Utah GOP Cancels Glenn Reynolds Speech Due To Support For Gay Rights

Glenn Reynolds, the blogosphere’s Instapundit, was supposed to speak before a Republican group in Utah but found his appearance canceled due to his professed support for gay rights:

SO OVER THE YEARS I’VE OFTEN SAID that in my ideal world, happily married gay couples would have closets full of assault weapons.

You’d think that right now, with all the gun-owner-hating going on, that the second half of that statement would be the controversial part. But you’d be wrong. I was just disinvited from a scheduled speech by the Utah County, Utah GOP because — after a special meeting to discuss the subject — I was deemed “too controversial” because of my support for gay rights. Er, okay.

Having an unpaid speaking gig (which I seldom do anymore) canceled is no hardship. And people are welcome to believe what they want to believe, and invite whom they want to speak — but as the GOP looks at why they’re viewed as intolerant, well, this kind of thing might be part of it. “Big tent” or teepee? Your choice.

In all honestly, I would say that I think that many Republicans, especially in those parts of the nation where social conservatism dominates have already made that choice. The “Big tent” that Lee Atwater once famously spoke of no longer truly exists. Dissenting from perceived orthodoxies, or indeed daring to say even the slightest praiseworthy thing about the President or some other Democrat, gets one branded as a “RINO.” There are some parts of the country, no doubt, where support for gay rights wouldn’t be a problem for local GOP organizations — states like New York, New Jersey, Illinois, and California come to mind most immediately — but in the areas now commonly thought of as the heart of the GOP? Hardly. I’d expect the same reaction from a Republican group in Alabama, Idaho, or South Carolina.

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Doug Mataconis
About Doug Mataconis
Doug Mataconis held a B.A. in Political Science from Rutgers University and J.D. from George Mason University School of Law. He joined the staff of OTB in May 2010 and contributed a staggering 16,483 posts before his retirement in January 2020. He passed far too young in July 2021.

Comments

  1. Damian P. says:

    I’ll always be grateful to Reynolds for getting me into blogging in the first place, but I don’t like how hyper-partisan he’s become over the past few years. Hopefully this will open his eyes a bit.

  2. Rob in CT says:

    I have to admit, this brought a smirk to my face. Bitten by the crazies he feeds. Nice.

  3. Al says:

    Qui cum canibus concumbunt cum pulicibus surgent.

  4. Stephen Gordon says:

    Don’t be so fast to dis Alabama. Samford University College Republicans cosponsored an event for Gov. Gary Johnson in Birmingham prior to the first GOP debate. If anything, he is probably even more gay-friendly than Reynolds.

  5. stonetools says:

    Couldn’t happen to a nicer guy. I would hope that he would rethink some of the company he keeps , but I doubt it.

    SO OVER THE YEARS I’VE OFTEN SAID that in my ideal world, happily married gay couples would have closets full of assault weapons.

    In my ideal world, Mr. Reynolds would be shot by one of those ostensibly harmless assault weapons he loves so much.

  6. gVOR08 says:

    I was curious enough to check, so I’ll share.

    Utah County contains Provo and has a population around half a million. Per Wiki:
    “Utah County has been referred to as “the most Republican county in the most Republican state in the United States.”[6] In the 1992 presidential election, George H. W. Bush received the most votes and Bill Clinton was third in votes received. In the 2004 presidential election, 85.99% voted for George W. Bush.[7] In the 2008 U.S. presidential election, the county voted for John McCain by a 58.9% margin over Barack Obama, with McCain winning by 28.1% statewide.[8] Eight other Utah counties voted more strongly in favor of McCain.[9] In the 2012 election, Mitt Romney received 88.32% of the vote.”

  7. rudderpedals says:

    Keep reaping that whirlwind, Glenn

  8. Jenos Idanian #13 says:

    Doug, you made a slight error: you omitted the last sentence from Professor Reynolds’ posting.

    But future inviters be warned: While I take a live-and-let-live view toward social conservatives, I’m not one myself. Take it or leave it.

    I find I identify with him a great deal in this aspect. And trying to foment this into turning Reynolds into another Charles Johnson… ain’t gonna happen.

  9. Interesting also that a notable former GOP governor of Utah is also pro-gay rights.

  10. Herb says:

    I can think of a lot of reasons to cancel a Reynolds speech. Support for gay rights isn’t one of them….

  11. Sejanus says:

    @Stress N. Strain: If you’re talking about Huntsman than I would hardly say he’s pro-gay rights. He supports DOMA and opposes same-sex marriage, believing that gay couples should be separate but equal only have civil unions. While he’s definitely not a gay basher like all the other GOP presidential candidates from 2012, calling him pro-gay rights is a bit of a stretch.

