What It’s Like For Some Gay Men To Come Out As Republin | FiveThirtyEight

Contents:

• SHE’S GAY AND A REPUBLIN. IS THERE A PLACE FOR HER THE G.O.P.?
• PROMENT GAY REPUBLINS HELPED SMOOTH THE WAY FOR MARRIAGE BILL
• HOW TO BE GAY AND REPUBLIN
• WHAT IT’S LIKE FOR SOME GAY MEN TO COME OUT AS REPUBLIN
• JENNA LYONS ON BEG OUTED (AND HER FAKE TEETH)SHE OPENED UP ABOUT THE GEIC DISORR THAT LED HER TO G FAKE TEETH, HAIR, AND EYEBROWS. “MY HAIR IS ALSO FAKE, I N TAKE OFF, ’S LIKE A HAT."BY KASE WICKMANJULY 20, 2023FROM NATHAN CONGLETON/NBC VIA GETTY IMAG.SAVE THIS STORYSAVESAVE THIS STORYSAVEJENNA LYONS, FORMER HEAD SIGNER AND PRINT OF J. CREW, MAY BE A STYLE IN, BUT, EVEN OVER A LATER, BEG OUTED BEFORE SHE WAS READY TO SHARE HER SEXUALY STILL SMARTS.IN AN TERVIEW WEDNDAY ON THE VIEW, LYONS RELLED BEG PUBLICLY OUTED, THE MIDST OF HER 2011 DIVORCE OM VCENT MAZE. WHEN AN OUTLET LLED AND ASKED FOR NFIRMATN OF WHETHER SHE WAS GAY, SHE SAID, “I WAS SO OVERWHELMED WH EVERYTHG THAT WAS HAPPENG MY LIFE THAT I JT SAID Y.”SHE LLED BEG ASKED BY THE NEW YORK POST TO NFIRM OR NY WHETHER SHE WAS A LBIAN “AN OUT-OF-BODY EXPERIENCE.”“I DIDN’T EXPECT ANYONE TO RE ABOUT WHAT I WAS DOG MY PERSONAL LIFE, AND ALL OF A SUDN EVERYONE RED,” SHE SAID, RELLG THAT THE STORY WAS MA PUBLIC BEE “SOMEONE LLED THE POST AND SAID LOOKED LIKE I WAS HAVG AN TIMATE DNER WH SOMEONE AT A RTRANT.”“I DON’T KNOW WHY,” SHE SAID, “BUT I JT SAID ‘NFIRM.’”THE NEXT DAY, SHE H THE NEWSSTANDS OF NEW YORK AND SOPED UP ALL THE PI OF THE POST SHE ULD FD. “FOR THE RERD, I WENT AND BOUGHT ALMOST EVERY SGLE ONE MANHATTAN,” SHE SAID.THOUGH THE CIRCUMSTANC SURROUNDG HER OUTG STILL STG, LYONS SAID THAT SHE’S PROUD TO BE A POSIVE REPRENTATN OF QUEER PEOPLE THE WORLD AND RELLED HOW YOUNGER EMPLOYE AT J. CREW WOULD TELL HER, “MY MOM IS SO RELIEVED TO SEE SOMEONE SUCCSFUL WHO’S OPENLY GAY.” NOW, TOO, SHE'S THE FIRST OPENLY GAY ST MEMBER ON THE REAL HOEWIV OF NEW YORK.DURG THE APPEARANCE, SHE ALSO OPENED UP ABOUT A GEIC DISORR SHE WAS BORN WH, NTENTIA PIGMENTI, THAT VISIBLY IMPACTS A PERSON’S SK, HAIR, TEETH, AND MORE.“ALL MY TEETH ARE FAKE,” SHE SAID, LGHG AT A PLIMENT AND RPONDG THAT “I PAID A LOT OF MONEY FOR THEM.”“MY HAIR IS ALSO FAKE, I N TAKE OFF, ’S LIKE A HAT,” SHE SAID. “MY EYELASH ARE FAKE, I HAVE NO EYEBROWS, I ALSO HAVE SRS ALL OVER MY SK.”HER NDN HAS SPIRED HER: WHEN SHE ULDN’T FD FAKE EYELASH THAT SHE FELT SUED HER, SHE MA HER OWN AND CREATED HER PANY, LOVESEEN. COPG WH HER HEALTH IS ALSO PART OF THE ORIG STORY FOR HER ONGOG, EPIC LIFE FASHN.“IT’S ONE OF THE REASONS I WENT TO FASHN,” SHE SAID, “BEE I WANTED TO LOOK BETTER. I WAS NSTANTLY TRYG TO FD WAYS TO F .”MORE GREAT STORI FROM VANY FAIRHOW FOUR BILLNAIRE TECHNO-OLIGARCHS ARE CREATG AN ALTERNATE REALYEXCLIVE NEW DETAILS ABOUT MEGHAN MARKLE’S WEDDG DRSWHY THE TAN SUBMERSIBLE DISASTER WAS YEARS THE MAKGHERE’S WHAT WE NEED SEASON 3 OF AND JT LIKE THAT…THE BRIEF DEATH (AND SHORT REBIRTH) OF LIL TAYINSI ANDREW STT AND PL ML’S METAPHYSIL LOVE STORYFROM THE ARCHIVE: A FATHER’S ACUNT OF THE TRIAL OF HIS DGHTER’S KILLEREND-OF-SUMMER SALE! TAKE 25% OFF AT THE VF SHOPMOST POPULARDONALD TMP’S PLAN TO GET REELECTED AND PARDON HIMSELF WAS JT DEALT SER SETBACKBY BS LEVGEIA REPUBLINS SAY THEY'LL MOVE TO REMOVE FULTON COUNTY DA FANI WILLIS FROM OFFICE WH NEW STATE LAWBY ERIC LUTZMSNBC IS HAVG ITS SUPER BOWL WH DONALD TMP’S INDICTMENTSBY CHARLOTTE KLEKASE WICKMAN
• TMP PRI: GAY REPUBLINS ON WHY THEY'RE BACKG THE PRINT
• SURPRISE, SURPRISE: GAY REPUBLINS REALLY ARE SELF-LOATHG, STUDY FDS

