Anderson Cooper, Art Smith and Anne Burrell Are Gay . . . And I Don't Care

Anderson Cooper is gay. And I don’t care.

That he felt it was important for him to come out was his business, but I just really don’t care. Should I like him more or less because he’s gay? Is he better at his job because he’s gay? Nicer? Less serious? Better looking? I’m thinking none of the above. Bottom line is that it just doesn’t matter to me at all if a person’s gay or not gay.

Chefs Art Smith and Anne Burrell are gay. Does that make them better chefs? Do I want to try their food because they’re gay.  No. I want to try their food because they’re good chefs.

And the list goes on and one, and since it’s campaign season, this is why I think Republicans are completely on the wrong side of this. A lot of people just don’t care, and see politicians as denying gays of the rights non-gays have. Marriage, healthcare, property rights, employment rights, estate rights. And sooner or later, it’ll bite the GOP on the ass.

Because people get pissed when their friends are denied rights just because they are gay.

I’m old and happen not to be gay, and if I don’t care if someone’s gay or not gay, then what about the wave of younger people? They’ll vote on these social issues. And they don’t want the clock rolled back . . . they want it moving ever forward. And that means the same rights for everyone. If someone wants to come out, great, but for me, it doesn’t change the game.

Republicans are riding the wrong wave . . . the  “anti” wave may over time kill the party, or leave it to old white guys who just love having their heads buried in the sand. Gay marriage doesn’t hurt your marriage. Loving same-sex couples don’t hurt your household. Gay parents don’t hurt you or your kids or how you raise your kids. While some rage that same-sex marriage imperil the “institution of marriage,” I don’t quite get that. You can be well married without a religious ceremony and I’m not sure the marriage track record is all that great in some respects . . . kids still get abused, people still get divorced, etc. etc. So I take those rages as just that . . . rages against something that some people don’t like. But the issue is bigger than that, nd much bigger than the ragers.

When I was a kid, there were no gay people (of course there were, but who knew?). Nobody was out, nobody talked about gay people . . . Times have changed. It’s easier for gays to come out. The social “stigma” is ending. That’s a good thing. Not a bad thing. It’s a civil rights issue, and denying gays equal rights is wrong. I don’t want to deny anyone the rights I have. And while Republicans say they want less government, they seem more than happy to monitor and regulate what goes on in the bedroom (and between you and your doctor, but we’ll deal with that another time).

Keep an eye out . . . Republicans have ruled the political playground in the past, but rolling the clock back is the wrong move for them. They would do well to roll back their extreme social positions and draw more people into their tent. Otherwise, they’ll self destruct.