Friday, March 20, 2015

"A Message To The Aaron Schock Apologists"


It's giving Shock more attention than he deserves but hey, it's Friday night. Time to pop open a brew, kick back, and chuckle at all kinds of ludicrosity...




FIRST PERSON

A Message From ‘The Bitchy Gay Community’ To The Aaron Schock Apologists


10371999_10152826227268545_5193274257061227715_nWith his article titled “Hey Gays: Leave Aaron Schock Alone” published on The Daily Beast, correspondent James Kirchick urges gay people to back off from ridiculing the soon-to-be-former United States Congressman.
Hey James: fat chance.
Kirchick, referring to those who’ve taken issue with Mr. Schock, his extravagant spending and antigay voting record, writes the “bitchy gay community” is up in arms because of “rumors” that Schock is a closeted gay man and that the real reason many people have disdain for the chiseled, Ken Doll-esque congressman is because we all “want him.”
Really? We all want him? That’s a little presumptuous, Mr. Kirchick. Was there a poll taken? I remember taking a poll for CrossFit and I definitely got the one for not eating carbs, but I must have clearly missed the “Who Wants To Shtook Schock” poll.
10689823_10152882423143545_361231223756072613_nOur disdain for Schock has nothing to do with his alleged good looks. It’s because of his character. Or lack of it, to be precise.   
It seems in this day and age, you can’t dislike anyone for honest reasons, such as a person’s character. You can’t dislike Kanye without being a racist, Madonna without being an ageist, or Taco Bell without being a rational-thinking human being.
John Carroll
John Carroll
Now as far as me not liking Aaron Schock because I want him — child, please. I will personally stand next to Schock in a Speedo and go muscle to muscle any day of the week (except Sunday — that’s my “cheat day”). In fact, he could have all the muscles in Chelsea and WeHo combined, but the thing Schock lacks and the thing that most resonates with the “bitchy queens” is the soon-to-be-former Congressman’s lack of ethics.
Now dare I say, that is the reason we do not like her… I mean, him.
In his article, Kirchick writes that Schock’s closetedness “isn’t hard to understand” considering, “his party remains largely unwelcome to openly gay officials (only two Republican congressmen, Steve Gunderson and Jim Kolbe, have been elected while being openly gay), and it’s doubtful that Schock’s coming out would (literally) play well in Peoria. “
10384517_10152747626483545_1210406958021515047_nAccording to Kirchick’s line of thinking, if Schock were to publicly come out and live his authentic life, he would be pushed aside, looked over and basically discriminated against by the Republican Party.
Let me tell you a story. I am opposed to Nazis. I truly am. Knowing that I do not share the same ideology as Nazis, I choose to not be associated with an organization that embraces ideals I do not agree with and has historically done things to hurt people like myself.
This leads us, in the “bitchy gay community,” to then put two thoughts together and come to the conclusion that maybe, just maybe, Schock believes in his Republican constituent’s ideology when it comes to LGBT rights.
071810_anhq_schock_FNC_071810_14-03Kirchick writes that Schock has voted against gay marriage, against repealing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and against the institution of harsher criminal penalties for hate crimes. A mere two sentences later, Kirchick tries to say that, “There’s no evidence that Schock personally discriminated against gay people,” which makes one wonder if he has even read his own article. Call me crazy (I’ve been called worse), but voting against LGBT rights, is a form of discrimination.
These facts alone are enough, more than enough, actually, for the “bitchy gay community” to not like Aaron Schock.
But wait there’s more.
10491153_10152588722138545_4478406095103206588_nTake for instance, Schock’s extravagant spending. His Downton Abbey themed office, which by the way is not gay at all, sparked an ethics complaint against the congressman and he ultimately had to repay $40,000. He has taken staffers to New York on taxpayer’s money, flights worth over $40,000 on donors’ planes, and spent $24,000 on events, one of them being an out-of-state Katy Perry concert, again, not the least bit gay. Schock also billed the Federal Government for logging approximately 170,000 miles on his personal car that, when sold, had an odometer reading of 80,000 miles. So “We The People” also paid for over 90,000 miles on Aaron Schock’s car that were never driven.
Kirchick and others can try and spin this however they want. The truth is, the fall of Aaron Schock is because Aaron Schock has performed less like an United States Congressman than a privileged party boy who is all show and no substance.
This card-carrying member of the “bitchy gay community” and many others like me are not supporters of Aaron Schock because he hasn’t earned it. It doesn’t matter where on the spectrum of sexuality he falls — though evidently, it’s somewhere between rabid Downton Abbey fan and Katy Perry backup dancer.

John Carroll is a Broadway performer, writer and activist. For more information on him, go to TheJohnCarroll.com. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram @MrJohnCarroll.

1 comment:

Jeffrey Goines said...

This is an excellent response, and an excellent article! With fiery glee, I can see that, lately the true Spirit of Freedom is lighting its way back through homosexual persons of both gdnders, and that transgendered bros and sisters are coming on with verve, and great intelligence! Bravo! After years of "gays" (O, the lovely, innocuous little word!) complacently saying nothing about the horrors of Iran (others exist too, but that monstrosity is the worst, despite a magnificent people, a very ancient and extremely rich culture. Truly, we have to be aware that our gains are always fragile, and that all sorts of gays exist around us, old, young and in between, of every shade of melanin, rich and poor, and not only the reaganized ones agonizing about redecorating their kitchen, driving their Toyota Prius whose battery is unrecyclable, because of their so sincere wish to "save the planet" blatantly and artificially. Saving the planet starts with really caring about those around us, with a good heart, be they "gay" or not, for that matter. Whether we want it or not, we are all connected. The artificial and dry insularity prevalent for about 30 years now, in view of the ghastly state our whole world is in, is becoming dangerous