GOPorn: Smut and the American Conservative

I just posted over at Viv's about Marine Cpl. Matt Sanchez, aka gay pornstar and escort Rod Majors (aka Pierre LaBranche). A homosexual in the Marines is hardly big news, even one with as storied a skin-flick career as Cpl. Sanchez, but this particular homosexual Marine is also a conservative media darling, appearing on Fox's Hannity & Colmes and O'Reilly Factor. Of course, now that he's been outed, this will likely change.

The story got me to thinking about the intersection of porn and politics here in the States. Specifically, why do we (or we, if you prefer) derive such satisfaction from seeing the Matt Sanchezes and Jeff Gannons and Ted Haggards exposed as something other than what the Family Values crowd wants them to be? I mean, yes, there is the visceral pleasure of seeing your foe embarassed and discombobulated and exposed as (at least in Ted Haggard's case) a hypocrite. But in the end, isn't using the fact that Matt Sanchez is a former gay escort and pornstar as an anti-Republican political tool ultimately counterproductive? If their gayness or sex-workerness is seen as a liability, won't that just drive any other red state gays or sex workers even deeper underground?

See, from our point of view it's easy to see that when we wag the finger at gay escort Republicans, it's the "Republican" descriptor that we most object to (and this coming from a guy that regularly wears a Ronald Reagan T-shirt in a totally non-ironic way -- the party ain't what it used to be). But to most folks, any criticism and disapproval will be attached immediately to the words "gay escort", regardless of our original intention.

It's simple to see the Republican Party as one large homogeneous mass of red state NASCAR dads that love Jeebus and hate the queers, but just like any other political party, most Republicans don't actually agree with the whole official party platform. I know I sure as hell didn't, back when I could still stomach being a GOP supporter. Many Republicans are even trying to work within the system to change things for the better. It's easy to call gay Republicans or right-wing pornographers hypocrites, but honestly, what do you do if you're a hardline neoconservative male who just happens to enjoy taking it up the ass from well-endowed gym bunnies? Joining the blue-state side would make you a much bigger hypocrite than signing up with the GOP, but if you come out, you're a liability to your political allies -- especially when the other side finds out. After all, they're just going to use your past predilections and peccadilloes as ammunition against the people you support.

When greeted with the news that hatemongering cunt Anne Coulter and her CPAC fan club (and I use the c-word with all of the approbation, hatred and negativity that the word can possibly contain in its most base and puerile sense) publically embraced a gay escort and pornstar, I think that instead of pointing and laughing, it would be a lot more useful to celebrate the fact that the neo-cons are finally loosening up and accepting elements of our society that they had previously hated and shunned.

Of course, that's not what they're doing. They were duped, and we can laugh at them for it on the inside. But publically, we should instead praise them for the tolerance that we wish they had. After all, if you say something enough, people will eventually start to believe it, and with enough time it becomes the truth.

Plus, I bet that would piss off those neo-con assholes even more.