The D.C. gay magazine Metro Weekly reports outrage among gay leftists that a "moderate" Republican candidate for the state Senate would address a gay-activist audience in Arlington, Virginia and unleash the "bizarre" thought that they were sinners.
Senate candidate Timothy McGhee, who is running for an open seat against state Rep. Adam Ebbin, the only openly gay state legislator in Virginia, spoke to the Arlington Gay and Lesbian Alliance, but didn't give them all the political correctness they expected to hear:
The comments, first reported by the political blog ''Not Larry Sabato,'' were perceived by many in the audience to have an anti-gay slant, as they appeared to compare LGBT people to sinners and seemed to question their religious beliefs.
In a recording of the comments posted on Not Larry Sabato, McGhee told the mostly LGBT audience, ''I'm not here for your vote, I'm here for you.'' He then proceeded to tell the audience, ''You are a group of people who believe it is better to be hated for what one is than loved for what one is not.''
Taking a religious tack, McGhee told the audience: ''Some of you are beyond frustrated with God right now. Some of you refuse to believe in him altogether. You've asked the question – or perhaps given up asking a long time ago – 'Why? Why would God make me who I am and then tell me that's wrong?'
''May I put a question before you tonight? What if that's exactly what God did? What if that's exactly what God had to do to fully demonstrate who he is?'' In his closing remarks, McGhee also quoted some biblical passages, saying ''God delights in mercy,'' and ''God has committed them all to disobedience that he might have mercy on all.''
After receiving blowback from his comments, McGhee, whose opponent is Del. Adam P. Ebbin (D-Arlington), the only openly gay member of the General Assembly, tells Metro Weekly that he never meant to offend people.
McGhee says the phrase, ''It is better to be hated for what one is than loved for what one is not,'' that he quoted in his remarks came from an email signature he had seen on an invitation to speak at the forum sent by AGLA President Daniel Hays. McGhee said he was trying to reach out to the LGBT community and show he did not feel negatively towards them, and had specifically tailored his remarks to address that perception.
''My intent was to be focusing on God's mercy and present that to the group,'' he says. ''My effort at bridging where they are to the direction I was trying to point did break down. I do not believe that all gay people are frustrated with God or are lacking in the area of religion.''
McGhee also says he apologized to Ebbin after it was pointed out to him that some took offense at his comments.
Commenting on the forum, Ebbin says he found it ''shocking'' for a candidate to possibly make presumptions about others' religious beliefs, characterizing McGhee's comments as ''holier-than-thou'' and making ''inappropriate assumptions'' about gay people.
''Personally, I was angry and puzzled as to his attitude and how someone could, in 2011, come to a gay forum and say that,'' says Ebbin. ''While I believe he didn't mean personal offense, his words and characterization were bizarre.''
It's "bizarre" that anyone would still believe homosexuality is a sin, and puzzling that anyone would dare say it to a gay audience. Other gay activists were upset McGhee is cast as a "moderate" in local media. Tiffany Joslin of the Virginia Partisans, a gay Democratic Party group, declared:
''It's fascinating how someone like Tim McGhee can say something like that and still be classified as a moderate,'' Joslyn says, referring to a Washington Post editorial that endorsed Ebbin but referred to McGhee as a moderate. ''If that's a moderate, it just demonstrates how far right the Republican Party has become."
