Weekend Briefs: Thomas Roberts wonders how Mehlman can come off as not being a hypocrite

Hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend!

So I’ve been watching and reading the coverage on President Bush’s campaign manager in 2004 and a former chairman of the Republican National Committee Ken Mehlman coming out and now wanting to work for marriage equality. He spent 43 years “getting comfortable with this part of his life.”

During those years, he was part of the GOP leadership when the party was stepping up its anti-gay activities and when anti-gay initiatives and referenda would appear on November ballots in 2004 and 2006 to help Republicans.

It was a heartbreaking time for gay Americans to have to endure election night 2004 when all those states approved anti-gay legislation – it was a kick in the gut.

So I don’t have very good feelings about Mehlman because he knew he was gay then and went along with it all and worked for this hateful platform.

I’m not ready to just cheer and embrace him just because he now has seen the light. It’s not like he was a confused teenager when he contributed to the GOP cause that further divided our still-divided country.

He made our lives even harder.

That’s why I’m glad that MSNBC anchor and Advocate On-Air host Thomas Roberts, an openly gay journalist, got personal when talking with GOProud chairman Christopher Barron about Mehlman’s recent announcement.

In a recent segment, Barron praised Mehlman for having the courage to come out. In response, Roberts lumps himself in with the millions of gay and lesbian Americans shocked that Mehlman would work for an administration fighting to add discrimination to the U.S. Constitution.

Here is the segment which an illustration of why newsrooms should absolutely be more diverse:

TO BE BLUNT: Conservative minister Crispin Blunt split rom his wife of 20 years then told the world that he is gay.

Good grief, who’s next?

The 50-year-old politician is the uncle of actress Emily Blunt who has starred in such films as The Devil Wears Prada.

The UK’s Daily Mail reports:

‘He decided to come to terms with his homosexuality and explained the position to his family. There is no third party involve­ment, but this is difficult for his fam­ily and he hopes for understanding and support for them.’ Mr Blunt apparently told his wife and children, Claudia, 18, and Fred­erick, 16, around two weeks ago. The news was a profound shock to them.”

One Tory MP who knew of Mr Blunt’s decision to go public said: ‘Crispin is a guy who has had to wrestle with this for 30 or 40 years and had quite a conventional life. He hit 50 and suddenly realised that was not who he was. He’s a straight-acting person. He’s not out on the town, going to gay bars. It’s a personal journey.”

All I gotta say is, “straight acting” means nothing!

My thoughts: I also think, and hope, that the younger generation will continue to come out at a younger age and not create a false life that can hurt so many people.

It is ironic that so many homophobes like to characterize openly gay people as less than when really they are quite courageous – every single day – to insist on being accepted for who they are.

So far, Mehlman and Blunt have done a courageous thing by coming out. We will have to see how they conduct their lives from here on end and what they do to atone for their past lies and the collateral damage caused by them.