Anti-gay bigotry still central plank in Republican platform

You probably already knew that, but we've got some fresh evidence recently. McCain recently declared homosexuals in the military an "intolerable risk" in a letter he sent to the SLDN (an organization that favors lifting the ban). Gays may be "intolerable" to bigots like McCain (OK, maybe he's not a bigot but rather a bigot-panderer. But that's even worse.). But Britain, Israel, and a bunch of other western nations seem to be able to have gays openly serving in the military. They haven't suffered any catastrophes of "morale, cohesion, and discipline." that I've heard of. Sullivan's reaction:

We are sadly learning in the campaign that hostility to the rights and dignity of gay people is now a central Republican platform. They believe we should have no defendable civil protections for our relationships, should be the only minority group subject to being fired at will in employment, should be the only minority group omitted from hate crimes protection, and harrassed if we serve the country in the military. They believe that using the term "faggot" at a major event should incur no consequences for the speaker in conservative circles. That McCain would peddle what is patent nonsense about military cohesion and morale is particularly depressing. He's one of the decent ones. I fear that the space for gay Republicans, already small, is being squeezed into non-existence.

And yes, Bush intends to veto an update to the hate crimes bill because it adds homosexuals to the list of minorities that can be considered targets of hate crimes. Bush and the Christianists claim that this is due to concerns about federalism (i.e. the limited role the federal government should take in certain matters better left to the states) , but Sullivan isn't buying it:

The naked anti-gay animus fueling this is also apparent when you read Dobson's quote:

"We applaud the president's courage in standing up for the constitution and the principle of equal protection under the law. The American justice system should never create second-class victims and it is a first-class act of wisdom and fairness for the president to pledge to veto this unnecessary bill."

But that is an argument for the repeal of all hate crimes legislation, not just this one. And yet Dobson raises no such objections when it comes to race or religion. Maybe now his position is clear on the principle, he'll elaborate some more. I'd dearly love to see Focus on the Family come out strongly against hate crime laws designed to protect, say, Jews, Mormons and Christians. But somehow I doubt it, don't you?