GLR Review March-April 2019

has shown that people who are less physically attractive are sig- nificantly more likely to hold anti-gay attitudes than those who are easier on the eyes. The researcher, Robert Urbatsch of Iowa State University, explained it as gently as he could—“People tend to perceive situations when they receive less than others do as unfair and unjust, and want to constrain such inequality”—but you know what he’s driving at. It is also the case that “looksism” has been an issue in the LGBT community. Gay men are often accused of it, notably by lesbians, who admittedly seem less prone to judge people according to their hotness. To be fair, many gay men are ashamed of this feature of our subculture, though the Iowa study might tempt us to feel a little less guilty about it. But, of course, the observed phenomenon is itself a product of looksism and wouldn’t exist if attractive people were not admired, and resented, for that reason. Kim’s Karma There is some justice in the electoral defeat of Kentucky clerk Kim Davis, who rocketed to fame when she re- fused to issue a marriage license to a same-sex couple after le- galization in 2015. But then you add the fact that she was defeated by a gay man, and the “blue wave” of November 2018 gains a bit of extra froth. Davis lost to Democratic challenger Elwood Caudill by 54 to 46 percent, and since the election was all about Ms. Davis’ notorious stand on marriage equality—she spent several days in jail and became a darling of the far Right— it goes to show that there’s a county in Kentucky where gay mar- riage can get a pass. And a footnote: in the primary for the Democratic nomination, Caudill had defeated David Ermold, Another One Bites the Pulpit There are homophobic mon- sters whose fall from grace we’ve not-so-secretly enjoyed; and then there’s Donnie Romero, one of the most extreme gay baiters around. The nationally prominent pastor of the Steadfast Baptist Church of Fort Worth, Texas, is quoted as saying that “faggots” should be “put to death,” and after the June 2016 massacre at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, he prayed on air for God to “fin- ish the job” by killing the injured victims. And now Romero has resigned from his ministry for self-confessed sins of gambling, smoking pot, and hiring sex workers. In a tearful resignation, he told his congregation: “I have not been ruling my house well. I have been a terrible husband and father.” A church spokesman said that Romero’s main offense was the prostitutes—sex will al- ways out-sin drugs and gambling for this crowd. Ranting about sins of the flesh, after all, is what launched Romero’s national reputation in the first place. As always in these matters, that fact alone should have tipped us off that his obsession with sex was more than just doctrinal. The Look of Looksism Ressentiment rules the world, or so said Nietzsche, and he wasn’t the first to put resentment at the top of human affairs. Now a study based on General Social Survey data BTW         “Y OU WILL FIND YOURSELF cheering Henry on every step of the way as he bravely struggles to make his way through the highs and lows of a thoroughly fascinating life!” — A. Dudley Johnson, Jr. Author of the novel Adirondack “M EMOIRS are a dime-a-dozen these days, especially from the not-so-famous, but every so often one comes along that shouldn’t be ignored.” — Christopher Verleger EDGE Magazine Find it online at: www.unbelievablememoir.com Revisit... UNBELIEVABLE A Memoir by HENRY GOLDRING