The True Confessions Of A Gay Hillary Clinton Supporter Plus Seven Irrefutable Facts About The Presidential Election That Every American Needs To Know

by Roy Steele

I must confess that twenty five years ago I was a Hillary hating homo gay man.

Today I love the bitch. Big league. And I’m still gutted about her loss. Bigly!

This isn’t a twisted tale of misogyny. You already know that calling Hillary Clinton a ‘bitch’ is a term of endearment in the gay community. For this blog post I’m dropping the serious veneer for a moment and I’m writing from the heart. For you to understand and appreciate how my feelings have evolved over the years, it’s important to know the backstory.

Way Way Back In The Olden Days Of The Last Century (Circa 1992)...

In 1992, Gennifer Flowers, an Arkansas state government employee, alleged that she had a twelve year extramarital affair with Governor Bill Clinton, who was running in a crowded field for the Democratic party nomination for President. With a fourth place finish in the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primary on the line, Gennifer Flowers and a sex scandal could derail the nascent campaign of the wannabe president.

In order to rebut and quiet the chorus of accusers asserting that Bill Clinton was a serial philanderer, an interview was granted to CBS’ 60 Minutes, which was set to air immediately after the Super Bowl. The only demand the campaign made was including Hillary Clinton in the sit-down with journalist Steve Kroft.

In January 1992, Bill Clinton was largely unknown as a national political figure, and the interview would address some pressing issues in the campaign. Hillary would give her husband instant credibility and provide damage control, and the segment would increase his name recognition, boost the profile of the dark horse candidate, and introduce the Arkansas governor and first lady to the American people.

So like most Americans, I was first introduced to Hillary Rodham Clinton on January 26, 1992, during that post-Superbowl 60 Minutes  interview.

I’d like you to meet Hillary Rodham Clinton.

The defiant governor denied the Gennifer Flowers allegations, and the first lady of Arkansas made it clear that she wasn’t a prop standing by “her man,” despite her protestations to the contrary. She stood by her man and then some.

Hillary Clinton was pissed off and wanted everyone to know that she made her own decisions, was committed to her husband and their marriage, and that she wasn’t a typical politician’s wife. She stated plainly:

You know, I’m not sitting here, some little woman standing by my man like Tammy Wynette. I’m sitting here because I love him, and I respect him, and I honor what he’s been through and what we’ve been through together. And you know, if that’s not enough for people, then heck, don’t vote for him.

Stand By Your Man was country music legend Tammy Wynette’s signature song. She implored women to stick with their man NO MATTER what they did. She said to forgive a man’s transgressions despite him being “hard to understand.”

But if you love him you’ll forgive him
Even though he’s hard to understand

During the 60 Minutes  interview Hillary Rodham Clinton said unequivocally, I don’t live by Tammy Wynette’s rules, I don’t care what you think, and my marriage is none of your business. In retrospect she was right. Regardless, that large swath of voters who lean to the right, and myself, wrote Hillary off from that moment on, and proclaimed that the Clinton’s were wrong wrong wrong.

I’d lose my ‘gay’ card if I didn’t note that Hillary wore a black headband during the interview, and a green twin-set. Big gold earrings adorned her ears, and the only thing missing from her outfit was a strand of big white pearls or an add-a-bead necklace. She looked the part of a genteel southern woman, but 'bless her heart' she failed to display the humor and charm of a southern woman.

I thought that Bill Clinton’s answers were slick and rehearsed, and he left me feeling uneasy. I felt that I couldn’t trust him. I vividly remember thinking that Hillary was haughty, imperious, and sanctimonious. She was smart, ready to fight, and didn’t display any warmth. I decided that I didn’t like the Clinton’s and that was that.

Bush Forty One Versus LGBT Favorite Bill Clinton (And Ross Perot) November 1992

Some people say that Hillary saved her husband’s political career in that interview, as he was subsequently elected our forty second president. While she might have rescued her husband’s campaign, she also ticked off legions of voters who were old-fashioned and believed in traditional roles that we consider to be sexist today, including many stay-at-home moms and housewives.

I supported and worked to re-elect President George H.W. Bush, and did it quietly because our incumbent president was so unpopular in the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community. Ross Perot was in the race too and President Bush lost big time.

Bill Clinton campaigned and raised money in the gay community, and the gay community came out in droves to support him. He betrayed LGBT people and threw the gay community under the bus by signing every anti-gay bill that came across his desk. My contempt for President Clinton grew over the years, and I held the First Lady in the same regard.

