Log Cabin's Trump Endorsement Proves They Are Morally Bankrupt Racists

I've always hated forced irony. That's probably the reason I hate hipster millennials -- I mean, there's already enough irony in the world you don't have to force it. But true, genuine irony, it's always just so perfect. When two heads of the Log Cabin Republicans (see above) decided to release their Washington Postop-ed endorsing Donald Trump at the same time his Department of Labor decided to allow government contractors to discriminate against LGBTQ employees, it was just ... I believe the meme is "chef's kiss." It was just serendipitous in its beauty and timing. It could not have been scripted or timed better to illustrate just how morally bankrupt that entire organization is and how much of a joke the Log Cabin Republicans are.

I think my track record as a writer has established that I firmly believe that being an LGBTQ person doesn't mean you have to believe a certain ideology, whether it involves economics, politics, or philosophy. The diversity of experience and values we have demonstrates that the one thing that unites us as a community is our shared experiences of being an LGBTQ person, of challenging centuries of ingrained norms about gender and sexuality. The discrimination, oppression, and the general struggles of our lives unite us, but how we go about coping and overcoming them differs in so many ways. From there, we try to find a common ground to express ourselves and find unity, often contentiously yet with an ultimate shared goal.

And then you have these Log Cabin fools.

How LGBTQ people can vote and support Donald Trump and his party is just -- I mean I know how, I just hate saying it about other LGBTQ people; but I guess if they're willing to sell us out, what sense of loyalty should I have toward them? They're bigots and privileged trash. Log Cabin Republicans will sell the entire community out for a gentrified loft, an expense account, and a white neighborhood excluding the hired help.

We white LGBTQ folks don't talk about it much because it makes us incredibly uncomfortable, and honestly a lot of the minority LGBTQ folks don't get a lot of space in our media space to discuss it, but there really is a huge problem of racism in our community. Whether it's nightclub owners refusing to admit black patrons because they dress "thuggish," our culture of preferring white standards of beauty, or not hooking up with people of certain races because it's just a "preference," the discrimination is ubiquitous.

The Log Cabin Republicans, by endorsing Trump, show us who they are. The Muslim bans, the Nazi apologia, the concentration camps and racial purging -- how can anyone who isn't a bigot endorse that? Now, don't for one second think that a gay person can't be a bigot or prejudiced. Trump's most prominent LGBTQ advocates are Peter Thiel, a corporatist who cares nothing for the poor, and Ambassador Richard Grenell, a man who has openly stated that part of his job in Germany is to advance far-right groups and help bring them to power. So when the Log Cabin Republicans endorse and therefore give tacit support to a man who has outright apologized and excused white supremacists, you can only come to one rational conclusion.

I guess you could come to another conclusion: that they're only concerned about their own individual affluence and access to privilege, and to hell with the rest of us. Oh, sure, in their little op-ed they said they will fight for transgender people's right to serve, but honestly, as a trans veteran, I find that to be a bunch of bullshit. If there's one thing that being transgender and a veteran has taught me, it's that people will kiss our ass to make it seem like they care, but won't do shit to actually help us when they get into positions of power. Don't think I hold this contempt just toward conservatives; there's a lot of left-wing socialist and liberal types who do the same thing.

Yet, with Log Cabin Republicans, there is the overwhelming sense that it is about their own personal power that they believe will shield them from bigotry and oppression. Well, I can tell you this right now, the Republicans will still oppress you and take your money. I know folks are fatigued and tired of comparing things to Nazi Germany, but one thing folks don't know about, and really deserves its own unique analysis, is that there were pro-Nazi Jews. They were called the League of National German Jews; upper and upper-middle class assimilationist, nationalist conservatives who claimed ties to German conservative movements and parties (who refused to associate with them). They excused and defended the Nazis because Hitler was just "stirring up the masses." Well, none of that stopped the Nazis from declaring their organization illegal and throwing their leader, Max Naumann, into a concentration camp.

The Log Cabin Republicans are much the same. They say they are fighting for LGBTQ rights, but often conservative LGB folks will throw transgender people under the bus, they will decry LGBTQ activism and culture, especially of the more leftist variety, and associate only with the parts of the community that benefit themselves. To hell with the rest of us, especially if you don't tend toward the lighter-skinned or financially endowed persuasion.

I can respect joining an organization to change it from the inside, to push it to the end goals you think it should aspire to, but there comes a point when one has to recognize that the people you associate with are corrupt beyond redemption and need to be broken apart and removed from power. All LGBTQ rights and cultural advances have come despite the Republican Party fighting tooth and nail the whole way. The Log Cabin Republicans have accomplished nothing -- they'll take credit for chipping away at "don't ask, don't tell," but it was Republican homophobia and resistance to LGB military integration that made the very flawed compromise necessary.

Let's give them some due, because Log Cabin has done something -- they've become tokens for a racist, corporate, and evangelical establishment that would put us in reparative therapy camps if they could. Maybe it's time we start using "Log Cabin" or something similar for the LGBTQ version of "Uncle Tom."