It’s 2008, ‘some of my best friends are gay’ doesn’t work anymore. Sorry, we’ve already had one ‘compassionate conservative’ in the White House for eight years, we aren’t interested in another.

Right on Joe!

As you can see in this video produced by HRC, McCain has opposed every piece of pro-LGBT legislation that has come his way. He even supports the anti-gay state constitutional amendments pending in Arizona, California and Florida.

Patrick Sammon has an article up in the Washington Blade about why John McCain is good for LGBT people. I kid you not – even though he lied to The Advocate and said that LCR is focused first on LGBT rights in the Republican Party, he turns around and writes a column telling LGBT to vote for John McCain.

His reasons are hilarious, absolutely hilarious. But then he knows that he’s coming from an intellectually dishonest position in order to get new donors from the 23% of the LGBT community that voted for Bush in 2004 when LCR didn’t endorse him and that he has to push for a sub-par candidate.

His reasons and a few responses are after the jump.

First, McCain is a maverick — a different kind of Republican who’s willing to buck his own party to stand up for what he believes. Case in point is his consistent opposition to the Federal Marriage Amendment. He’s the only candidate in this race who paid a political price for voting in a way that benefits the LGBT community.

I don’t understand the “political price” that he’s paid, considering that he’s got full fundie support and the Republican nomination for presidency. There isn’t much more the party could be doing to support him right now. And why doesn’t Obama’s opposition to the same FMA count?

But this is just wrong:

FOURTH, McCAIN’S HEALTHCARE reform plan would increase competition, lower prices and improve access. His plan allows people to purchase insurance across state lines thus increasing competition. McCain’s proposal emphasizes individual ownership of health insurance, rather than relying on employers. This provides stability after a job loss. And it’ll prevent discriminatory practices against gay people by an employer.

Sammon’s right – McCain’s health care plan is a mix of deregulation, individualization of risk, and a tax credit to sell the whole mess. In fact, he wrote this in a column just this past month in Contingencies:

Opening up the health insurance market to more vigorous nationwide competition, as we have done over the last decade in banking, would provide more choices of innovative products less burdened by the worst excesses of state-based regulation.

Yes, and that worked out so well for the finance industry.

McCain wants to move the tax break employers receive for providing their workers with health care to the individual. What this means is that health care providers will be more free to say no to an individual, effectively disqualifying people with pre-existing conditions from getting coverage.

The point of health care is that people come together to pool their risk, making sure that no one has to bear the cost of an extraordinary disease on their own. Since health care companies wouldn’t want to take on someone who they think would have more health care expenses than what they’d pay in premiums (someone who’s likely to get cancer because they’ve already had it, perhaps), they’ll simply refuse to take on those individuals. At least at the workplace, eligibility can be guaranteed since health care providers want to take on an entire corporation or business.

Obama’s health care plan is less-than-ideal, but McCain’s is simply a train-wreck. It’s just about the last reason to vote for John McCain.

And here’s the actual last reason:

Fifth, he’ll provide a strong voice challenging the radical Islamic regimes that criminalize same-sex behavior — and even execute gay people. McCain wants to confront tyrants like Iran’s president. Obama wants to talk to him without preconditions.

I don’t even get where this is coming from; will McCain pressure Islamic governments to decriminalize homosexuality? Besides the fact that it just wouldn’t work (”John McCain told us the gays were OK, so we’ll turn around our legal systems!”), and besides the fact that using homophobic human rights abuses as a reason to justify war and colonialism in non-white countries makes a mockery of the gay-rights movement, John McCain has made absolutely no indication that he would use his platform as president to champion gay rights around the world.

Why is Patrick Sammon just making up reasons to vote for McCain?

There’s no reason for LGBT people to trust McCain, and with his nomination of a true-blue fundamentalist to the running mate slot and promise to nominate more conservative judges, we can be sure that McCain will do what he can to turn back the clock on gay rights.

The LCR should drop the whole “working from the inside” shtick, unless they want to change that to “Working from the inside of the gay community to get Republican votes.”

(h/t Pam Spaulding)

Below is an excerpt from the interview. Read the entire interview at the Washington Blade.

Blade: Important gay rights legislation unrelated to marriage has been stalled in Congress for quite some time. The gay community has high expectations for an Obama administration. What are reasonable expectations for a first-term Obama administration: How aggressively would you push for Congress to pass ENDA, the hate crimes bill, repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” and other gay-related bills in your first year in office, and would you mention those bills in your State of the Union address?

Obama: These bills are all important priorities for me. Senator Biden and I have long committed ourselves to supporting fundamental civil rights for all. In addition to the issues you mentioned, I also support full repeal of DOMA to provide equal federal rights and benefits to LGBT couples. America must live up to our founding principle of equality for all, and it’s wrong to have millions of LGBT Americans living as second‐class citizens in this nation.

I support these efforts because I know that equality is a moral imperative. Back when I was in the Illinois Senate, I co‐sponsored a fully inclusive bill that prohibited discrimination on the basis of both sexual orientation and gender identity, extending protection to the workplace, housing, and places of public accommodation. The non-discrimination bill has become law in Illinois. If I am honored to serve as your President, I will continue to do what I’ve done throughout my career and in this campaign: speak out on behalf of the cause for equal justice and opportunity for LGBT Americans.