Last week, I pointed out the absurdity of conservative evangelical minister Franklin Graham’s words of support for Donald Trump, whose only form of worship has been for casinos, trophy wives, and his own reflection in the mirror. I also highlighted the peculiar phenomenon of so-called values voters supporting thrice-married serial adulterer Newt Gingrich.
This week’s example of conservative hypocrisy, however, is priceless. Obsessively anti-gay congresswoman and presidential hopeful Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) reportedly embraced the stars of television hit Glee at a Time magazine gala that took place in New York City’s Lincoln Center.
At this ritzy event, Bachmann and her husband excitedly posed with Glee star Darren Criss and e-mailed the pictures to their children. “We looked for Chris Colfer,” Bachmann said of the gay Glee star, but they didn’t find him. “We don’t watch TV, generally speaking. But the kids were thrilled. What kids don’t watch Glee?”
I am absolutely dumbstruck that Michele Bachmann was star-struck over meeting actors who perform in arguably the gayest show in television history. Glee is so gay that Fox 26 in Houston (KRIV) hosted an idiotic and bigoted show titled, “Is TV Too Gay?”, which focused on an episode where the cast performed a campy show tune remake of Lady Gaga’s song “Born This Way.”
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Bachmann’s desire to pose and preen with Darren Criss and Chris Colfer is incomprehensible and clearly incompatible with her homophobic career. It is the equivalent of me scouting out Pat Robertson at a cocktail party because my family loves the 700 Club. What next? Are we going to find that the Bachmann family’s favorite singer is Lance Bass and preferred movie is Brokeback Mountain?”
This revelation raises serious questions about Bachmann’s sincerity and makes one wonder if her talk of conservative values is just a marketing gimmick to get votes. Is she truly a fundamentalist or a “fake-a-mentalist” whose anti-gay public persona is simply a hick shtick to appeal to rural Republican voters?
Maybe Bachmann is confused and thinks there are different kinds of gays – the bad ones who sodomize and the goody-goody Glee type that harmonize. Or maybe she just doesn’t own the required Focus on the Family handbook which encourages parents to actually know what their children watch on TV.
Whatever her excuse, it is clear that her family’s love for Glee has not led to Bachmann backing off her gay bashing. In April, the congresswoman gave a speech in Iowa to The Family Leader, an anti-gay organization. Here is what she had to say:
“In 5,000 years of recorded human history… neither in the east or in the west… has any society ever defined marriage as anything other than between men and women. Not one in 5,000 years of recorded human history. That’s an astounding fact and it isn’t until the last 12 years or so that we have seen for the first time in recorded human history marriage defined as anything other than between men and between women.”
The Bachmanns acting giddy over Glee would be rather amusing if it weren’t for her ugly anti-gay rhetoric and the insidious legacy she has left in Minnesota. On Monday, a Minnesota State House committee voted 10-7 to advance a constitutional amendment that would prohibit same-sex couples from marrying. Last week, a Minnesota State Senate Committee approved a similar version of the amendment.
Instead of placing her mug in a photo frame with imaginary TV gays from Hollywood, why doesn’t Bachmann stop the rhetorical and legislative mugging of real LGBT people? Perhaps she can take a moment off of the presidential and cocktail circuit to listen to the wisdom of State Rep. Steve Simon (D) who testified against the discriminatory amendment: “How many more gay people does God have to create before we accept that God actually wants them around?”
In her quest to hobnob with Glee’s stars, Bachmann apparently missed the show’s central message – which is love and unconditional acceptance for all, including LGBT people. It is also ironic that Bachmann would cozy up to actors starring in a television series where the homophobes, like her, are the villains.
Much like the stars of Glee, Bachman lives in front of television cameras in a make-believe fantasy world (She actually thinks she can be president). The difference is, once the lights go down, the set is dismantled, and the actors go home – Bachmann has equal rights and people just like the characters she gleefully poses with are second-class citizens.
Dumbstruck that Michele Bachmann is star-struck over ‘Glee’ actors