GLR May-June 2023

specify that this definition shall apply to all federal protections related to sex, which would seem to rewrite decades of legisla tion on sexual equality. Santos is the only out LGBT person in Congress to be a cosponsor— but why ? It’s the kind of bill that closeted gay politicians jump on to prove their hetero bona fides, but Santos is openly gay and even used his gayness as a trump card during his campaign, which hasn’t prevented him from speaking out against same-sex marriage and parenting. So, maybe this guy is just a dick, or maybe it’s a case of “internal ized homophobia” or generalized feelings of self-hatred—feel ings that seem increasingly justified the more we learn. There’s Always a Twist Another anti-LGBT politician who got caught engaging in decidedly pro-LGBT behavior, another mea culpa, another plunge into that inexplicable realm of clos eted gay men whose public homophobia is proportional to their private misbehavior. What makes the case of Tennessee Lt. Governor Randy McNally special is that the object of his af fections became a minor celebrity in his own right. McNally has a history of anti-gay rhetoric and support for anti-LGBT legislation, including his administration’s bill (now law) ban ning drag shows and healthcare for transgender minors. And yet, it seems McNally became smitten with a young man on Instagram named Franklyn (“Finn”), a musician who likes to pose in scanty underwear and sometimes in the nude. McNally was a frequent fan of both styles, writing comments such as “Finn, you can turn a rainy day into rainbows and sunshine!” followed by three heart and three flame emojis. Franklyn, who is presumably the source of the screen shots, revealed that he and McNally have been social media friends for years and have communicated privately. He noted that they’ve never met in person, but he assumes McNally is gay. It turns out he’s well informed, and his actions may have been strategic: “I just hope that he knows I love him and LGBTQ + loves him and would love him even more if he would open his heart and treat everyone else the way he wants to be treated.” Pat Robertson Lives Surely it was inevitable that someone would blame LGBT people for the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB)—hey, Silicon Valley is close to San Francisco— but it’s surprising how far this meme got in the ideosphere (a coinage), going beyond the Tucker Carlson stage of just mak ing stuff up, all the way to The Wall Street Journal .Akind of explanation was produced, and it all came down to… “woke ness.” The most dumbed-down version was offered (pre dictably) by Fox News, where Jesse Waters asserted that SVB’s executives, rather than attending to issues like risk manage ment, were spending all their time “holding seminars on Les bian Visibility Day and National Pride Month.” The Journal was more measured, of course, suggesting that “the company may have been distracted by diversity demands,” while noting that the Board was 45 percent women, with one Black and one LGBTQ + member (aha!). Okay, so let’s say the Board and man agement were too “woke”—this led them to do what exactly? No actual financial decisions or policies are cited that might be attributed to wokeness or used to explain SVB’s collapse. (For the record, the causes of the collapse are well understood: rising interest rates, etc.) So it turns out it was all about prox imity to San Francisco, after all. May–June 2023

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