When Congress debated whether to pass a statute protecting gay marriage, Republican Rep. Vicky Hartzler tearfully pleaded with her colleagues in the House of Representatives to vote against it. Every Democrat and 39 Republicans voted for it, and Rep. Hartzler was distraught.
Her nephew, Andrew Hartzler, disagreed with her vote. He is gay. He grew up in a strict conservative household. He told his parents he was gay when he was 14, and they sent him to conversion therapy. When he finished high school, his parents insisted that he attend Oral Roberts University, thinking that he would not encounter any gay students. They were wrong. More conversion therapy.
He was interviewed on MSNBC, CNN, and other news outlets. Watch him tell his story.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Unfortunately, if states continue to elect right wing extremists and religious zealots, we will continue to hear falsehoods that thrive on “myth and stereotypes” about gay communities. Andrew Hartzler is an articulate young man that clearly understands the issues and remains gay despite his families’ efforts to change his human nature. At least his family has grown to accept who he is, and he appears to be well adjusted after repeated exposure to “conversion therapy.” When will the right realize that being gay is not a choice, and gay people are not vampires trying to recruit new members? We need to stop sending ignorant people to Congress.
“When states elect…”
Well, Missouri and Georgia top the blogs today with two of many embarrassments. And, Football Star with zero credentials, experience, or knowledge of government gets 49% of a state’s vote.
How these people get voted in is the “root cause” question.
The ExPres cancerous vitriol spread like crazy and normalized the outrageous. Social media spreads the word of those who truly believe religiously or otherwise statements.
How bold of the nephew! But where are the thousands of others who get a million views like, oh, corporations, professional organizations (unless they’re supposed to), sports leagues…
At least 51% of people think the only criteria needed to be in office is to be angry, bully, name-caller, and howl at the moon. Issues? Platform? Governance? Naaah, who needs to know what they think or know about that. Crazy
Several of my daughter’s compatriots in her chorus were auditioned into the all-misstate choir last fall. The kids practiced all one evening into the next day, and performed that night.
One of her songs was called “Deer Song,” which was taken from a larger work written called “Considering Mathew Shepard“.
I can guarantee her generation will reject this homophobic nonsense in their day. The ax is already plied to the root. These politicians are asking the sea to recede.
YES YES YES!!!!!
To paraphrase that sage Archie Bunker, “She’s a pip.”
Being as twisted and repressed as Ms. Hartzler or, say, the closeted Lady G. is, has to be its own punishment.
And wow, Mr. Hartzler, you’ve been through a lot and emerged a strong advocate. Awesome. You rock.
Well said.
At one point, Andrew mentions, “She’ll have to learn….”
And, that’s the crux of it.
This Congressperson seems to have no interest in learning.
She (and the people like her) are the antithesis of education.
They are to this website, the anitbloggers….
Ms. Hartzler and her right wing friends would rather use their religion to pretense to discriminate against others. Andrew mentions that religious freedom allows us to practice what we believe, not the right to impose what we believe on others.
That message should be the basis of religious Liberty: you are free to practice your religion but not to impose it on others. Tell SCOTUS.
Gosh, why is it so dog gone hard for some folk to understand God, The Universe is the master producer of variation? Human variation and otherwise.
There is nothing in the natural world that does not reveal itself to the observer along a spectrum. I made this argument to a conservative friend once and was met by the most puzzling expression I ever saw.
Haaaaa! Well argued, Ed (and Roy)! Ethologists know that heterosexuality, homosexuality, and bisexuality are common in almost all, if not all, higher vertebrate species.
They also know that sex play among animals serves other functions than simply mating. It causes bonding and mutuality in matters like defense.
So, let’s talk about what is “natural,” or, in this case, about “what is evidenced by God’s design.”
For excellent discussion of this, see Roughgarten, Joan. Evolution’s Rainbow: Diversity, Gender, and Sexuality in Nature and People. U of California P, 2014.
Profound, comprehensive, lucid, artfully written, highly recommended.
We used to know when the cows were in heat in the absence of a bull because they would ride each other in the absence of a bull. This behavior was so predictable that the degree of it would time our call to the artificial insemination (AI) technician. For other farmers, it would instruct the time they would do the AI themselves.
Ironically, many of the same farmers and their children who are no longer in agriculture are among the most vociferous in their detesting of homosexual behavior. Apparently, the reality of the natural world is not as instructive as it might logically seem to be.
Love these stories, Roy
cx: are ALL common in almost all, if not all, higher vertebrate species
Wouldn’t it be cool if Andrew Hartzler ran for Congress in ‘24?
yes, yes, yes
Andrew Hartzler shouldn’t be expected to take the next oratorical step. It would be great if he did. Someone else could.
The religious right’s goals aren’t connected to religious moral issues. “Culture” is window dressing. The goal of men like Pat Buchanan is to preserve power for the demographic to which they belong.