Senator Jim DeMint, who is probably the most embarrassing member of the United States Senate overall, is extremely concerned about President Obama’s nomination of a non-bigot as our ambassador to El Salvador. You see, the nominee, Mari Carmen Aponte, wrote an op-ed piece where she praised the Salvadorean government for working to protect all its citizens. For the Senator from South Carolina, apparently, failing to hate at least one minority in all statements is simply not okay. Think Progress has the video and text of what old Jim said during a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing a little while back:
DEMINT: In her OpEd, Ms. Aponte, presuming to represent the view of all Americans, in strongly promoting the homosexual lifestyle, wrote that “everyone has the responsibility to inform our neighbors and friends about what it means to be lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender.” The OpEd upset a large number of community and pro-family groups in El Salvador who were insulted by Ms. Aponte’s attempt to impose a pro-gay agenda in their country.
I would also like to ask unanimous consent to submit, for the record, a response to the OpEd from a coalition of more than three dozen groups and a letter from Salvadorean groups to the United States Senate asking the Senate to oppose Ms. Aponte’s confirmation and I quote “We respectfully request that Ms. Aponte be removed from her post as soon as possible so that El Salvador may enjoy the benefits of having a person as a government representative of your noble country.”
I would like to apologize to the Salvadorean people on behalf of the United States and reassure them that most Americans share their values. Ms. Aponte’s personal, professional and political contact over many years raises numerous questions of judgement. I will vote ‘no on Ms. Aponte’s confirmation and strongly recommend my colleagues do the same.
It’s that old wingnut delusion: the belief that normal humans are like they are. DeMint simply assumes that most Salvadoreans are as fearful and weak when it comes to LGBT people as he is, perhaps because he is frightened of the truth.
Here’s the weird video:
Aponte had a very simple response to the redneck from South Carolina:
Aponte, who was at the hearing, defended herself against DeMint’s accusations when she had a chance to reply. “The OpEd reflects the policies of the Obama administration, the Salvadorean government and sixty-three other countries,” she said to La Prensa, “It was not drafted as an insult to anyone.”
Social conservative wingnuts still haven’t wrapped their little heads around the idea that THEY are the ones who are outside the mainstream, that THEY are the problem. Meanwhile all around the world, normal people are waking up to the reality of LGBT people, and they’re surviving just fine.
