Gay Governor Slams Gay Veterans
Wednesday, June 08, 2005
(SNN Austin) Texas Gov. Rick Perry suggested that gay veterans unhappy with the proposed anti-gay constitutional amendment should move elsewhere. This came as quite a surprise to the many Texans who think Perry is gay.
The comment was met with some animosity from the 66,000 retired gay servicemen and women living in Texas.
When asked what he would tell gay war veterans, Perry replied, “"I'm going to say Texas has made a decision on marriage and if there's a state with more lenient views than Texas, then maybe that's where they should live." The comment was met with some animosity from the 66,000 retired gay servicemen and women living in Texas.
On Feb. 26th, in an Austin Chronicle piece entitled “It’s OK to Be Gay” numerous rumors were brought up about Perry’s sexuality. The rumors even go as far as to suggest that he was having a sexual relationship with his Secretary of State, Geoff Conner. If he was having an affair with Conner, it would be the most shocking development since closeted GOP governor of New Jersey, James McGreevey was forced to resign for sexually harassing his Homeland Security Advisor.
Just because some reporters found "no evidence" to support the rumors doesn't mean the rumors do not have some basis.
The story mentions the numerous rumors that "the governor's marriage is in trouble, that his wife Anita has/will/may decide to divorce him, and that the issue is Rick's alleged infidelity, with one or another member of his administration of undetermined gender.
While these unsubstantiated rumors do not seem like much, in Texas they constitute enough information to brand someone as gay, literally. To date, Perry has not been able to prove that he is not gay, and just expects to be taken at his word. And, just because some reporters found "no evidence" to support the rumors doesn't mean the rumors do not have some basis.
The most important thing to remember is that if you have a Republican Governor, there is a high probability that he is gay. And there’s nothing wrong with that, as long as he does not abuse his position to do favors for sexual partners while signing venomous anti-gay legislation, which he will invariably do.
