Shame_On_Matt t1_j1avg2a wrote
Reply to comment by The_CerealDefense in ‘Openly Gay’ Rep.-Elect George Santos Didn’t Disclose Divorce With Woman by mission17
I’m as progressive and gay as they get. But like, how do you vet if someone is gay? Why does the media care he divorced a woman?
My mentor in my career is an open and proud gay man, with two kids and an ex wife.
He had a machismo homophobic Italian family and thought he would have to live his life in the closet until he moved to nyc and started living his truth.
The articles I see about this guy not being gay feel like a high school fucking gossip fest. Find something new to talk about. Let this man’s sexuality go. This is making us stupid.
Main_Photo1086 t1_j1brru3 wrote
If he wasn’t lying about everything else in his life, I’d agree. Many gay people have been married to people of the opposite sex. I’m just less likely to believe one of those people is this guy whose name is allegedly “George Santos.”
Shame_On_Matt t1_j1bvsd7 wrote
But like, even if he lying about being gay, why is it any of our business? And how would you prove that unless you conducted a series of creepy purity tests? I hate this. It’s gross
KosherSloth t1_j1ceqjb wrote
are you seriously asking why people care if a politician lies about their sexuality?
Shame_On_Matt t1_j1cm6ni wrote
No, I’m asking why we care. Even if he did lie you have no way of proving it without a series of creepy and overly intrusive purity tests. It’s awful
KosherSloth t1_j1dzj6l wrote
You’re unsure why people are upset that a politician is lying?
edit: politician, not political
Shame_On_Matt t1_j1fueyv wrote
I’m not, I’m asking why people are so determined to figure out his sexuality when it seems like there’s a million things you can accost him for.
KosherSloth t1_j1gmcjv wrote
because lying about being gay is super fucking weird and fucked up?
Shame_On_Matt t1_j1gs5xa wrote
But how do you know he’s lying? Do you see my point? Just by virtue of telling someone they’re lying about being gay makes YOU the weird and fucked up one.
Because once again: it’s none of your business
KosherSloth t1_j1kqv4r wrote
lmao he’s a politician. his personal life is literally a matter of public interest.
Shame_On_Matt t1_j1m61zb wrote
Once again, you sound like one of those Obama “truthers”
Main_Photo1086 t1_j1czzyn wrote
That’s not the point. A purity test or whatever would be gross. No one deserves that. But I can’t help you understand if you are hyperfocused on this particular piece when the reason people are pissed is because he has lied about nearly everything he talked about in his bio. This is just part of that long trail of likely lies.
Shame_On_Matt t1_j1dtoub wrote
It’s pretty simple. If he’s lying about everything else, focus on the stuff that matters. His sexuality does not.
mission17 OP t1_j1e7qv9 wrote
So if he was lying about his sexuality but not anything else, that would be okay?
His sexuality matters because he foregrounded that identity and explicitly invoked it in his support of Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay Bill.” He’s very much advocating for policies that threaten gay people, and he’s using his identity as a gay man, manufactured or real, to justify that.
Shame_On_Matt t1_j1ftzb0 wrote
If he was lying about his sexuality you wouldn’t be able to prove it either way and the people trying to find the truth would sound like a bunch of losers on the same level as the losers trying to figure out where Obama was born.
mission17 OP t1_j1fvn89 wrote
At the very least you could verify the claim that he was “openly gay” for a decade. A fact that’s definitely complicated by the fact he had a wife.
Shame_On_Matt t1_j1fwd2x wrote
It’s none of your business though. Why do you feel like it’s your business? Do you wanna sleep with him?
mission17 OP t1_j1fynjo wrote
No. But politicians lying about every aspect of their identity to deceive voters is incredibly material to their role as a member of the U.S. House, one of the most powerful people in the country.
It’s our business because he elected to become a public figure and represent himself as openly gay.
