Former US GOP Pennsylvania Senator Rick (“Google Problem”) Santorum, who is set to declare his candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016 today, has ventured forward with courageous backbone to comment on Bruce Jenner’s transition.
Santorum, who once compared same-sex relationships with bestiality, boldly stated that if Bruce Jenner says he is a woman then the former senator would refer to the Olympic Gold Medalist as a woman. Jenner disclosed in April to ABC’s Diane Sawyer and an estimated audience of 20 million he is transitioning to a woman.
This is a damn bold move for a conservative Republican like Santorum to make about another conservative Republican, like Jenner. Is the GOP seeing a kinder and gentler Rick Santorum? Is Santorum trying to make amends for his past statement comparing gay relationships to relationships between gays and dogs? Has Santorum evolved on LGBTQ rights and marriage equality? What gives?
Perhaps Santorum is willing to recognize Jenner’s transgender status because the former senator does not want another Google problem. In other words, the LGBTQ community has put a mighty mojo on Santorum and he has learned his lesson not to offend us.
Regardless of what is going on in Santorum’s political mind, he has alienated the LGBTQ community. Then again, Santorum could be “reaching out” to the highly ineffective and amateurishly managed Log Cabin Republicans, the gay Republican organization headquartered in Washington. I seriously doubt even those misguided people would embrace Santorum with their meager political support.
Simply addressing Bruce Jenner with female pronouns will not erase the vile and nastiness Santorum and his supporters have heaped upon the LGBTQ community since the former senator entered politics. In 2012, when marriage equality seemed a foregone social conclusion to conservatives, including even former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, Santorum was telling his loyal homophobe supporters the GOP battle against the issue was not lost. “Better messaging” was needed on the issue, Santorum and staff declared.
Far-fetched as it may sound, the senator did not elaborate publicly, as yet anyway, on what his “better messaging” would be. I feel safe in saying it would be more divisive and incendiary messaging.
If Santorum felt the LGBTQ community had won the battle for same-sex marriage with the message ‘marriage equality’, then he and his conservative communications staffers might counter with ‘unnatural marriage’. They might leak, and test, ‘queer marriage’. Alternatively, Santorum might go on the conservative GOP speaking circuit condemning ‘Barney Frank marriages’. All of these offensive descriptions are ugly but they accurately convey the extreme hostility Santorum and staff have long exhibited against the LGBTQ community.
After Santorum made his ‘I will address Bruce Jenner as a woman’ statement, he rushed back to TV cameras to explain himself. He did not say he respected all transgender people. His explanation was simply that he respected Jenner. Perhaps Santorum will find other trans people he can admire. Perhaps not.
If Santorum is making a gesture, he and the GOP might be ready to accept Jenner in the party, presumably to run for the U.S. Senate from California. This could work. In fact, a transgender Republican may be the only way for a Republican to be elected in the state.
Google responds with 96 million records on Bruce Jenner. In comparison, current U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein, a Democrat, has just 1.6 million records. Santorum pulls 5 million records.
The prospect of Senator Bruce Jenner, using a female name, in Washington is not as far-fetched as it might sound. Ronald Reagan, Sonny Bono, and Arnold Schwarzenegger all found great political success in California; and I believe Bruce Jenner could find it as well. I feel the independent-minded and politically progressive Schwarzenegger, who has a huge LGBTQ following, would wholeheartedly support Jenner.
Independent-minded California voters have a way of sending the GOP, the nation, and the world important social and political messages via the voting booth, such as the election of openly gay Harvey Milk as a City Supervisor in 1977. Transgender GOP Senator Bruce Jenner would send a powerful message as well, provided the Olympic champion is up for the job during or after transitioning.
Human Rights Advocate Jim Patterson is a writer, speaker, and lifelong diplomat for dignity for all people. In a remarkable life spanning the civil rights movement to today’s human rights struggles, he stands as a voice for the voiceless. A prolific writer, he documents history’s wrongs and the struggle for dignity to provide a roadmap to a more humane future. Learn more at www.HumanRightsIssues.com