SHE’S GAY AND A REPUBLIN. IS THERE A PLACE FOR HER THE G.O.P.?

In orr to better unrstand the relatnship between sexual mory and polil inti, we examed five ditors that scribe the relatnship people have wh their lbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) inty and their nnectn wh the LGBT muny. Internalized Homophobia. One signal — Jtice Clarence Thomas wrote a ncurrg opn that, alongsi abortn, lgs protectg same-sex relatnships and marriage should also be Ann Henry n remember a moment jt a few years ago when she felt there might be a possibily that the Republin uld actually move forward on gay rights.

And wh a half e —lulu garcia-navarroI image that that environment there weren’t a lot out gay and lbian people around you. I thk there was a gay male uple our neighborhood that everybody jt sort of referred to as “The Boys” and didn’t want to say what they were.

PROMENT GAY REPUBLINS HELPED SMOOTH THE WAY FOR MARRIAGE BILL

But we don’t do garcia-navarroDo you remember when you might have first heard the word gay or lbian, what you thought about those words and people who are associated wh them?

The word lbian — I thk I had — maybe more than the word gay, the word lbian was maybe almost ed as a rogatory term.

Whether she plays for our team, the gay ’t the bisexuals have their own team? And we’re all stg around talkg about datg and whatnot, and one of my iends who was gay and out said somethg.

HOW TO BE GAY AND REPUBLIN

You said there were two ann henryThe send story was, I was on an email thread wh a ton of people, and they were batg — there was a ton of people, nsultants and otherwise, Republin staffers at many different levels on a number of different projects, talkg back and forth about how to navigate some tough polil issu related to gay dividuals.

