• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • About Towleroad
  • Towleroad on Social Media
  • Privacy Policy

Towleroad Gay News

Gay Blog Towleroad: More than gay news | gay men

  • Travel
  • Sports
  • Law/Justice
  • Celebrities
  • Republicans
  • Madonna
  • Books
  • Men
  • Trans Rights
  • Royals
  • Monkeypox
  • Megyn Kelly RIPS Don Lemon Over Kaitlin Collins Fight, Says She Would’ve Had Him FIRED If He ‘Screamed’ At Her
  • Gladiator sequel gets 2024 release date
  • Knock at the Cabin star Ben Aldridge could ‘breathe easier’ after coming out as gay

Straight ‘Daily Caller’ Reporter: Gay People Were So Much More Fun Before They Had Any Rights

Joseph Ehrman-Dupre November 8, 2013

PatrickhowleyThe Daily Caller, a conservative blog, recently posted an op-ed piece from straight reporter Patrick Howley lamenting the loss of 'fun gays' at the hands of a progressive agenda interested in, you know, at least trying to push ENDA through Congress.

Titled, "Gays now totally boring, ENDA struggle reveals," the sneering piece longs for the days when "gays were subversive adventurers, trolling the city streets at night on a lustful quest for experience and with an outlaw mentality not seen since the days of the Wild West…"

Writes Cowley:

They were decadently-dressed sexual superheroes, daring Middle America to condemn them as they pranced their corseted, high-heeled bodies around to midnight screenings of great American movies like “The Rocky Horror Picture Show,” “Pink Flamingoes,” and “Mommy Dearest.” They had an ingrained creativity, a patented sense of irony. They had a brand. They had an identity.

Of course, those days before gays became, as Cowley states, "a bland, tedious, grievance group eagerly seeking government approval," did hold a certain level of freedom, but not without a serious cost.

Equality Matters points out:

What Howley fails to mention, of course, is that much of the gay community’s “outlaw mentality” probably had a lot to do with the fact that gay people were frequent targets of harassment and legal discrimination.

It’s unclear what time period Howley is romanticizing, but the history of the gay community in America is littered with examples of police brutality, government persecution, and intense societal rejection. The Stonewall Riots, widely considered to be the birth of the modern gay rights movement, were sparked in response to regular police raids and harassment at a New York City gay bar.

As a straight man, Howley has the privilege of reminescing on the fun, flirty, and fabulous past associated with post-liberation gay life without concerning himself with the realistic struggles faced by a minority group with which he has no connection.

He finishes his rant with this set of instructions which you're free to take….or not:

To the gays, whose plight and whose stories in this free country are inextricably bound to mine, I say: be yourselves. Live your lives free of the anger and the division that has been forced upon your community by political interests that don’t see any color in life at all, let alone the colors of the rainbow flag. Embrace the freedom this country has to offer, do your part to expand freedom and liberty for others, and cut ties with the unlikable political brand you’ve become attached to.

Topics: News More Posts About: Gay Media, Gay Media, Gay Rights, gay rights, News

Related Posts
  • Russia Blocks Facebook, Accusing it of Restricting Access to Russian Media;
  • Duran Duran Has New Music And You Are About To Enjoy it. It’s 2021. Seriously.
  • ‘Mayor Pete’ Trailer; Papa Pete Pwns Tucker; 4-Stars for Dr. Rachel Levine; JoJo Siwa’s Perfect 10s; Lynda Carter’s 8 Wonder-full Words: GOOD NEWS
  • Gladiator sequel gets 2024 release date

    Gladiator sequel gets 2024 release date

    Published by BANG Showbiz English The ‘Gladiator’ sequel will be released on November 22, 2024. The Sir Ridley Scott-directed sequel to the award-winning drama movie is set to start filming this year, with Paul Mescal, 26, …Read More »
  • Knock at the Cabin star Ben Aldridge could ‘breathe easier’ after coming out as gay

    Knock at the Cabin star Ben Aldridge could ‘breathe easier’ after coming out as gay

    Published by BANG Showbiz English Ben Aldridge could “breathe easier” after he came out as gay. The 37-year-old actor – who was raised as an evangelical Christian – announced his sexuality to the world on f …Read More »
  • Florida moves to revoke Orlando event venue’s liquor license after drag queen show

