I did not agree with Lindsay Graham one bit, however

[redstatebluegirl]

I have been blocking people on here who use homophobic slurs to talk about him. Talk about his policies, his doing a 180 on Trump but using the words princess and worse is not acceptable to me.

I feel pretty certain he was being blackmailed by orange cheeto. Being in the closet is a horrible existence. Plus, the man is dead, making nasty comments about that makes us no different that cheetolini.

[1WorldHope]

1. I agree that being gay in or out of the closet is not fair game.

But, I have read survivor statements saying he joined in the child rape parties that happened on a couple of big expensive farms down south. So, for me it's not that he was gay, it is that he fell in line with Trump because the secret he held over his head was not about being gay. It was about child exploitation.

[Lifeafter70]

12. I agree

I had a neighbor years ago, who everyone thought was gay. Turned out it was children not the same sex he was interested in. He is serving a life sentence for his crimes against children.
He was not gay.

[Ms. Toad]

20. Then please don't link the two as if gender-based sexual orientation

Is connected to rape. Why would you even bring it up?

[Dunc]

2. I get how you feel.

Yet people are just letting steam off cut them some slack. We’re in a fight people are tired it’s been ten years of this.
Lindsey was an evil P.O.S. He will be remembered for what he has enabled. Hopefully the superstitious belief that they die in threes holds.

[sarisataka]

5. People are just letting off steam is a poor excuse

When Clarence Thomas died should we cut some slack for racist remarks because people are letting off steam?

[Dunc]

10. It is us against them.

[sarisataka]

11. I'll take that as a yes to racism

Do you notice tolerating homophobia, racism and more make "us" look a lot like "them"?

[appmanga]

25. Clarence Thomas died?

When Clarence Thomas died

Do you know something we don't? Is more good news on the way?

As far I'm concerned, Graham's sexuality was his own business. The weirdness of South Carolina is whether the open secret is about closeted gay men, or segregationists having black daughters, people seem to not have an issue compartmentalizing the political from the personal. I guess because it's common for the privileged in the state to have a bunch of skeletons hidden away.

[sarisataka]

29. Wishful slip...

[1WorldHope]

28. I wish that wasn't a typo.

"When Clarence Thomas died should we cut some slack for racist..."

[Bluestocking]

30. Please don't compare

being gay to being black. Graham may have been a closeted gay man but there is no such thing as a closeted black man.

No one will make racist comments about Thomas on DU.

[sarisataka]

31. It is not a comparison of the men

but of the tolerance of slurs.

IMO homophobic slurs are as intolerable, whether or not the target is an alleged closeted Republican, as racist slurs.

There is no "justifying" circumstance.

[electric_blue68]

38. I agree. Shouldn't be saying that kind of stuff.

We can just say...if he was in the closet, that if he voted in homophobic ways then he was a mighty hypocrite!!

[lame54]

3. Saying nothing is best

[bdamomma]

18. Yes

good advice, I'm not saying anything either. He had skeletons in his closet. That is all.

[Ohio Joe]

4. homophobic slurs Get a hide vote from me...

Unless I get an alert chance first. They have no place here against anyone.

[uppityperson]

6. Being dead doesn't give him a pass, but homophobic slurs is not acceptable at all

Thank you to those voting to hide or self deleting.

[sarisataka]

7. I wish I could say I am surprised

but when I saw he had died I fully expected a burst of "acceptable" homophobia

[Crunchy Frog]

8. I believe that he was correct on Ukraine and russia,

though he often had a difficult time reconciling it with his misplaced loyalty to Trump.

I don't believe that he was fully evil, but I think that he was terribly weak, and whatever better angels he may have had got mostly drowned out by his need to attach himself to whatever powerful figure happened to be available. This mostly worked out when it would John McCain, but was a disaster when he turned to Trump.

I won't celebrate his death though, and agree that the homophobic slurs are completely out of line.

That's pretty much all I have to say on the matter.

