Reality Bites After Log Cabin Republicans (LCR) president Charles Moran went on X to proclaim that the RNC Platform had been “stripped of all anti-LGBT language,” he was shocked when rank-and-file Republicans called him a “pedophile,” a “groomer,” “disgusting,” etc. One tweeter was sure he had MPox. But could Moran really have been so surprised? One has to be impressed by the stamina, the sheer moxie, of the LCR for sticking with a party that clearly wants no part of them. And think of the mental gyrations required to make this work—so much for cognitive dissonance theory! Perhaps a clue can be found in Moran’s claim that his party’s platform was free of anti-LGBT language. This is simply not the case. There were plenty of references to banning LGBT content from schools and rolling back legal protections for transgender people. Dog-whistle phrases like “Sanctity of Marriage” (their caps) and “freedom of religion” were there, along with an explicit vow to keep “Christian-hating people” out of the U.S. Whether Moran really believed what he said or just wanted to rally the troops, this speaks to a fundamental truth about his party and its leader: it really doesn’t matter if a statement bears any relation to reality, even when it’s a factual matter that’s easily checked. So what if aerial photos clearly show that the inaugural crowd in 2017 was nowhere near as large as Obama’s? It’s as if “freedom of religion” had been expanded from the world of spirits to encompass the world of things, as in a theocratic dystopia, as in 1984. Don’t look up!