Everybody had an opn about, oh, well, we n’t say this bee the gays would thk that. Or what about the gays here? And was like this cliche “the gays, ” “the gays, ” “the gays, ” jt very broad I jt replied to all, and I was like as a lbian who n wear high heels but also manage power tools, I thk you guys are all a ltle b garcia-navarroYou did reply all?

WHAT IT’S LIKE FOR SOME GAY MEN TO COME OUT AS REPUBLIN

None of them are prumably openly gay? There were many people that I knew that I worked wh that — they may have accepted me and loved me personally but did not support homosexualy for relig reasons or whatever, and I knew that. This is a moment where the Republin Party is still really phg back agast gay rights.

JENNA LYONS ON BEG OUTED (AND HER FAKE TEETH)SHE OPENED UP ABOUT THE GEIC DISORR THAT LED HER TO G FAKE TEETH, HAIR, AND EYEBROWS. “MY HAIR IS ALSO FAKE, I N TAKE OFF, ’S LIKE A HAT."BY KASE WICKMANJULY 20, 2023FROM NATHAN CONGLETON/NBC VIA GETTY IMAG.SAVE THIS STORYSAVESAVE THIS STORYSAVEJENNA LYONS, FORMER HEAD SIGNER AND PRINT OF J. CREW, MAY BE A STYLE IN, BUT, EVEN OVER A LATER, BEG OUTED BEFORE SHE WAS READY TO SHARE HER SEXUALY STILL SMARTS.IN AN TERVIEW WEDNDAY ON THE VIEW, LYONS RELLED BEG PUBLICLY OUTED, THE MIDST OF HER 2011 DIVORCE OM VCENT MAZE. WHEN AN OUTLET LLED AND ASKED FOR NFIRMATN OF WHETHER SHE WAS GAY, SHE SAID, “I WAS SO OVERWHELMED WH EVERYTHG THAT WAS HAPPENG MY LIFE THAT I JT SAID Y.”SHE LLED BEG ASKED BY THE NEW YORK POST TO NFIRM OR NY WHETHER SHE WAS A LBIAN “AN OUT-OF-BODY EXPERIENCE.”“I DIDN’T EXPECT ANYONE TO RE ABOUT WHAT I WAS DOG MY PERSONAL LIFE, AND ALL OF A SUDN EVERYONE RED,” SHE SAID, RELLG THAT THE STORY WAS MA PUBLIC BEE “SOMEONE LLED THE POST AND SAID LOOKED LIKE I WAS HAVG AN TIMATE DNER WH SOMEONE AT A RTRANT.”“I DON’T KNOW WHY,” SHE SAID, “BUT I JT SAID ‘NFIRM.’”THE NEXT DAY, SHE H THE NEWSSTANDS OF NEW YORK AND SOPED UP ALL THE PI OF THE POST SHE ULD FD. “FOR THE RERD, I WENT AND BOUGHT ALMOST EVERY SGLE ONE MANHATTAN,” SHE SAID.THOUGH THE CIRCUMSTANC SURROUNDG HER OUTG STILL STG, LYONS SAID THAT SHE’S PROUD TO BE A POSIVE REPRENTATN OF QUEER PEOPLE THE WORLD AND RELLED HOW YOUNGER EMPLOYE AT J. CREW WOULD TELL HER, “MY MOM IS SO RELIEVED TO SEE SOMEONE SUCCSFUL WHO’S OPENLY GAY.” NOW, TOO, SHE'S THE FIRST OPENLY GAY ST MEMBER ON THE REAL HOEWIV OF NEW YORK.DURG THE APPEARANCE, SHE ALSO OPENED UP ABOUT A GEIC DISORR SHE WAS BORN WH, NTENTIA PIGMENTI, THAT VISIBLY IMPACTS A PERSON’S SK, HAIR, TEETH, AND MORE.“ALL MY TEETH ARE FAKE,” SHE SAID, LGHG AT A PLIMENT AND RPONDG THAT “I PAID A LOT OF MONEY FOR THEM.”“MY HAIR IS ALSO FAKE, I N TAKE OFF, ’S LIKE A HAT,” SHE SAID. “MY EYELASH ARE FAKE, I HAVE NO EYEBROWS, I ALSO HAVE SRS ALL OVER MY SK.”HER NDN HAS SPIRED HER: WHEN SHE ULDN’T FD FAKE EYELASH THAT SHE FELT SUED HER, SHE MA HER OWN AND CREATED HER PANY, LOVESEEN. COPG WH HER HEALTH IS ALSO PART OF THE ORIG STORY FOR HER ONGOG, EPIC LIFE FASHN.“IT’S ONE OF THE REASONS I WENT TO FASHN,” SHE SAID, “BEE I WANTED TO LOOK BETTER. I WAS NSTANTLY TRYG TO FD WAYS TO F .”MORE GREAT STORI FROM VANY FAIRHOW FOUR BILLNAIRE TECHNO-OLIGARCHS ARE CREATG AN ALTERNATE REALYEXCLIVE NEW DETAILS ABOUT MEGHAN MARKLE’S WEDDG DRSWHY THE TAN SUBMERSIBLE DISASTER WAS YEARS THE MAKGHERE’S WHAT WE NEED SEASON 3 OF AND JT LIKE THAT…THE BRIEF DEATH (AND SHORT REBIRTH) OF LIL TAYINSI ANDREW STT AND PL ML’S METAPHYSIL LOVE STORYFROM THE ARCHIVE: A FATHER’S ACUNT OF THE TRIAL OF HIS DGHTER’S KILLEREND-OF-SUMMER SALE! TAKE 25% OFF AT THE VF SHOPMOST POPULARDONALD TMP’S PLAN TO GET REELECTED AND PARDON HIMSELF WAS JT DEALT SER SETBACKBY BS LEVGEIA REPUBLINS SAY THEY'LL MOVE TO REMOVE FULTON COUNTY DA FANI WILLIS FROM OFFICE WH NEW STATE LAWBY ERIC LUTZMSNBC IS HAVG ITS SUPER BOWL WH DONALD TMP’S INDICTMENTSBY CHARLOTTE KLEKASE WICKMAN

