Last weekend conservative activists converged at Jerry Falwell’s Liberty University for “The Awakening,” a two day conference devoted to issues of serious concern to the United States going forward—like the threat of Islamic law to the Constitution, the coming monetary collapse, and the abortion “Holocaust.” Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) was there scheduled to attend*; so was fellow GOP presidential candidate Newt Gingrich; Mike Huckabee couldn’t make it but sent along pre-recorded remarks. In other words, kind of a big deal.
But the event’s most illuminating speech may have come from Ryan Sorba, a “pro-family activist” who became a minor icon on the far-right in 2010 after condemning the organizers of the Conservative Political Action Conference for including gay people. At Liberty, Sorba took the occasion to criticize conservatives for using the word “gay,” and instead suggested a handful of substitute words that he feels carry less baggage. Via the Florida Independent, here’s Sorba’s advice:
“Stop. Using. The word. Gay. Because if we continue to use this term that is grounded in an identity, we’re conceding the premise that it is an identity and the rest of the debate we’re on their ground. We’re arguing on their terms. He who defines the terms controls the debate and by extension public opinion. What we need to do is state that look this is either same-sex attraction, or maybe they’re engaging in same-sex intercourse or sodomy—whatever word you’re comfortable using. And that’s it.”
Anyways, Sorba’s right about one thing: Anti-gay activists are losing the debate. A majority of Americans support gay marriage, and 78 percent of Americans supported the repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. I’m just not sure that swapping “same-sex sodomy” for “gay” is really going to push back against the arc of history.
Here’s the video:
*Update: Apparently Bachmann couldn’t make it because of the budget negotiations, so she sent a video message. She also won the straw poll.
