No matter what the issue is, no matter what progress the rest of the nation is making, social conservatives are always moving in the opposite direction. Bob Vander Plaats, the extremist Republican who led the effort to remove the Iowa Supreme Court justices who ruled for marriage equality in that state, is now unveiling an anti-gay pledge that he and his wingnut group, The Family Leader, want all Republican candidates to sign:
According to Fox News, the pledge includes support for the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), the 1996 law that bars federal agencies from recognizing the legal marriages of gay and lesbian couples, opposition to gay marriage laws, picking constitutionalists for federal judgeships and opposition to Sharia law. Candidates are also being asked to pledge fidelity to their spouses.
Gay, gay, gay…wait, Sharia law? What? Andrew Belonsky analyzes that with one simple question:
Isn’t it clever how social conservatives, aware that national opinion on LGBT rights has shifted left, are now trying to link gay panic to another irrational fear, Islamophobia?
Clever, indeed.