Shame_On_Matt t1_j1fz7sv wrote
It’s not though. It’s your business if youre a constituent to hold him accountable to the platform you voted him in to execute.
Are you even his constituent?
mission17 OP t1_j1fzvxt wrote
It’s permissible for politicians to lie directly to their constituents so long as he votes for the platform he promised? The bar is in hell.
Shame_On_Matt t1_j1g2pj5 wrote
What? it’s not permissible to lie to constituents about anything regarding your platform, your priorities, your strategy, where you get your money, etc.
When did I say it was?
Im done with this argument.
mission17 OP t1_j1g339m wrote
Only okay to lie about your background and who you actually are. Gotcha.
Shame_On_Matt t1_j1g6uc2 wrote
Can you prove he’s not gay?
mission17 OP t1_j1g73c1 wrote
Is is incredibly plausible to prove he was not “openly gay.”
Shame_On_Matt t1_j1gs8k3 wrote
What constitutes openly gay?
mission17 OP t1_j1gtwq5 wrote
Sounds like a question he should answer for the public.
Shame_On_Matt t1_j1i0hok wrote
You sound just like the truthers convinced Obama wasn’t born in the United States. You realize that?
mission17 OP t1_j1i2nzu wrote
I think the pretty critical difference here is that Obama didn’t conceal a divorce or lie about his entire resume. Context is pretty important here.
Shame_On_Matt t1_j1i3svy wrote
You can keep caveating why youre different but at the end of the day, being gay or straight has zero to do with your job as a politician.
Even if you succeeded in finding out if he had a heterosexual past, now what?
In every single scenario you’re the bad person here. Plain and simple.
Why are you so determined to find out this man’s true sexuality?
mission17 OP t1_j1i557p wrote
You seem to be confused about what the problem is here. If Obama had lies about where he grew up, where he went to college, what his ethnicity was, or where he went to school, and there was clear evidence of this, it would be actual concrete evidence indicating he’s a deceptive person and not fit for office.
Of course one can be gay and married to a woman. It’s quite a bit more difficult to be married and “openly gay.” While that is still possible, certainly, it poses some major questions about the truthfulness of this man and his integrity as an elected official that he owes his constituency an answer for.
This isn’t a case of your accountant or mailman not telling you about their divorce, this is a U.S. Representative who will certainly be voting on critical legislation implicating gay rights multiple times through his term. His identity could potentially have no bearing on his job as a politician, but this man has already used his identity to justify anti-LGBTQ legislation. It’s clear it does have a bearing.
I understand you feel any questions about this are off limits and would be totally fine with him lying about his personal life— I do not. I really don’t understand why you feel you should get a veto on these sorts of questions, either, when it’s clear it’s relevant to so many others.
Shame_On_Matt t1_j1i7lmc wrote
Sorry I apologize, I didn’t realize you had to be authenticated by the gay society as authentically gay to be allowed to vote on anti gay legislation without facing backlash.
mission17 OP t1_j1i8wtf wrote
I think you should refresh yourself on some gay history and how outing politicians who voted for anti-LGBTQ legislation was critical for the Queer rights movement: https://www.advocate.com/commentary/2019/11/14/how-outing-republican-25-years-ago-changed-politics-forever
In this case the idea is the same. Hold your Representatives who have power over your human rights accountable to honesty.
If a politician wants to use their sexuality to justify an anti-LGBTQ agenda, they can be very much held to account to answer questions about it. I still don’t understand why your indifference to asking politicians difficult questions should preclude anybody else from doing so.
Shame_On_Matt t1_j1ixvia wrote
this is no way shape or form related to outing anti gay politicians. That was absolutely necessary.
Maybe you should form the legion of gays to start authorizing who is and isn’t gay since you’re obviously the authority.
mission17 OP t1_j1j4m5i wrote
> this is no way shape or form related to outing anti gay politicians
If you say so, then it must totally be true.
mission17 OP t1_j1azqka wrote
“Openly” is the key word. Did his wife know? Did anybody in his life actually know? Or is he just using this as a front to justify his support of anti-LGBTQ legislation, using the identity as a shield from criticism?
