It’s Pride Month, and that means Republican lawmakers and right-wing influencers are jumping to social media to express their contempt for the LGBTQ+ community and the Pride celebrations that will be taking place all month.
Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn) is doing damage control after apparently taking things a step too far even for his own party.
On Tuesday night, Ogles’ office claimed it had “reprimanded” an unnamed staffer who had posted “Homosexuality has no place in America. Happy Nuclear Family Month” to Ogles’ official X account earlier that same day.
“Earlier today while working on the farm, my phone began going crazy because of a post made by a member of my comms team,” Ogles wrote Tuesday night. “The post was stupid, hurtful and a complete distraction from my America First focus. The employee has been reprimanded.”
Ogles’ social media account is packed with extremist rhetoric targeting virtually every minority community in the country. While he deleted the attack on gay Americans, posts claiming that “the only antidote to mass rape is mass remigration” (a reference to a white nationalist concept), accusing LGBTQ+ youth support groups of participating in “child grooming,” and claiming that Islam and America are “incompatible,” remain on his profile. Ogles has also campaigned in opposition to same-sex marriage, and when the Supreme Court overturned the federal right to abortion care, Ogles wrote that the right to marriage for LGBTQ+ individuals was “next.”
Even some Republicans found the anti-Pride post distasteful. New York Rep. Mike Lawler, who is caught in a tough reelection battle, responded to his colleague on X. “Homosexuality exists. In America. In fact Andy, you have family, friends, neighbors, colleagues and constituents who are gay and lesbian,” he wrote. “It doesn’t make them less than or somehow unworthy of being an American. What an absolutely idiotic statement to make.”
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) told TMZ that “homosexuals have been part of humanity” for “all of recorded history.”
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“The behavior of consenting adults in their business,” Cruz said.
It’s not a very strong reprimand from Cruz, who once called the legalisation of same-sex marriage a form of “tyranny.” It would also be a mistake to think that the mild criticism Ogles received from his own party was an expression of support for LGBTQ+ equality, rather than a slap on the wrist for essentially posting the core belief of the right’s anti-LGBTQ+ agenda.
Republicans across the country still used the kickoff of Pride month to highlight the string of culture war homophobia initiatives they’ve been cultivating. The governors of Indiana and Tennessee have declared June will be celebrated as “nuclear family month,” instead of Pride month. Texas Senate candidate and current state Attorney General Ken Paxton kicked off Pride month by suing the city of Denton for hosting a “Big Gay Swim Day” at a public pool. In Fresno, California, the County Board of Supervisors banned public libraries from participating in Pride festivities.
Pride is a reminder of all the struggles undertaken by LGBTQ+ Americans in the pursuit of equality. It also offers a yearly reminder from Republicans that they intend to reverse any progress made if given the opportunity. Ogles may be blaming his staff for posting that gay people have no place in America, but there’s no doubt he’s using his position in Congress to try to restrict their rights.
From Rolling Stone US
