Pawlenty readies presidential campaign by bashing gays

File this under totally predictable.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty is widely believed to be laying the ground work for a campaign for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination. Just in case you where doubting his plans, Pawlenty removed all doubts by doing exacting what all Republicans do when they seek the presidency -- turn on the gays.

As a young Minnesota legislator in 1993 Pawlenty rightly supported a bill that outlawed discrimination against gay people. But in an interview yesterday with Newsweek, Pawlenty says the law goes too far because it protects cross-dressers and that wasn't his intention. He even offered a half-baked explanation, saying that it would be too confusing for students if teachers where allowed to show up gender conforming one day and non-gender conforming the next.

If it all sounds ridiculous, it's because it is. Since conservatives dominate the Republican presidential primary, Pawlenty must appeal to them to get his campaign off the ground. And we all know that conservatives generally hate the queers, so bashing us is politically expedient. We've seen this movie before.

Former President George W. Bush backed a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage because he (and Karl Rove) calculated that the divisive issue would land votes for the GOP in 2002 and 2004. To this day I don't actually believe that George Bush gives a fig about same-sex marriage one way or the other. It's beyond despicable that a politician would advance discriminatory policies just to get votes.

Just like Bush and so many other Republicans, Pawlenty knows that he must bash gays to get ahead in his party. That sad truth is yet another reason I label the Grand Old Party evil.

I wouldn't mind having a president who disagreed with me on every issue -- as long as he or she was upholding their convictions. I believe it's admirable to stand for what you believe in. I believe it's cowardly to rewrite your political history to gain votes. And though nearly politician does it to some degree, it's still unbecoming of anyone who aspires to be our leader.

We may never know what Tim Pawlenty really thinks about us, but for all intent and purposes, he's just another Republican bigot now.