The message you are sending if there is something wrong with being gay. Something to be shamed. Even if you don’t mean too.
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Outing someone with the goal of causing negative effects reinforces the idea that coming out of the closet is bad.
It’s analogous to people who think that not believing Tara Reade is harmful to future rape victims by creating a disincentive for reporting rape. Some people think that it’s okay to out Lindsey Graham because the gain is worth it. Some people think that it’s okay to put the best possible spin on rape allegations against Joe Biden because defeating Donald Trump is worth it. Some people think that it is never ok to cause that sort of damage and would never out Lindsey Graham or vote for Joe Biden.
This assumes the stupidest, least informed and aware recipient of the message possible. Nothing good has ever come from allowing ourselves to be held hostage to that hypothetical moron imo.
I’m not necessarily arguing for the opposite side, but I am trying to foster understanding for why people believe what they do, especially when it is contrary to what you want.
Some people believe that all that matters is that there is a net positive outcome. Some people believe that certain things are always wrong and there are certain lines that shouldn’t be crossed. Most people pick their preferred outcome first, then work backwards to find whatever reasoning will support getting there.
If the reason you want to out Lindsay is that you want to cause him pain, have at it I guess. But if the reason is that you think it will cost him votes, you’re saying that you think people shouldn’t vote for him because he’s gay. Maybe that will work on some Trumpkins. Maybe blasting Trump has a Jew-daughter would cost Trump some votes too.
Or, by watching voters turn against a long time Senator, they see, once again, that even the most powerful people can lose their jobs for being gay, so you damn well better not get caught.
If going back in time and blasting Trump for having a Jew-daughter would cost Trump enough votes to swing the election, would you do it? Assume you can only go back in time to do that and can’t go back to do anything else.
- Yes
- No
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I would go back in time and eat babies if that had swung the election.
No, it’s because we think people shouldn’t vote for him because he’s a huge hypocrite who supports monstrous anti-gay policies despite being gay himself.
All the people who wouldn’t vote for him due to that message are already not voting for him.
How can anyone really think that? If anyone is an obvious hypocrite it’s Graham.
Lots of things people won’t even pay any attention to. But this is a very obvious example that can’t really be explained away by, “my position evolved,” type talk.
Obama and Clinton were not themselves gay men.
The story here isn’t that Lindsey Graham is gay. Everyone knows that Lindsey Graham is gay, that’s got to be one of the worst kept secrets in Washington. Also, it’s 2020 and nobody cares. Him being gay costs him exactly zero votes. The story here is that Lindsey Graham is patronizing sex workers. That’s incredibly hypocritical, it’s illegal, and it’s a big deal. Change the facts. Let’s say he was patronizing female sex workers. Would it be ok to out him? Of course it would. Would that possibly damage or derail his career? Of course it would. So why is it any different if he’s patronizing male sex workers.
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All these people who voted for Donald Trump are going to care that Lindsay Graham went to a sex worker? Yeah, right. It’s dead girl or live boy and everyone knows that.
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It ended Elliot Spitzer’s career.
They won’t all care. But some will. And he’’s in a tight race.
Democrat.
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There was that republican governor too, I forget his name. Anyway this isn’t a dead girl live boy situation unless you are implying he was dallying with underage boys. The number of people that care that he is gay is miniscule, in either party. I agree that not many people care that he used a sex worker either, but that’s the story here, not that it was male sex workers.
I don’t think this gay bashing will cost Lindsay any votes. Some Republicans would have to say they cared whether he was gay or not, and maybe whether or not he was with a sex worker, and maybe even whether or not he is a hypocrite, but they will just not believe you (or say they don’t).