I wonr, as you nsired whether would be possible to be out wh the reer you had chosen, how you sort of unrstood that dichotomy of the posn, though, polilly on gay rights?

TMP PRI: GAY REPUBLINS ON WHY THEY'RE BACKG THE PRINT

Archived rerdgWh rpect to the issue of whether gays and lbians should be able to get married, I stggle wh this.

As a nservative, didn’t really give me pse bee I learned so early on and still hold as my own belief, dividual liberty is so herent to what mak, I thk, Ameri different and what we should be supportg and should be much of what I saw as issue was not jt bee of my personal tert as a gay Amerin but bee I felt was ntrary to that belief.

Issu for ann garcia-navarroAnd gay marriage is the ma thg on the agenda. It has to do wh gay upl’ opportuny to ann henryWe had — at the time, members of Congrs started to e forward, not all the time, but we did have right-of-center Rob Portman, others put themselv on the le bee they believed this was a big enough al, too.

SURPRISE, SURPRISE: GAY REPUBLINS REALLY ARE SELF-LOATHG, STUDY FDS

Archived rerdg (rob portman)My son me to Jane, my wife, and I, told that he was gay, and that was not a choice, and that he that’s jt part of who he is, and he’d been that way ever sce he uld remember.

It was marriage, if you thk about , we are at the water’s edge of the argument that mastream Christian teachg is hate speech bee today we’ve reached the pot our society where if you do not support same-sex marriage you are labeled a homophobe and a hater. [MUSIC]Annual Gay Pri paras took on new meang on Sunday as people poured to the cy streets to celebrate the Supreme Court’s lg legalizg same-sex marriage natnwi. Didn’t so much accept gay rights or embrace this cultural change, but kd of reached this pot of — I thk the word I’m lookg for I gus is acquicence ann garcia-navarroBut they do start to turn stead to look at trans rights, and that be the next cultural battleground.