PLAYING SHAMELESS POLITICS WITH GAY RIGHTS

Right from the get-go let me make myself clear. I am not homophobic. I wish gays and lesbians well. Over the years I’ve had friends that were gay and I’ve worked closely with gays. My gay friends and colleagues have been smart, decent and productive persons. I believe that gays should not be discriminated against in the workplace. I believe in gay rights except when it comes to gay marriage. I agree with those who believe that marriage should be between a man and a woman.

Now that I’ve got that out of the way let me get to Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton’s shameless political play for the gay vote in next year’s presidential election.

On Tuesday, the Obama administration threatened to cut off foreign aid to countries that discriminate against homosexuals. Speaking in Geneva on International Human Rights Day, Clinton said: "Gay rights are human rights, and human rights are gay rights. It is a violation of human rights when people are beaten or killed because of their sexual orientation, or because they do not conform to cultural norms about how men and women should look or behave. It is a violation of human rights when governments declare it illegal to be gay, or allow those who harm gay people to go unpunished."

The Associated Press reports that President Obama has instructed officials across government to "ensure that U.S. diplomacy and foreign assistance promote and protect the human rights of lesbian, gay, and transgender persons," a clear threat to cut off foreign aid to countries that discriminate against homosexuals.

I guess Barack has given up on reaching out to the Muslim world because his advocacy of gay rights goes counter to the Quran which contains passages that declare homosexuality a damnable sin and appear to justify the killing of gay men and lesbians. Saudi Arabia and most other Muslim countries have laws that punish homosexuality.

Obama and Clinton’s foreign policy declaration on gay rights has infuriated the leaders of African countries. With the notable exception of South Africa, almost all the other countries on the African continent have laws banning homosexuality and provide for stiff punishment to people caught violating those laws.

I agree with Gov. Rick Perry who responded to Clinton’s speech by releasing this public statement: “Promoting special rights for gays in foreign countries is not in America’s interests and not worth a dime of taxpayers’ money.”

Why did Obama and Clinton come out with their gay rights foreign policy? They claim it was done to mark International Human Rights Day. If you believe that, I’ve got a good deal for you on some beachfront property in Phoenix. This is why they really did it: How do you spell r-e-e-l-e-c-t-i-o-n c-a-m-p-a-i-g-n?

The gay community has been pissed off at Obama because he declined to support a national gay marriage act. Since gays make up around 15 percent of our population and since they are a very potent voting bloc, the Obama administration’s foreign policy declaration on gay rights is nothing more than a shameless ploy to regain the support of the gay community that Obama may have lost.

And to show you exactly how phony Obama and Clinton are, just think about this. The worst violators of gay rights are the oil rich Muslim countries that don’t need our aid to begin with. Furthermore, the African countries that do need it don’t serve our interests to anywhere near the same extent as do the oil sheikdoms.

When it gets down to push and shove, do you think that the U.S. would really withhold our aid from a gay discriminating country, even for one New York minute, if that country serves our vital interests? Not a fat chance!

While it may have pleased the gay community, the Obama administration’s only real accomplishment with its threat to withhold foreign aid to countries that discriminate against homosexuals, was to piss off a bunch of governments by a phony and shameless ploy to garner gay votes in next year’s presidential election.