During the Clinton years in the White House, my friend’s on Capitol Hill spread vicious rumors and gossip about the President and First lady, which I gleefully repeated to friends in New York and Los Angeles, and anyone else who would listen. Clinton bashing was in, and the jokes were cruel and often dirty. I regret repeating the rumors and malicious gossip, and apologize for spreading such vitriolic hate.

Who’s That Girl?

Hillary Clinton was a lawyer, a working mother, and the new first lady of the United States. Writing for Vanity Fair  in 1993, Margaret Carlson described the massive challenges that the very private Mrs. Clinton was facing.

Never before has a First Lady inspired as much avid curiosity as Hillary Rodham Clinton, and never has it gone so unsatisfied. Though Americans were moved by Eleanor Roosevelt’s purposeful humanity and enchanted by Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy’s youthful glamour, nothing has approached the fascination people feel toward the current First Lady, who is carving out for herself a role that attempts to blend the work ethic of Roosevelt, the style of Kennedy, and her own unprecedented political ambitions. As the first working mother in the White House, the first unapologetic feminist, and arguably the most important woman in the world, she wants not just to have it all, but to do it all.

She was put in charge of revamping our healthcare system, and was the first first lady to have an office in the West Wing. Overhauling our nation’s healthcare system is a huge job for anyone, let alone a newbie in Washington. Hillary failed to effect monumental change in our healthcare system, and she failed in a very public way.

The Republican party pounced on characterizing any reform of the healthcare system as government intrusion into the personal lives of Americans, and an unnecessary expansion of the federal bureaucracy. Hillary was vilified by the GOP for being smart and ambitious, and she retreated from any future public role as a policy maker in the Bill Clinton administration.

A funny thing happened on the way to the Shoreham. Whitewater.

From 1994 to 1997 special prosecutor Kenneth Starr, appointed to head the Office of the Independent Counsel, investigated Bill and Hillary Clinton’s role in a land deal gone wrong. The alleged Whitewater controversy was one of many scandals that Clinton’s political opponents alleged over the years. The special prosecutor did not find any corruption or illegal activity involving the President or First Lady in Whitewater, so he widened his investigation. Starr stumbled upon evidence that the President perjured himself in a deposition in an unrelated case, and referred the perjury charge to the House of Representatives. The House impeached the President for for perjury and obstruction of justice. After a twenty one day trial in the Senate, Clinton was acquitted of all charges.

Bill Clinton had a wandering eye for women, which caused him to behave badly and engage in extramarital sex, unbeknownst to his wife. The perjury allegations stemmed from Clinton denying under oath that he had a sexual relationship with a young White House intern. Why would the President lie about an affair? For the same reasons every other man lies about affairs. To protect himself, to protect his family, and in this case to protect the American people too. Is it fair to hold the president to a different standard than we hold ourselves?

Hillary Clinton was kept in the dark about the whole affair (pun intended) and yet we seem to hold her responsible for Bill’s bad behavior. She was subjected to the biggest humiliation of her life on an international stage. Hillary was a very private person and felt burned by her husband, his political opponents, and the press. During the course of these events we saw a distressed First Lady. Who couldn’t sympathize with a woman who has a philandering husband? I had great empathy for her. Her pain was evident in her public appearances, and yet she still performed her job as First Lady in a professional and admirable way. She fought through the impeachment, fought the baseless charges and allegations, and she endured humiliation on a grand scale that is unfathomable to most of us.

That was when I first came to admire Hillary Clinton. She handled the enormous pressure with grace and class, and carried out her duties when she could have thrown in the towel and said ‘fuck it.’

If I was Hillary Clinton and I felt insecure or scared, I would build a wall around myself too and be arrogant and rude to keep the press and prying public far away. When you think about it, that is exactly what Hillary Clinton did for years. Instead of sympathizing we criticize and demean her. That seems unjust and ridiculous when she deserves better. We should hold our public servants to the same standards that we hold ourselves.

Freedom Fries And Hillary In The United States Senate

After leaving the White House and Hillary announced her campaign to represent New York in the U.S. Senate, Hillary won over the voters in New York. She got high marks for rolling up her sleeves and working hard to represent her constituents, and she did her homework and learned about the issues.

