Barney Frank On Why He Compared The Log Cabin Republicans to 'Uncle Tom'

[William769]

Last week at the Democratic National Convention, outspoken Rep. Barney Frank of Massachusetts twice made a quip, comparing the Log Cabin Republicans to the Uncle Tom character in Uncle Tom's Cabin. The statement sparked outrage from Log Cabin's leaders including executive director R. Clarke Cooper and several other organizations. Frank responds in a statement issued Tuesday and additionally cited several articles in the Washington Blade that he says support his claims that the GOP is not gay friendly.

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I am not surprised that members of the Log Cabin Republicans are offended by my comparing them to Uncle Tom. They are no more offended than I am by their campaigning in the name of LGBT rights to elect the candidate and party who diametrically oppose our rights against a President who has forcefully and effectively supported our rights.

That is the first reason for my admittedly very harsh criticism. This election is clearly one in which there is an extremely stark contrast between the two parties on LGBT rights. The Democratic President and platform fully embrace all of the legal issues we are seeking to resolve in favor of equality. The Republican candidate for President and the platform on which he runs vehemently oppose us in all cases. On the face of this, for a group of largely LGBT people to work for our strong opponent against our greatest ally is a betrayal of any supposed commitment to our legal equality.

But my use of “Uncle Tom” was based not simply on this awful fact that they have chosen to be actively on the wrong side of an election that will have an enormous impact on our right to equality, both in fact and in the public perception of the popularity of that cause. If the Log Cabin Republicans – or their even more outlandish cousins, the oddly-named GOProud –were honestly to acknowledge that they let their own economic interests, or their opposition to strong environmental policies, or their belief that we need to be spending far more on the military or some other reason ahead of any commitment to LGBT equality, and on that ground have decided to prefer the anti-LGBT candidate to the supportive one, I would disagree with the values expressed, but would have no complaint about their logic.

http://www.advocate.com/politics/2012/09/11/barney-frank-why-he-compared-log-cabin-republicans-uncle-tom

[Drunken Irishman]

1. You go, Barney!