Even if he is gay, but wasn’t out, this is pretty clearly a lie he’s telling to win votes.
It may not be important at all if he wasn’t openly advocating for rolling back the rights of LGBTQ people.
The_CerealDefense t1_j1b12em wrote
I think the assumption (I'm making) was that the marriage was a green card fraud... im sure thats the connections others are making but they cant prove it yet
mission17 OP t1_j1b2731 wrote
I’m not making that assumption and I think it’s fair to call in question even his sexuality. He’s lied about his Jewish ancestry, his parents fleeing the Holocaust, his work history, his educational background, and more. To assume this one aspect of his identity is truthful in light of this new information is an incredibly generous read.
Shame_On_Matt t1_j1bw1i1 wrote
This is so fucking creepy, why are you so creepy? How would you even prove that he’s gay or straight without a series of fucking weird purity tests? This is gross. Please stop.
rainzer t1_j1c7cl1 wrote
And you wonder why people can't take progressives seriously. It's creepy to call out a proven pathological liar a liar because he says he's gay? Fuck outta here
koalafly t1_j1cchm9 wrote
Who cares if he’s gay or not? Everything else alleged is 1000x more meaningful and malicious.
rainzer t1_j1eimtw wrote
If you don't care or think it matters, then why do you care if anyone asks if it's the 1359th lie on his list of lies?
Shame_On_Matt t1_j1cmdt6 wrote
I don’t give a flying fuck what you think of me or progressives. I honestly welcome being sidelined by a crowd who is preoccupying themselves with who is and isn’t gay. This is truly disgusting behavior. Look at what you’re defending. It’s despicable.
LonelyGuyTheme t1_j1czrfz wrote
Look at who you’re defending.
Shame_On_Matt t1_j1dtx87 wrote
Sorry, are you suggesting I curb my principles for politics? Nah. Not today.
rainzer t1_j1e0b6n wrote
What am I defending?
np for this conversation I am a gay black gangbanger with a kid that didn't get into Stuy because of asians and jews so I should be allowed to kill those old ladies np. You can't question me cause that'd be fuckin creepy. Why so creepy man
LonelyGuyTheme t1_j1czn47 wrote
If the man lies about everything else, it’s reasonable, to assume he may be lying about being gay too.
Is there any record of him sharing he is a gay before he announced his candidacy for office? His candidacy announcement, just 12 days after divorcing a woman?
Shame_On_Matt t1_j1du6ld wrote
If he lies about everything else.
Talk 👏 about 👏 something 👏 else 👏
yallaretheworst t1_j1gdd0m wrote
But he’s said he’s been openly gay for a decade. I think that’s more the issue. Like if the wife was from ten years ago sure. But it’s just that he’s lied about everything. So.
Shame_On_Matt t1_j1gscsl wrote
So find something else he’s lying about and focus on that? See. It’s easy. He lied about his career. Horrible piece of shit. He should step down. Ez.
But his sexuality? This ain’t any of our business
yallaretheworst t1_j1ib2qy wrote
It is our business if he made it a campaign issue. The dude loves the anti-gay bill in Florida. Him being gay is absolutely up for discussion
Shame_On_Matt t1_j1ixmqy wrote
Sorry I didn’t realize being an authorized gay by the gay society was a prerequisite for trying to pass a don’t say gay bill. I just thought being a horrible person was the only prerequisite required. I’ll try to check my preconceptions from now on.
yallaretheworst t1_j1kdf0l wrote
If you do something to harm a marginalized community, it’s news if you are or are lying about being a member of that community. It is not rocket science dude
koalafly t1_j1ccm95 wrote
Don’t care if he’s gay or not but everything else called out is 1000x worse and more malicious if true (and the non-denials sure make it seem like it is).
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