Coming Out Republican: A History of the Gay Right

by Neil J. Young

A revelatory and comprehensive history of the gay Right from incisive political commentator Neil J. Young.​One of the most maligned, misunderstood, and even mocked constituencies in American politics, gay Republicans regularly face condemnation from both the LGBTQ+ community and their own political party. Yet they’ve been active and influential for decades. Gay conservatives were instrumental, for example, in ending “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and securing the legalization of same-sex marriage—but they also helped lay the groundwork for the rise of Donald Trump.In Coming Out Republican, political historian and commentator Neil J. Young provides the first comprehensive history of the gay Right. From the 1950s up to the present day, Young excavates the multifarious origins, motivations, and evolutions of LGBTQ+ people who found their way to the institutions and networks of modern conservatism. Many on the gay Right have championed conservative values, like free markets, strong national defense, and individual liberty—and believed that the Republican Party therefore offered LGBTQ+ people the best pathway to freedom. But at the same time, that same party has actively and repeatedly demonized them. Young details the complicated relationship of being in—and yet never fully accepted into—the Republican Party, with his precise and provocative voice.Coming Out Republican provides striking insight into who LGBTQ+ conservatives are, what they want, and why many of them continue to align with a party whose rank and file largely seem to hate them. As the Republican Party renews its assaults on LGBTQ+ rights, understanding the significant history of the gay Right has never been more critical.

Genres: History, Politics, Nonfiction, LGBT, Queer

449 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 3, 2024

Reviews

[Jeffrey · Rating 2 out of 5]

Girl, delusions.

[Alex O'Donnell · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed the first third of the book but as the book progressed into modern times it started to feel shallow. It never gave us new details as to why LCR ideology shifted in the 2010s, nor does it discuss potential reasons - it just happened and the book moves on. The latter part of the book largely ignores gay republicans that are outside the DC / NYC culture sphere - for example, there was no mention of Randall Reid Smith, WV’s head curator who’s a gay republican. Overall I wish it had been more like Secret City.

[Christopher · Rating 5 out of 5]

Coming Out Republican is a deeply researched and engagingly written history — much of it not well known or remembered today — of gay conservatives and their relationship to the Republican Party. More than a sideline to the broader LGBTQ+ civil rights movement of the last 50 years, gay conservative activism has been instrumental in shaping the advances and limitations of LGBT rights today.

[Jonathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Compliment Sandwich Review:

The Good: In the opening chapters Young lays out what he considers the gay right--essentially gay white men who are fiscally conservative and borderline libertarians. That helps with all the chapters and eras that follow. Because whether it is the Lavender scare, the fight against the Johns Briggs and Anita Bryants of the world, the AIDS/HIV pandemic, the struggle for gay marriage, or current day transphobia, these people stay within very marginal confines. They want the government out of their lives and want to hold onto their money. The only thing that differentiates them and their selfish worldview from other Republicans is whom they sleep with. And he makes that point well.

The Bad: I was rapt with the early sections. It plays almost like a movie in the way that he's able to spotlight various people who were involved in the GOP, gay activism, or politics. I loved hearing their stories and how they wrestled with being gay, advancing a legislative agenda, and the resistance they faced. However, after about the period from George W. Bush on, these profiles stop and the people cease to be intriguing. Some of this isn't his fault: there's no way any writer can make Milo Yiannopoulos or Dave Rubin into compelling human beings.

The Good: His prose is fantastic. He's great at setting scenes in each chapter. The information is great and clear. And the best parts made me think that this could be adapted into a movie--either a documentary or a long form miniseries.

Recommended.

[Dasha · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like to think I have a pretty solid understanding of western queer history and how queer activism played out in the twentieth century but this book totally challenged my understandings. Young does an excellent job highlighting how conservative queer men played a role in shaping the homophile movement, AIDS activism, and beyond by emphasizing individual rights (for men...abortion on the hand).

[Jesse · Rating 4 out of 5]

In which Charlie Brown keeps trying to kick that football, and Lucy very occasionally doesn't pull it away. And then...I don't even know what to do with that metaphor once Trump comes on the scene. Turns out he corrupted groups like the Log Cabin Republicans as well as everything and everyone else who let him poison their souls, traducing that group's semi-honorable history of attempting to justify an at least decent-in-intent defense of gay rights from a perspective based more in libertarianism (we ask for the right to be left alone) than civil-rights defense of minoritized groups--though also one that could and did justify gun rights, tax cuts (a smaller government will leave us alone!), ignore any common vision (no reason to see, say, abortion or later, trans rights as an LGBTQ issue, much less questions of race), and in general reflect the generally white, male, upper-middle-class membership of these groups, so let's not get too enthusiastic. That said, Young notes that, as of 2020, they'd joined all the hard-right gay provocateurs (Milo I knew about; no clue how many like him there were) in glorying in triggering the libs and making sure the acronym really included just "LG" rather than "LGBTQ+."

Before then, there are at least sporadic moments when you see their point: the Democrats' playing to gay voters but then turning their backs, in 1972 and 1992 in particular, and the short periods when you had fast-dying-out liberal Republicans like George Deukmejian or Christine Todd Whitman (or John McCain, who comes across quite well) who actually stood up for gay rights and provided a real alternative, does support the idea that having a voice in both parties made all kinds of sense politically, since it incentivized Democrats not to take the gay vote for granted. (That said, he points out that these people frequently gave their own side the benefit of the doubt--oh, the Republican platform was anti-gay, but Reagan didn't exactly live up to all of it? Great! He's on our side!--while attacking Democrats despite their being generally a whole lot better on these questions and not, you know, platforming hard-right religious nuts.)

