What The What? There's A Queer In The Statehouse?

It’s no great surprise that many people, myself included, perhaps, think that South Carolina is a little behind the times ... okay, a lot behind the times. I mean, I have often said that, here in our little Red State, it's not the heat, it’s the stupidity.

But, South Carolina has come careening into the 21^st century recently because we have our first ... sorry ... I’m getting verklempt ... our very first openly gay legislator, and a Republican, in one Jason Elliott.

And Jason comes from the Upstate, an ultra-conservative part of South Carolina that is home to the Christian fundamentalist Bob Jones University.

What the what? There’s a queer republican in the Upstate? Is the rest of the state gonna secede from itself?

Elliott, a 46-year-old divorce attorney, says his sexual orientation was not an issue in his campaign—though, to me, it’s huge for the state that we have a ‘mo in the statehouse—and says it’s also irrelevant to his job because his focus is education, increasing jobs and repairing the state's crumbling roads and bridges.

Look, he can sleep with whomever he chooses, but if he can get rid of the potholes and the loose pavement and the crumbling bridges, I’m all for him ... queer or not.

Education is good, jobs are fine, but we have seen our roads and bridges literally fall to pieces while the Legislature, and our former Governor, Nikki Haley do nothing about them.

Sadly, though, Elliott does say he’ll vote along with his GOP colleagues, which pisses me off. I’m happy to have a queer in the statehouse, but if he’s gonna be one of those self-loathing queers that goose-steps along with the GOP because he has an ‘R’ by his name,  then he will have a fight on his hands.

So, here’s hoping that if legislation that is discriminatory to anyone based on sexual orientation or gender identity, or even just plain gender, that Jason Elliott will vote the right way, the equal way, and perhaps sway others in the statehouse to follow suit.

Oh, and fix our roads..

Business Insider

Good News, Bad News: South Carolina Has Its First Openly Gay Legislator

Last week, while driving home from Columbia, a car pulled in front of us, forcing me to hit the brakes to avoid a collision and forcing me to unleash a torrent of foul language … and something about lesbians not knowing how to drive. See, it was a woman who nearly caused the wreck and there was a wee rainbow flag bumpersticker on her car so … yeah, Lesbian’s are bad drivers and F-bomb, F-bomb, F-bomb.

Carlos asked why I was picking on my LGBT sister and I said something to the effect of ‘Just because you’re gay doesn’t mean you’re not an asshat.’

There are gay asshats and straight asshats; black asshats and white asshats; male and female asshats. Republican and Democrat asshats, though that number seems to skew a bit more to the right. But your sexual orientation doesn’t preclude you from asshattery, which leads me to the Good News and Bad News …

Next January, Greenville attorney Jason Elliott will become South Carolina’s first openly gay lawmaker, representing a portion of Greenville that includes conservative and virulently homophobic Bob Jones University.

Elliott is taking his win over incumbent Wendy Nanney — who recently authored the state’s new highly restriction abortion law — as a sign that the GOP … oh, yeah, he’s a Republican … is a more inclusive party.

Still, Good News, right? South Carolina’s first gay representative! I instantly began re-writing a song from The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas — the tune ‘Texas Has a Whorehouse in It’ — into ‘The Statehouse Has a Homo In it.’ And I was also kinda pleased that Elliott wasn’t playing the ‘I’m a gay congressman card,’ but instead was saying:

“I am a Republican and proud to be one. I’m also proud of the fact that I’m a white male, 6 foot, 2 inches with too much gray hair for 45 — and also happen to be gay.”

I mean, does gay have to be our main identifier? Am I a gay man or a man who happens to be gay? Am I that one thing or am I many things? I tend to prefer the latter, myself, starting with the big picture, and working inward … human being, male, white, gay, though I like to think sarcastic and hysterically funny fit in there, too, before The Gay.

Anyway. I liked that we have an openly gay man in the House until …

He is an anti-choice, gun-loving, [t]Rump supporter:

“Trump speaks to the frustration of the American people. I understand that frustration.”

And so maybe I do more readily identify with The Gay part of me because any self-respecting gay man, whether he starts with the gay or ends with it, who will support a man who’s formed an evangelical team of anti-LGBT leaders, doesn’t know from The Gay.

Cue a slew of F-bombs about gay asshats. 

The State