By Steven Gan
Now that I have your attention, as most of you already know, Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) threw his hat into the ring in early June and is now one of the many Republican candidates for President of the United States vying for a position on the Fox News debate stage. Personally, I’ve never been impressed with Senator Graham, since he represents and promotes many of the conservative Republican issues that I feel are diametrically opposed to the best interests of this country.
But, as a gay American, what recently grabbed my attention was Graham’s response to a question about the former Olympian Bruce Jenner’s transition to Caitlyn Jenner.
“I haven’t walked in her shoes. I don’t have all the answers to the mysteries of life,” Graham said. “I can only imagine the torment that Bruce Jenner went through. I hope he’s — I hope she has found peace.”
Graham continued, “I’m a pro-life, traditional marriage kind of guy, but I’m running to be President of the United States. If Caitlyn Jenner wants to be a Republican, she is welcome in my party.”
I was awestruck by his response, which is not in line with the usual mocking and sin-baiting that some of the other ultra-conservative Republicans, like former Governor Mike Huckabee, are keen to do. I also thought there was actually a little bit of compassion in his comment, which again is not part of a conservative Republican’s DNA.
I then started to think that maybe Lindsey Graham’s open-mindedness toward Jenner was in part based on his expectation that Republicans might start to judge his own marital situation, now that he’s a presidential candidate. Here’s a 60-year-old man who has never been married, does not seem to have a special person in his life at the moment, does not have any children, and talks about having a “rotating first lady” in the White House, should he be elected. His bachelorhood may not sit well with a large segment of his party’s voters – those very conservative Republicans who never miss an episode of 19 Kids and Counting and worry that religious liberties in this country are being quashed by the gay agenda.
From my standpoint, especially as a gay American, I couldn’t care less about Lindsey Graham’s marital status – or any other aspects of his personal life. However, unfortunately for Graham, despite how far we have come in this country on marriage equality and understanding diversity in general, many in his party will still view his lifetime bachelorhood as “weird” enough to constitute a big minus against him on his running-for-President report card.
Just take the comment from our own illustrious Senator Mark Kirk. On June 11, he was caught on a hot mic calling Graham a “bro with no ho.” And to compound what Kirk later claimed was a silly joke, he followed it up with the explanation, “That’s how we would say it on the South Side.” Kirk’s comments were anti-woman and anti-African American. But that’s not all.
Kirk, too, lacks traditional Republican marriage credentials: he married at age 40, was divorced eight years later, and has no children. Given his own marital history, Kirk is a perfect example of the hypocrisy we’ve come to expect from the GOP—Republicans who will find Graham’s singlehood noteworthy, despite their own divorces and other marital and parental anomalies.
Bigotry toward Graham’s lack of a perfect family photo by many in his own party will dog him during a long and arduous campaign, which once again will highlight the GOP’s true colors. As for me, I’m glad that my party cares about candidates’ policies and not their family photos.