Tyler already came out to his buddies two months ago. There is a lot of misunderstanding of this story. Ty stands by his anti-gay beliefs. Sure he is an out gay guy, but he doesn't support the militant homosexual agenda or the special rights many homosexuals demand. He is totally supported by Tancredo and YAF so he has many friends.

Many on this site and others are quick to claim how diverse the GLBTQQ population is. Maybe this is a chance for all of us to step up and move along the hatred-opposition-tolerance-acceptance-love continuum.

Tyler was not "outed." He had already begun the process of coming out himself. The media and blogosphere has just simply reported on the process. Again, he wasn't "outed."

Secondly... Let's give the kid a break. It is horrible that some have voiced such disdain toward the kid... He is only 18, still figuring out who he is and where he fits into this world. We are in no position to judge him. Let him be who he is, even if he is a conservative Republican.

Matt~

I have no idea what disdain you're referring to. The closest I got to "disdain" is saying that he's troubled - and, yes, if you're gay and you're marching with a sign that says, "Go back in the closet," then you're troubled and have issues to deal with. If you work for a campus group that's been labeled a hate group by the SPLC for good reason, then you're troubled. I think that I could have gotten a lot more "disdainful", but that wouldn't have been productive. I think what I wrote hardly qualifies as disdain.

Second, yes, he was outed. Sure, he was out to some people. Ted Haggard was already out to Mike Jones, but that doesn't mean he was outed. If a public figure is not out publicly, and a news report changes that, then s/he's outed. By your definition, then no one has ever been outed, because they have to come out on some level before a news source can report on it.

Third:

We are in no position to judge him.

Well, he seems to feel like he's in a great position to judge the rest of us. And seriously, what's up with this whole "Don't judge" mentality? It's like if we call out someone for being hateful, then, like clockwork, the right comes back at us and says that we're intolerant of intolerance, and that's intolerance, and then we should all shut up and not call out intolerance because that makes us intolerant. I know, like, what the hell? So I'm saying, no, I can judge, will judge others, that's just the way that I am so don't judge me. (Yeah, I can work within that framework, too, so don't judge my post and don't judge me because it's an intrinsic part of my identity to be judgmental.)

And fourth:

Let him be who he is, even if he is a conservative Republican

Yes, that makes a lot of sense. Because being a conservative Republican is an immutable part of one's personality. Mm-hmm. It can't change at all, he's not responsible for it, and no one has any right to tell him that he can be anything else.

And last I'm not going to buy into the whole "he's 18 so he's a baby who isn't responsible for the shit that comes out of his mouth" argument. Yes, he's young, and if he were not in a position of power I probably wouldn't even care who he was. But he is the webmaster of a presidential campaign, so apparently someone who knows him a whole lot better than I do thinks that he's fully capable of not only being responsible for his actions, but also the actions of others by being in a position to speak for them.

But I wasn't being mean to him. Not disdainful or anything like that. In fact I offered to be his friend. And I meant that sincerely.

Would someone please tell me what the homosexual agenda is or the special rights that we want?? I so missed the memo!

He's 18. I feel no pity for him. Do none of you remember being 18?

That's a good discussion Alex and Matt have started - what does it mean to be "outed?" If the kid was openly gay, was he "outed?" As Alex says, everyone is "out" to someone they've had sex with, so the line is a little blurry... Isn't an "outing" when the media starts talking about your sexuality?

As far as 18 goes, 18 year olds are fighting and dying in Iraq every day - they are adults, not kids. And by the time you're 18, you'd think you would know enough that if you stand around holding signs saying "Go back in the closet" when you're openly gay, you're going to be called a hypocrite.

Precisely. Moreover, considering that there is absolutely no evidence that his viewpoints have changed, there's certainly no reason to start talking about how "confused" he is. Considering what he has done, past leadership initiatives, etc., he knows precisely what he wants in life and has been working towards it for years.

Alex, are you offering to be his "friend" because you want to bang him? Cuz that's the sweetest pick up line ever!

I think one of the things this episode illustrates is that there is currently no word for a gay "Uncle Tom".

Therefore, in the interest of the cause, I shall coin a new phrase.

In the "Steel Magnolias" tradition of all gay men being named Mark, Rick, or Steve, let us declare Tyler Whitney and other "gay traitors" an UNCLE STEVE.

I would also entertain "UNCLE THOMAS," provided the speaker enunciates very clearly, with just a hint of lisp.

Or, in honor of Whitney himself, perhaps the new phrase is "UNCLE TYLER" which would fit pretty well...

Rita~

I'm thinking "Jeff Gannon" works well, esp. since it wasn't even Jeff Gannon's real name, so it's fictional.

Serena~

You know it!

This kid Tyler Whitney has no business experimenting with the homosexual lifestyle at such a young age. Where are his parents? To deliberately experiment with sodomy, many types of std, and AIDS is not a joke. Look at Andrew Sullivan who got AIDS from barebacking. Tyler Whitney needs to seek some help from conservative organizations, not the homosexuals.