  12. wr says:

    @Herb: Maybe they just noticed he was an empty suit whose deepest insight ever was “heh, indeed,” and they cooked up the gay thing to save face…

  13. edmondo says:

    There are some parts of the country, no doubt, where support for gay rights wouldn’t be a problem for local GOP organizations — states like New York, New Jersey, Illinois, and California come to mind most immediately —

    And poor Doug continues to live in his alternate universe where the GOP actually stands for less government and the “old Republican Party” still exists:

    The Senate passed the bill 24-16. In that chamber, two Republicans voted for the bill

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    New Jersey Gay Marriage Bill Vetoed By Chris Christie

  14. Rafer Janders says:

    SO OVER THE YEARS I’VE OFTEN SAID that in my ideal world, happily married gay couples would have closets full of assault weapons.

    Funnily enough, in my ideal world people wouldn’t need or want to keep weapons solely designed to violently shred the flesh, tissue and organs of large numbers of their fellow human beings.

    What a sick twisted world Glenn must live in inside his head.

  15. mantis says:

    SO OVER THE YEARS I’VE OFTEN SAID that in my ideal world, happily married gay couples would have closets full of assault weapons.

    No self-respecting gay couple I know would waste valuable closet space in such a fashion.

  16. Tony W says:

    There are some parts of the country, no doubt, where support for gay rights wouldn’t be a problem for local GOP organizations — states like New York, New Jersey, Illinois, and California come to mind most immediately — but in the areas now commonly thought of as the heart of the GOP? Hardly. I’d expect the same reaction from a Republican group in Alabama, Idaho, or South Carolina.

    I continue to be mystified as to the appeal of these self-loathing Republicans.

  17. legion says:

    @Sejanus:

    While he’s definitely not a gay basher like all the other GOP presidential candidates from 2012, calling him pro-gay rights is a bit of a stretch.

    The problem is that, for many GOP groups like the one in Utah, if you aren’t currently, _literally_ bashing a gay person with a stick, you _are_ “pro-gay” as far as they’re concerned.

  18. swbarnes2 says:

    There are some parts of the country, no doubt, where support for gay rights wouldn’t be a problem for local GOP organizations — states like New York, New Jersey, Illinois, and California come to mind most immediately

    I don’t know where Doug came up with that list.

    California is a “blue” state, but not because it’s overall blue-purple. There are red, red districts where tolerance would not be a winning stance.

    Doug, have you read the California Republican platform?

    and therefore believe that it is important to define marriage as being between one man and one woman. We believe public policy and education should not be exploited to present or teach homosexuality as an acceptable “alternative” lifestyle. We oppose same-sex partner benefits, child custody, and adoption.

    How can you assert that it would “not be a problem” for a Republican candidate to advocate something completely contrary to the platform? Do you really not get that the GOP is what it empirically is, and not the palatable fantasy you wish it were?

  19. Geek, Esq. says:

    Aw, the paranoid wingnut extremists on one issue have turned on paranoid wingnut extremists on another issue. How fitting.

  20. Nikki says:

    The “Big tent” that Lee Atwater once famously spoke of no longer truly exists.

    Good christ, man, it never existed and Lee Atwater was specifically tasked with ensuring that it never would.

    As to Reynolds….HAHAHAHAHAHAHA. Dissed by his ideological teammates. Good call!

  21. NickTamere says:

    There are some parts of the country, no doubt, where support for gay rights wouldn’t be a problem for local GOP organizations — states like New York, New Jersey, Illinois, and California come to mind most immediately…

    swbarnes already touched on this, but that’s not true at for California. Take a trip all the way back to 2008 and look at the battle over Prop 8, which barely passed (“passed” = no gay marriage). Almost all of the supporters listed on that wikipedia page are GOP or groups typically associated with the GOP, the majority of those groups & individuals listed as opposing it were not. Three republican presidential candidates (mcCain, Romney, and Gingrich) went out of their way to support it, cutting videos and donating big sums of money for it’s passage. About the only exception was Ahnold, while usually pretty liberal on social issues, vetoed same sex marriage twice but finally said he wouldn’t support prop 8. (note: when Ahnold vetoed the previous bills he claimed it was because he felt gay marriage should not be pushed by legislators but should come about through either voters or the courts, when it does get passed by the voters he changed his stance).

  22. Barry says:

    @Damian P.: “…but I don’t like how hyper-partisan he’s become over the past few years. Hopefully this will open his eyes a bit. ”

    It’s not that he’s hyper-partisan, but that he’s dishonest and frankly evil.

    I once went back and read his original 9/11 post, where he mourned the fact that this would lead to a massive loss of civil liberties. I did this because various bloggers assured me that there was once a good Glenn Reynolds, and I didn’t believe this.

    It turns out that they were right, but that that guy is long dead and rotted.

    And if he has problems with other factions within the GOP because they are more right-wing or whackjob than he is, those are problems which he helped bring about.