You know you’re a creep when you get booed off the stage at the Conservative Political Action Conference for being too antigay.
But that’s exactly what happened to Ryan Sorba, a member of California Young Americans for Freedom, when he got up during a panel discussion and, apropos of nothing, launched into an antigay tirade regarding the inclusion of GOPRIDE, a conservative gay group, as part of the conference. This made some people upset. Sorba is obviously one of those people.
“I’d like to condemn CPAC for bringing GOPRIDE to this event,” Sorba says.
Immediately the crowd begins to boo. This only emboldens Sorba. “Bring it, bring it,” he says. “I love it.”
“Guess what?” he continues. “Civil rights are grounded in natural rights. Natural rights are grounded in human nature. Human nature is a rational substance in relationship.” I don’t know what he’s talking about or what this has to do with gay Republicans. But hey, he’s got the mic.
“The intelligible end of the reproductive act is reproduction,” he says, clearly exasperated. “Do you understand that?”
Woah, Sorba. Enough with the sexy talk. The reproductive act, eh? Is that what you Young Americans for Freedom are calling it these days?
Undeterred by the continuous booing, Sorba begins to say, “Civil rights, when they conflict with natural rights, are contrary … ” but gets cut off by people shouting at him from the audience. “No, you sit down,” Sorba, the King of the Comeback, says. I totally expected him to say, “I know you are, but what am I?”
But then he goes for the real burn: “The lesbians at Smith College protest better than you do.” And then he says it again for emphasis.
Sorba is referring to an event two years ago when the Smith College Republican Club brought him to campus to give a speech about his book, “The Born Gay Hoax.” A group of largely lesbian activists literally stormed the podium and forced him to leave.
So Sorba is clearly used to less than warm receptions. But this is CPAC, man. Not exactly a bastion of gay pride and acceptance.
The booing is clearly getting to Sorba and he’s losing his cool. “Yeah?” he says, again addressing the audience’s heckles and boos. “Bring it.” He then points to someone named Jeff in the audience and tells him, “You’ve just made an enemy out of me.”
Lucky Jeff. I wouldn’t be surprised to hear that Sorba later beat him up in the parking lot.
Lee Doran of How the World Works talked to Sorba after his tirade and put the interview up on YouTube. “I interviewed Sorba to listen to him talk for as long as possible. I’m happy GOPROUD was at CPAC, and think Ryan made a fool of himself,” Lee writes.
“I’m just trying to tell the truth,” Sorba tells Lee. “Homosexuality, first of all, is intrinsically immoral. It’s intrinsically evil. It’s a deficiency of being.”
He also, of course, says, “I don’t hate anybody.” He just wants to condemn anyone who would even consider associating with homos, even conservative ones.
Hey, I’m just trying to tell the truth.
D’Anne Witkowski has been gay for pay since 2003. She’s a freelance writer and poet (believe it!). When she’s not taking on the creeps of the world, she reviews rock ’n’ roll shows in Detroit with her twin sister.