NOT LIKELY | Despite predictions by The Economist, if Texas Gov. Rick Perry decides to run for president, he may take a more moderate position on some issues, but he probably won’t move to the middle on LGBT issues.
If Rick Perry runs for president, he’s likely to move toward the middle, but not on LGBT issues
DAVID WEBB | The Rare Reproter
Just when I thought the social and political atmosphere couldn’t get any more depressing or bizarre than it already is, I witnessed Gov. Rick “Pretty Boy” Perry tell television reporters the other day he was thinking about running for president.
The governor followed that remark with the disclaimer that he tends to “think about a lot of things.” But if you ask me, he would probably have a difficult time proving that because everything that comes out of his mouth sounds like it’s been prepared by the Southern Baptist Convention’s advisory board.
But that could change according to The Economist, a weekly news and international affairs publication owned by a London-based publication that was founded more than a century and a half ago.
The Economist article speculated that if he ran for president, Perry would likely soften his stance against same-sex marriage, and that there really hadn’t been much of a debate about gay marriage in Texas.
It went on to say there hadn’t been a “serious effort” to legalize same-sex marriage or civil unions in Texas.
I had to reread that passage about three times to make sure that I really comprehended what I was reading. And when I was finally sure I was reading what I thought I was reading, it occurred to me The Economist staff must all be nuts and/or stoned.
The likelihood of the governor softening his stance on same-sex marriage is about as probable as him growing a ponytail and going skinny-dipping at Hippy Hollow on Lake Travis.
I think Perry probably shudders every time he remembers the rumors that spread across the country in 2004 that claimed he was a closet homosexual who had been caught in flagrante delicto by his wife, Anita, in the governor’s office with a high-ranking male public official.
That was the first time I was ever able to get Perry’s public relations office to return a call to the Dallas Voice after literally years of unsuccessful attempts. Soon after I left a message that I was writing about the widespread rumors, a spokesman quickly called me back to say the governor certainly was not a homosexual, had never been a homosexual and furthermore, never would be one.
The truth is that Perry has gone out of his way to offend the state’s LGBT community over the years:
He opposed the inclusion of sexual orientation in the state’s hate crime law. He told reporters he thought the state’s sodomy law was “appropriate” before it was declared unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court. He supported the passage of a state constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage in Texas. And he told a Fort Worth audience that gay and lesbian veterans returning from war should look for a more liberal state in which to live.
So to The Economist, I would have to say that I don’t think Perry is going to change his stance on same-sex marriage anytime soon, and that we have talked about same-sex marriage quite a bit in Texas, that we fought the passage of a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage with everything we had and failed.
The reason we failed is that Texas is overpopulated by people who share the same ideology as Perry and keep voting him and other politicians like him into office. And what’s even scarier is that there are a whole lot of gay and lesbian voters and other socially liberal people who voted for Rick Perry.
It’s hard to believe, but it’s true. They don’t vote their consciences. They vote for what they consider is best for their pocketbooks.
I do think that if Perry were to run for president that he would attempt to move more to the middle from his current position on the far right. And it could work.
Former Texas Gov. George Bush was able to do it, and he even managed to convince a dozen or so LGBT political leaders that he would be gay-friendly.
Of course, we all know how it turned out with President Bush — very badly. But I don’t think things would turn out the same way with a President Rick Perry in the Oval Office — I think it would be much, much worse.
David Webb is a veteran journalist who has covered LGBT issues for the mainstream and alternative media for three decades. E-mail him at davidwaynewebb@yahoo.com.
Mr. Webb, You have made your bias clear…have you considered reporting the news as opposed to “preaching” and attacking those that disagree with you? As you so clearly stated “Texas is overpopulated by people who share the same ideology as Perry…”. Is that NOT the way a Democratic Republic is supposed to work? Please state whether you are “reporting the news” or making a personal commentary. Richard Winters
It’s a column. I’m a columnist. It’s in the Viewpoints section. Of course, it’s my opinion.
David, Thank you for correctly pointing out to Richard Winters that you write an opinion column. It’s interesting (though not surprising) that a lot of – shall we say – people who are not exactly gay-friendly have begun posting comments in the online Dallas Voice. I suppose the Voice has an editorial policy regarding Letters to the Editor inviting diverse viewpoints, as well as different opinions. Hopefully anything which is flagrantly hostile, threatening, or over the top will not be allowed to stay online. In an earlier comment, I stated my belief that once the glare of the national spotlight is on Governor Perry, it is going to be a different story. He will no longer simply be “preaching to the choir.” Every archived speech and anti-gay comment he has made, every hateful bill he has backed, will all come back to haunt him.
As a conservative I disagree with some of this article, but I do love your reply to Winters. When I read it I could feel you saying “Get over it!” Anyway, I agree that Perry would not be a good choice for public office. As a devout Catholic Libertarian I believe in a strong separation of church and state and I feel that Perry violates that at times. But, If you expect me to choose between him and Obama, it is going to be Perry every time.
Presidents don’t really have much to do with social issues. It’s congress that makes laws. Witness Obama’s effect on the gay community. He changed military policy a bit, but that’s all.
If Perry runs he will win. That’s because Texas has created more jobs over the past 4 years than the other 49 states combined. Perry does understand economics and that is the number one issue in America today.
Excellent viewpoint, David. Just imagine, though, if Perry decided to run, he would have to resign as Guv and it would elevate Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst. (Remember, that is how Perry got into the office when Bush ran.) Just a little over a year ago, Dewhurst showed his colors when his “denunciation of one of the plays [at Tarleton State University], Terrence McNally’s Corpus Christi, clearly played a role in its last-minute cancellation.” [https://www.texasobserver.org/purpletexas/david-dewhursts-terrible-swift-sword]
p.s. Neither Rick Perry nor Barrack Obama has any impact on the number of jobs in North Texas or the U.S. They both just happen to be in the “bully pulpit” of their respective areas when it happened.