Orrin Hatch: “Gays and lesbians don’t pay tithing, their religion is politics.”

Chino Blanco,

Hatch pleads for his job and proves he will say anything to avoid Bennett’s fate:

Tea Party members I know by and large are good, honest, decent people, but out of anger should not disrupt the few GOP [candidates] who can win, he said. He said the Republicans need to organize and pull together just as unions, environmentalists, personal injury lawyers and gay rights activists do for Democrat [sic] candidates.

Gays and lesbians dont pay tithing, their religion is politics, said Hatch.

Almost as funny as that time Orrin pretended to be a Washington outsider.

I’m guessing it’s a calculated ploy by Orrin to attract the ire of the Utah LGBT community so that he can then put on a show playing the martyr for the Tea Party crowd, but I don’t think it’s gonna work. It’s such a clumsy insult that all it’s going to trigger is a bunch of eye-rolling now and more schadenfreude later when Orrin gets the boot from the same folks he’s trying so hard to impress with his playground taunts.

By the way, so far, this has been my favorite response to Hatch’s nonsense:

Hatching falsehood

… I saw today that Sen. Orrin Hatch recently told a crowd at Dixie State College in St. George, Utah, “Gays and lesbians don’t pay tithing, their religion is politics.”

That’s just false. According to a 2009 survey by the Barna Group, 60% of gay adults say faith is “very important” in their lives. The study also found that gay and lesbian Americans are less likely to be registered to vote than heterosexuals.

I suppose one can’t fault Sen. Hatch for not having Barna’s data at his fingertips, but if he cared to understand the role faith plays in the lives of LGBT Americans instead of just spouting false stereotypes, he’d find gay and lesbian people of faith in diverse congregations across the country. He wouldn’t have to go very far, either. Sen. Hatch’s office is 3 miles from my church, which has numerous LGBT members. I don’t snoop around in the collection plate to see who tithes and who doesn’t, but I know that my neighbors in the pews worship God, not politics. Sen. Hatch doesn’t have the standing to dismiss their faith or anyone else’s.

Amen, Dan.

h/t Pride in Utah – Hatch: Gays Dont Matter Because Theyre Not Mormon

Politics Tithing Utah

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Comments (7)

  2. “Its such a clumsy insult”

    Talk about it. I can’t believe he would say such a thing. Even if you are against gay marriage, scoring political points by targeting and insulting this group is just wrong.

  3. Wow. I do make misstatements myself – so I can understand if this was just a mistake. It happens. I would assume his apology should be forthcoming.

    Usually Hatch is fairly saavy (I thought, as opposed to Chris Buttars) – there are plenty of very religious gay people (outside of mormonism).

    And there are plenty of GLBT mormons who may or may not be out and may or may not be paying tithing. So he’s denying they exist? Amazing. There goes 10% of his voting block…

  5. So, Smidt, are you the reader who tipped off Steve Benen? If so, nice work … TP, Joanna Brooks, HuffPo, Advocate, Sully, Affirmation, HRC et alii piling on.

    My understanding is that Hatch is in real trouble in UT. Echoing aerin, I think his new Chris Buttars impersonation only hurts his already imperiled reelection bid. Poll: 51 percent inclined to vote for someone other than Hatch. Overheard:

    Specter to Hatch: So – you better watch out, Orrin, Toomey’s coming to get you next.
    Hatch: What’s that?
    Specter: That Club for Growth is going to be coming for you next just like they did me.
    Hatch: Man – they really savaged Bob. But they’re after Republicans.
    Specter: Well, they got me.
    Hatch: It’s vicious out there.

    Yeah, it’s a vicious environment for wannabe seven-term senators, Orrin, but here’s some free advice: you need to find yourself a new scapegoat, pronto. Or maybe just start reading The Deseret News:

    SALT LAKE CITY A few years ago, few would have imagined that Utah’s Republican U.S. Senate candidates would fight each other for votes from gay activists. But they did on Wednesday, attending a debate organized by the gay rights group Log Cabin Republicans.

    That group figures about 10 percent of delegates to the upcoming state convention are either Log Cabin Republicans or associate themselves closely with its stands making it a voting bloc that candidates in a tight race cannot ignore.

  6. He’s now saying that he meant it as a compliment. At least we live in an era when conservatives have to spin their rhetoric into compliments rather than saying: “Yeah? And? Those gayz’ religion is politics, those godless degenerates!”

  7. Thanks for the link. I especially enjoyed this bit: “I don’t know how I could have been much more complimentary the way I said it.” Heh.

    If that was a compliment, someone needs to ask Orrin when he started thinking so highly of personal injury lawyers?

    But like Alan said, the fact that the original statement threatened to become a macaca moment for Orrin sure seems like progress.

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