedophilia. But really, the hits just keep coming with this guy as exhibited in Village Voice round-up of his Top Six Anti-Gay Marriage Bites including the gem, “Calling same-sex marriage a marriage would be like calling a cup of tea a basketball.”

2. Rick Perry

Remember that time Rick Perry put out a super offensively anti-gay ad about how the gays stole Christmas? A nasty outing of a top pollster Tony Fabrizi involved with creating the ad sparked outrage within the conservative party. Rick Perry is also on record responding with dismay to a White House memorandum urging support of international human right protections of LGBT individuals, something Perry called a “special right.” Most recently Rick Perry has been speaking out in support of a continued anti-gay policy banning gays from joining boy scouts.

3. Marsha Blackburn

Finally a woman takes the stage! Marsha Blackburn has gone above and beyond to restrict LGBT rights. From working to overturn marriage equality in Washington, D.C., to getting her hands dirty as the co-chair of the committee that created the national Republican platform draft that the Advocate calls the most antigay in history, Blackburn is a busy woman.

4. Mitt Romney

Last year Mitt Romney was blatant in his anti-gay response to President Obama’s support for gay-marriage stating that in his “preference” marriage is to be between a man and a woman.  This position fits well with his long running anti-LGBT record as tracked and reported by the Human Rights Campaign. This is all true despite past attempts to portray himself as tolerant or even a supporter of LGBT rights. Romney also made headlines when his anti-gay bullying of a fellow high-school student presumed to be gay by Romney was revealed in a Washington Post article.

5. Paul Ryan

Certainly Paul Ryan’s anti-gay record was attractive to Mitt Romney in seeking a vice presidential running mate during his recent failed bid for president. While speaking with James Dobson, founder of Focus on the Family, Ryan made a promise to oppose gay rights should the Romney-Ryan ticket win office. Furthermore, Ryan doesn’t view same-sex marriage as part of America’s “universal human values” and directly states this while speaking to a crowd in Cincinnati, Ohio while on the campaign trail last year. In fact, Ryan made headlines when awarded a “zero” rating by the Human Rights Commission on LGBT issues.