{"id":81118,"date":"2019-03-15T12:25:55","date_gmt":"2019-03-15T16:25:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/the-trump-era-has-emboldened-our-worst-opponents\/"},"modified":"2019-03-15T12:25:55","modified_gmt":"2019-03-15T16:25:55","slug":"the-trump-era-has-emboldened-our-worst-opponents","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/the-trump-era-has-emboldened-our-worst-opponents\/","title":{"rendered":"The Trump era has emboldened our worst opponents"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Trump era has emboldened our worst opponents<\/b><\/p>\n

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While the Family Research Council\u00a0has always enjoyed far more\u00a0government\u00a0access than most of us would like from an organization that the Southern Poverty Law Center has designated<\/a>\u00a0a hate group, there was a time in the not too distant past when even conservatives were starting to recognize that there are certain forms of advocacy that take them off message from the larger party brand and interests. Sure, from time to time mainstream conservatives, and sometimes even moderates, would show up at an FRC conference and play to that base. But for the most part, toward the end of the last administration and prior the current one, we were in a place where even elected officials who vote against our interests would shy away from catering to groups that unapologetically promote so-called \u201cconversion therapy.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the Trump era, elected officials seem to have dropped all qualms. Let\u2019s look at just one metric: The daily radio show of FRC president\u00a0Tony Perkins<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Washington-Watch\"<\/p>\n

Tony\u2019s show has always featured occasional visits from\u00a0the more extreme members of Congress. You get a Louis Gohmert here. A Vicki Hartzler there. Back in the day, then-congressman Mike Pence used to even occasionally\u00a0fill-in as Tony\u2019s guest host. But for the most part, it was only the far fringes, most always from the larger chamber, and still a somewhat rarity.<\/p>\n

Now, elected members of Congress, from both chambers, appear on Tony\u2019s show almost daily. \u00a0<\/p>\n