[Deuxcents]

13. Your statement is the closest to what I'd have to say..my only agreement with him was his support for Ukraine.

[Doodley]

9. He supported anti-gay agenda, so yes, he's fair game. The hypocrisy is breathtaking.

[Skittles]

15. while it is OK to question his hypocrisy

calling him "Princess" is not the way to do that

[Doodley]

34. Please educate me. What do you think the word 'princess' means in this specific context?

[Skittles]

37. not EVEN gonna fucking bother

seriously

[Doodley]

39. Too easy to be the word police.

[Skittles]

14. I agree

and trashing everyone in SC ain't cool either

[paleotn]

16. Thing is, those you've blocked may not care a bit that you've blocked them.

Just saying. But I do get your point to an extent. Unfortunately for that logic, Graham was a piece of shit when Clinton was in the White House. The last 8 years isn't anything new. Power has always been his game. And everyone paying even the least bit of attention in SC knows what Graham was about. Have for decades, so it's kind of hard to say he was really in the closet. During all that time he kept getting re-elected.

[H2O Man]

17. I agree with you

regarding insults about his being gay. And I haven't heard anyone claim that he was involved in exploiting children until today on DU, which I am unaware of there being any serious sourcing for. So those things should be avoided, in my opinion. Hence I recommended the post.

I don't believe he was being blackmailed. I doubt that if the felon were to have noted that Lindsey was gay, exactly zero people would have gone into shock. I think that he was a fella that had to ride along with a stronger man, like McCain or the felon. There are, for good or for bad, lots of human beings that fit that description.

Yesterday, while conversing with a friend about our class reunion this coming weekend, he mentioned another classmate who recently moved in our very rural neighborhood -- if it qualifies as such -- with his partner. He told my friend that he had recently coming out of the closet. Good for him. I couldn't imagine what it must have been like for him all these years.

I would also think that "race" is not what one should focus on when Clarence dies. I'd suggest holding off on even having serious discussions on how things may have influenced personality structure & features.

On the other hand, I do enjoy good dark humor. It is essential in rough times. I recognize it is not for evereyone. For example, earlier today, to be nice, I said I hoped Lindsey would be okay. One person was confused by that.

[infullview]

19. Let's face it, the man had no spine.

He was an evil POS and I don’t regret one bad word I said about him either when he was alive or after he died

[valleyrogue]

21. I don't like it one bit. All this gay rumor comes from the simple fact he never married.

Sometimes I feel like I am stuck in the 1950s with that kind of mindset.

Many, many people never marry and aren't gay. Many married people, before Obergefell, were gay but felt compelled to marry because of this idiotic mindset that if you never marry, there is something wrong with you.

Being married isn't a badge of heterosexuality or being "normal." Being gay isn't a badge of shame or being "abnormal." Never marrying doesn't mean there is something wrong with you.

Lindsey Graham might have been gay or bisexual or maybe not. I can see why he may have rejected marriage and family life if he were straight because family life was forced upon him in early adulthood when both his parents died and he ended up raising his 13-year-old sister.

People need to grow up and stop speculating about people who allegedly don't fit the so-called "norm" of marriage and kids.

[Doodley]

35. Agreed, but do you see the irony in the opening post that speculates that he was gay?

[valleyrogue]

22. I doubt he was "blackmailed" over his alleged sexuality. He was an opportunist.

I mean, it isn't any big deal being gay or straight or anything these days. Nobody gives a shit..

Graham was always a sellout. He was always an opportunist who looked at which way the wind was blowing.

I never forgave him over his involvement in the Clinton impeachment fiasco. He played a big role in it when he was in the House of Representatives. He knew better, but he also was pandering.

[NewEnglandAutumn]

23. I have mixed feelings on this because I don't want to hurt others But

He harmed so many people in the gay community. The fact that he was in the closet does NOT give him a pass when it comes to how he treated others.

[BannonsLiver]

24. Slurs are out of bounds IMO but I think it's okay to wonder about ir in the context you mentioned.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

26. I do NOT give a darn about Graham's sexual orientation

I do care about Graham being trump’s tool and weapon

[Keepthesoulalive]

27. His sexuality is not important

But the pain he caused others is fair game. I will not respect or refrain from criticizing him as the horrible spineless weasel he was and death does not give him a pass. I owe him nothing but scorn.

[Doodley]

36. You didn't speculate about his sexuality, like the OP did. Notice the irony!

[doc03]

32. He was a reasonable person before John

McCain died.

[Martin Eden]

33. I actually agreed with Graham

In December 2015, Graham looked into a camera and called Donald Trump a "race-baiting, xenophobic, religious bigot." By February 2016: "I think he's a kook. I think he's crazy."