    Florida moves to revoke Orlando event venue’s liquor license after drag queen show

    Published by Orlando Sentinel ORLANDO, Fla. — The Plaza Live, an Orlando event venue that came under state scrutiny for hosting an all-age drag queen performance in December, could lose its ability to sell alcohol, according …Read More »
  • 25 Years Ago: Rob Halford Shocks Himself by Coming Out on MTV

    25 Years Ago: Rob Halford Shocks Himself by Coming Out on MTV

    Published by Ultimate Classic Rock Nobody expected Rob Halford to come out as gay when he sat down for a fateful MTV interview on Feb. 4, 1998 — least of all the Metal God himself. Six …Read More »
Previous Post: « Typhoon Haiyan, Said to be Strongest Storm to Make Landfall in History, Bears Down on Phillippines: VIDEO
Next Post: Panic! At The Disco Singer Brendon Urie Is A Little Bit Gay: VIDEO »

Primary Sidebar

Adjacent News

  • Beyoncé Could Make Music History at the 2023 Grammy Awards

    Beyoncé Could Make Music History at the 2023 Grammy Awards

  • Behold: The new GOP culture wars | Opinion

    Behold: The new GOP culture wars | Opinion

  • Suspected Chinese surveillance balloon is shot down Over the Atlantic

    Suspected Chinese surveillance balloon is shot down Over the Atlantic

Good Trash: Going to Read It Somewhere, Y'know

  • Dennis Rodman On If He’d Ever Get Back With Ex-Girlfriends: “I Tried Madonna, I Tried Carmen Electra…”

    Dennis Rodman On If He’d Ever Get Back With Ex-Girlfriends: “I Tried Madonna, I Tried Carmen Electra…”

  • James Gunn Seemingly Confirms The DCU Will Finally Have Gay Superheroes

    James Gunn Seemingly Confirms The DCU Will Finally Have Gay Superheroes

  • Vanilla Ice Admits He Rejected Madonna’s Proposal Before They Split: ‘I Thought The Guy Was Supposed To Do That’

    Vanilla Ice Admits He Rejected Madonna’s Proposal Before They Split: ‘I Thought The Guy Was Supposed To Do That’

RSS Partner Links

  • Jonathan Groff & Ben Aldridge talk “Knock at the Cabin” and film’s queer representation
  • The Voice(s): Jimmy James Returns To NYC
  • C&L's Late Night Music Club: Kurt Vile
  • The Richest Beauty Gurus, Ranked from Lowest to Highest (& the Top 2 Are Worth Hundreds of Millions)
  • A Date With 'Cat Daddies'
  • Tucker Carlson Wants To Liberate... Canada?
  • On the Rag, Vol. 736

Most Recent

  • Megyn Kelly RIPS Don Lemon Over Kaitlin Collins Fight, Says She Would’ve Had Him FIRED If He ‘Screamed’ At Her

    Megyn Kelly RIPS Don Lemon Over Kaitlin Collins Fight, Says She Would’ve Had Him FIRED If He ‘Screamed’ At Her

  • Gladiator sequel gets 2024 release date

    Gladiator sequel gets 2024 release date

  • Knock at the Cabin star Ben Aldridge could ‘breathe easier’ after coming out as gay

    Knock at the Cabin star Ben Aldridge could ‘breathe easier’ after coming out as gay

  • Florida moves to revoke Orlando event venue’s liquor license after drag queen show

    Florida moves to revoke Orlando event venue’s liquor license after drag queen show

  • 25 Years Ago: Rob Halford Shocks Himself by Coming Out on MTV

    25 Years Ago: Rob Halford Shocks Himself by Coming Out on MTV

  • At this school, rainbows are sentenced to prism time and sex ed sticks to the basics | Opinion

    At this school, rainbows are sentenced to prism time and sex ed sticks to the basics | Opinion

  • Japan PM Kishida fires aide over same-sex couple outburst

    Japan PM Kishida fires aide over same-sex couple outburst

  • Rupert Everett claims to know who Prince Harry lost his virginity to

    Rupert Everett claims to know who Prince Harry lost his virginity to

Most Commented

Social

Twitter @tlrd | Facebook | Instagram @tlrd

Footer

Copyright © 2023 · Log in

×