Subscribe to Breaking NewsWithers: Jack Kemp’s complicated past
When it came to gay rights, Jack Kemp was part of the GOP mainstream. Which explains why he was loved by many conservatives (that and the intellectual foundation he gave to supply side economics). A 1996 joint press release by the Human Rights Campaign and National Gay and Lesbian Task Force (I love their quip about gay marriage) rightfully takes Kemp to task for many of his positions, but a spokesman for HRC describes Kemp in a way that is revealing.
“Jack Kemp, while not as acerbic as some of his colleagues, has a solid anti-gay record nonetheless,” said HRC spokesperson David M. Smith.
Kemp was on the wrong side in the gay rights debate (no way to defend wanting to fire public school teachers who might be gay), but he lacked the bitter histrionics of many of his peers. He was a political enemy you could have a conversation with. Granted that might be a low bar of expectations, but in a time where everything is a shout and epithet this is something not to be summarily dismissed.
While Kemp was deaf to gay rights, he was way ahead of his party on race. Kemp always demanded Republicans to do their best to break the Democratic hold on the black community. The GOP never listened of course, but that says more about the cold calculus of Republicans than Kemp. To my conservatives sisters out there: I know the Democratic Party’s shameful history when it comes to race and I think, as the gay marriage debate has shown, there are some GOP votes waiting to be mined in the black community.
Backwards on gay rights, ahead of the curve on black issues. Kemp’s political legacy is more complicated than most partisans will make it out to be.
PS: I know there are rumors circulating about the man’s sexuality. That debate is above my pay grade. Even if they are true, Kemp’s takes on the issues are what count. Not his past bed mates.
I agree with Tom Felkner.
I am over the GAY and LESBIAN politicians who play “straight” in the public eye, passing nasty laws, legislation and promoting hate towards the LGBT community when they themselves are gay.
I have heard more rumors that Bobby Jindal, gov. of LA (R) is another one that is in the closet. We know because someone is married to opposite sex doesn’t mean much. I guess the truth always comes out, even if the person never does.
I wonder if the truth about Jindal will prevail before or after he runs for President in the future or he’ll be exposed like Larry Craig, Haggard or Foley?
This is the first I heard of supposed ‘gay’ activity by Jack Kemp. I am no friend of his, for sure, but why the continuation of the rumors? Where are some facts or links that say this? Just repeating the rumor does not make it true but certainly causes unfairness. Whether he slept with guys or not doesn’t not rectify his behavior of supporting anything ‘anti-gay- or ‘anti-equal’ positions. Religion raises its ugly head again on this one.
He caused a lot of pain and suffering amongst GLBT people. Glad to see him go.
I don’t give a [crap] how anti-racist Jack Kemp was. Decent human beings don’t call for anti-gay witch hunts among school teachers.
Kemp was a piece of [crap]. I am glad he’s dead.
To Tom,
The old assumption that closeted conservative politicians are self hating as as naive as the presumption in this article that his bed mates don’t matter. If he is against gay rights then what he does in his bed TOTALLY matters. It matters because it betrays him as a hypocrite, and that is political capital waiting to be used. In the fight for our rights whatever play in the public arena that gets us to where we need to go without using dishonesty is fair game.
That said, the presumption that a conservative politician who sleeps with men and votes against our rights is self hating betrays a misplaced trust in humanity and belief that all humans feel the same amount of empathy for their fellow humans that you obviously do. The fact is that their political career may just be more important to them, and they might be slightly sociopathic and unfeeling. Don’t by shy about it, be willing to call them the cold hearted sub human beasts they are. Calling them self hating turns them into victims of a cruel system. I really just don’t feel like giving them that much credit.
Tom has a good point – homophobia, injustice, and even hate crimes towards gay citizens probably stem from a sublimated attraction to the same gender. The more we can uncover this “dirty little secret”, the harder it will be for this kind of hypocrisy to exist.
I was a bit skeptical he was ahead of his time racially speaking. So I did some reading, and yeah, he was.
It will be interesting to see how the rumors play out.
If you think Kemp’s sexuality does not count, then you are naive at best…an apologist at worst. The self hatred of closeted gay politicians cause great damage to the civil rights of the LGBT community.