Photo credit: Brad Boivin Official Twitter Account
Brad Boivin at his Campaign Kickoff Party on June 2, 2018
Well, he beat me to it. Just as I was penning a column about him, Bradley Boivin, the gay Christian conservative Republican running for Paul Ryan’s congressional seat, dropped out of the race. The would-be congressman with all the quaint fervor of Mr. Smith going to Washington had all the obligatory Republican planks in his platform. He was against reproductive rights, unions and welfare (for the poor, not corporations), while being all for the wall (his slogan: “Build the Wall, Already!”), religious liberty and states’ rights. He had a noble mission of giving government back to the people.
A psychologist with a focus on treating those with addictions, this was his first run for office—an ambitious enterprise given not only the stature of the office to which he aspired, but also the fact the incumbent had already named his successor. When regime Speaker Ryan endorsed Bryan Steil, the good doctor responded accordingly calling it “establishment shenanigans.” Undeterred, our gay Dr. Don Quixote persisted, albeit briefly. Meanwhile, upon his withdrawal, he humbly endorsed the speaker’s heir apparent.
As much as one might have hoped, this candidate’s exit epiphany wasn’t about the moral repugnance of the regime with its child concentration camps and all. Rather, it was simply about money. The reality may also have dawned on him that he’s gay. As much as a Quisling-esque enigma a gay Republican might be for LGBTQs, it’s anathema for the GOP (unless you’re a millionaire hosting fundraisers, of course). Despite his political newbie naiveté, a touch of Stockholm Syndrome, perhaps, and the sincerity of his golly-gosh-I’ll-change-the-system élan, the gay guy never stood a chance. Even my good Catholic colleague forgave the litany of deadly sins committed by her Republican redeemer, but gayness…not so much.
Speaking of which, with the November election day looming, we haven’t heard much from our local gay Republicans. Apart from mealy mouthed praise for the SCOTUS wedding cake decision and a shared Wall Street Journal article brushing off a future reversal of Obergefell v. Hodges marriage equality decision by a conservatively stacked SCOTUS, the group has remained mum. I suppose they’re hard pressed to enter the fray against Sen. Tammy Baldwin on behalf of either the handsome, squared-jawed lug Kevin Nicholson, the likely loser, or homophobe Leah Vukmir who has been picking up regime endorsements left and right (well, right, anyway). She was most recently seen all agrin in a conga line dancing directly behind Gov. Scott “What-me-worry?” Walker. Not to be outdone, Nicholson made a wet and wild splash in a Watertown parade downpour, cavorting with a pack of husky shirtless guys in shorts barreling downhill on a Slip ’n Slide. I may not be the Oracle at Delphi but, if I were Nicholson, with divine signs like those, I’d go back to being a Democrat.
And that’s the thing. With dozens of congressional Republicans calling it quits and conservative pundits changing party, one might expect die-hard gay Republicans to do some soul searching. Some rats never get the memo, I guess.