Over time, Hillary Clinton won me over too. It took a long time for me to figure out why I held Mrs. Clinton in such low regard. In her early years in public life her arrogance and haughty manner put me off. I was also discomfited by her intellect and political goals. When I started to reflect on why I disliked her so much, I discovered that my feelings were based on half-truths, lies, and unfounded allegations. In a nutshell, my negative feelings for Hillary were entirely based on myths, GOP propaganda, misinformation, and pure sexism.

I will admit that sexism played a major role in developing negative feelings. That’s where my dislike was coming from, and while I’m ashamed to admit it, I can see it clearly now and I learned from my mistake. Why else would I have so much contempt for a woman who devoted her life to doing good work and being a public servant?

I’m happy to call myself a feminist today. Both personally and professionally, the most important and most influential people in my life, have all been strong women. Lots of people find it difficult to re-examine decisions and feelings, myself included. Self-reflection allowed me to look at where my feelings originated, and review the evidence to see if the facts supported my thesis. It was pretty obvious that I was duped and fell for the anti-Clinton propaganda. Once I learned the why, my negative feelings were easy to overcome.

Nancy Reagan, Barbara Bush, Hillary Clinton. Shrinking Violets? Nope.

There are lots of men and women who are unsettled by intelligent ambitious women. Some people are so threatened by smart women that they become vicious and mean. They have a visceral reaction to strong women that stirs inexplicable anger and resentment.

When I heard voters say “I don’t trust Hillary,” I wondered why people were treating  their vote like they were choosing a mate. The standards we have for picking a president seem much higher than what we expect in a love match, and that makes little sense to me.

Hillary Clinton’s credentials, experience and qualifications were unassailable and unmatched by any other candidate. She was educated at Wellesley College and Yale Law School. She worked for the House Judiciary Committee during Watergate, and then as employed by the Children’s Defense Fund. Hillary practiced law in Arkansas, and was the state’s First Lady. When her husband was elected President she was our First Lady for eight years, and was elected twice as the U.S. Senator from New York. Finally, she was President Obama’s chief diplomat and Secretary of State for four years.

As a Senator and Secretary of State she received high marks, and was known to work with Senator’s on both sides of the aisle.

Many individuals pointed at Hillary Clinton and repeated Donald Trump’s mantra that she is “crooked.” Crooked infers that someone engages in criminal activity and behavior, and THAT characterization is patently untrue. The evidence isn’t there. There’s no ‘there’ there.

Considering that Secretary Clinton had been living under a microscope for so many years, and has never done something “crooked,” I believed that those baseless and unfounded charges were sexist, disrespectful and preposterous.

The Clinton’s can still appear to be haughty and entitled from time to time, and that gets under the skin of their opponents and detractors. Why do they act that way? I can’t imagine or pretend to know what it’s like to be attacked and criticized so often, and I don’t think that I would respond any differently. I do know that no one questions their motivations to work for ALL the people. Their mission has been to LIFT Americans up and NOT put people down.

Benghazi was bullshit. The email server scandal was concocted of pure malarkey.

After seven Congressional investigations into Benghazi, they all concluded that the Secretary of State was not responsible for the death of four Americans, and she wasn’t complicit in the attacks. The FBI conducted a twelve month investigation into the use of an email server and found no evidence of criminal wrongdoing. She was vilified as First Lady despite being the victim of her husband’s extra-marital affairs. Hillary Clinton has had her share of public relations disasters, and after countless investigations and over twenty-five years in public life, her record of accomplishments and achievements far outweigh any perceived screw ups.

Like a majority of other Americans, I proudly voted for Hillary Clinton for President. I went from being a Hillary hating homo to loving the bitch!

Life goes on and there are seven indisputable facts about the 2016 presidential election.

1. Hillary Clinton leads Donald Trump in the popular vote by over 2.8 million votes today, and her lead is approaching 3 million votes as each state completes their certifications and the tallies are finalized.
2. There is NO evidence that Hillary Clinton is or was corrupt or crooked.
3. Hillary Clinton was the most qualified candidate to run for president in modern memory.
4. Donald Trump didn’t win in a landslide.
5. Donald Trump lost the popular vote. 
6. Donald Trump eked out a slim three state victory in the electoral college (77K votes separate Clinton and Trump in three states).
7. I came to love Hillary Clinton and am very sad about her election loss. 

We all lost something on election day. I just hope it wasn’t our future.