This could read as dry, but Young moves things along energetically, with the occasional drolly waspish aside breaking a tone of sober analysis that gives gay Republicans every opportunity to justify their ideas. (My favorite, about rising right-wing nut Bob Bauman, eventually undone by a long-term pattern of patronizing underage sex workers in shady neighborhoods as he was rising to national power while espousing hard-right policies: "Bauman railed against what he called 'Democrats in drag'--perhaps an unwise reference given his own secret activities.") I was going to compare gay Republicans to American Communists, in that there should have been a series of moments driving out everyone but the truest believers (show trials, 1939, 1956 for Communists; the AIDS crisis, the 1992 Republican convention, the 1996 Republican platform, open Republican homophobia in the anti-gay marriage crusade of the early 2000s for Republicans), but that's not what we see.

In addition to those moments when components of the Republican party--fewer and weaker as the story continues, to be sure, until they're essentially extinguished--did support pro-gay, or at least anti-discriminatory, legislation and policies, there's just that endless accommodation, that repeated, and increasingly unjustifiable, sense that you needed a voice in both camps in order to push the Democrats left and moderate the Republicans, even as the latter sprinted headfirst over cliff after cliff. And so here we are today, with gay Republicans gleefully joining nutso "groomer" conspiracism against trans people without recognizing, or admitting, that its essential logic could, and has been, turned against them in the past. "History...has shown," he concludes with characteristic understatement, "that gay Republicans might need to prepare themselves for other possibilities."

[Adam · Rating 5 out of 5]

A brilliant history covering the history of gay, conservative activists and politicians in the U.S. Dr. Neil Young is able to capture the rich psychological lives of his subjects, the dynamism of social movements, and complex nature of being gay and conservative. There are some important points the book makes that I want to name in no particular order. First of all, sexuality is not intrinsically linked to a political ideology. Thus, gay conservatism was not as paradoxical as it seemed for much of American history because 1) both political parties were opposed to gay marriage and gay rights and 2) most gay conservatives receive their political education before coming to terms with their sexuality. Second, for a long time, gay activism can have a moderating effect on the Republican Party, moving it away from religious extremism and towards the protection of personal liberties. Only recently, when the turn towards right-wing populism and religious fanaticism seemed inevitable, did gay Republicans start reluctantly supporting this wing of the party. Taken together these points demonstrate that third, Gay Republicans are a dynamic, creative and impactful community within the U.S., punching well above their weight when it comes to membership.

I can't recommend this book highly enough!

[Camilo Olaya · Rating 4 out of 5]

“They’re new to being gay, but they’re old to being conservative”

I found this book to be quite enjoyable in its explanation of an often unseen part of queer history. It was interesting to see how gay (white) men were instrumental in the creation of the earliest organizations in the homophile movement, including the Mattachine Society. I think this novel bookends Secret City: The Hidden History of Gay Washington really well, especially with its earlier iterations of the conservative movement. I also enjoyed how he explores the AIDS Crisis and its impact on the conservative gay movement, bifurcating it just as strongly as it does other parts of gay history. I also enjoyed reading about how gay conservatives were part of the repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell and the success of gay marriage.

I think Young also pays great attention to the psychological aspects of gay republicans, especially how they twist themselves into knots to remain loyal to a party that doesn't particularly want their support. Prose and narrative was better in the first half of the novel, and seemed to get a little more thin as the book transitioned to the present day.

[Alex Pilkington · Rating 5 out of 5]

Neil Young succinctly summarizes the purpose of a gay conservative - to act as a missionary for gay visibility in a socially conservative environment.

The interwoven narrative history of the gay right shows highlights and lowlights.

Would have appreciated additional foray into the gay libertarian sub movement - particularly in gun rights and sexual liberty. But did appreciate the nod to Duke Armstrong , as well as highlighting that the origins of the gay conservative movement involved those not born cisgenderered white males - which dominate the leadership of gay republican clubs presently.

[Stuart Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anyone with an interest in gay political activity since the 1950s will want to read this comprehensive account. Young makes a good case that gay conservatives--primarily Republicans--played a significant role in achieving the repeal of "don't ask, don't tell" and legalizing same-sex marriage but not necessarily for the same reasons as gay liberals--primarily Democrats. It will be interesting to see how this work will be received on both sides of the political spectrum.

[Brian Candelori · Rating 4 out of 5]

Covers a lot of history that's not usually talked about including the role of a "two party" approach to LGBTQ rights

[Bruce Majors · Rating 2 out of 5]

Barely started. So badly written it is unreadable. Seems to have left out SO MUCH: Ralph Raico, Roger McBride, John Hospers.

[Vincent · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this hoping to understand gay republicans because I find their mindset so contradictory, to put it nicely! But this was more of a history book then a book with analysis

[Samuel Eli Shepherd · Rating 4 out of 5]

I never thought the elephant would trample on ME

[Lillian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just kinda a dense book which made it boring to read at times. Some parts were very interesting however. I liked it best when there was almost a timeline of a specific gay conservative figure.