Attention: Dandy Andy Ogles

So many closeted gay men cover, try to cover, their identities by demeaning and defaming who? Wow! You are quick, Dandy Andy; definitely smarter than you look. The correct answer is gay men.

Straight men. comfortable with themselves and their sexuality, have no reason, no need, to try to vilify and stir violence against LGBTQIA+ folks. There’s another matter, too, regarding how few straight MAGAt couples have decent sex lives compelling them to lash out at gay intimacy as unsatisfying in addition to being anti-God and perverted. Smoke screen, and anyone with an up to date eyeglass prescription can see right through that. Certainly the answer is not to mistreat one’s spouse or to cheat on her or him or both as Hegseth, Noem, and Trump have done.

Who the hell, Sir, put those words in your marionette mouth? Yet another moronic MAGAt “minister”? Scott Bessant? Lindsey Graham? Mike Johnson?

Have you ever read whole books of the Bible instead of cherry picking random verses here and there to twist into your own little lists of proof texts? That was a rhetorical question; I already know the answer.

If you HAD read the Bible, you’d have bumped into the profoundly in-love Prince Jonathan and his soulmate—shepherd, musician (harp), future king—David. David’s eulogy to Jonathan having been killed in battle is perfection; it’s one of the unforgettable verbal expressions of love preserved in the literature of any ancient culture.

You’d have seen Jesus healing a Roman centurion’s younger (not a child!) male lover and attache’ in a remarkable display of the interaction of faith and prayer.

Speaking of Jesus, you’d discover he never had a negative thing to say about gay folks, not a single word. His barbs were reserved for religious holier-than-thou types (Pharisees) taking delight in determining who among the faithful needed to be excluded. Sound familiar? Probably not, but it should.

Could you let yourself be inspired by seeing Philip baptize the Ethiopian eunuch—surely the patron saint of transsexual followers of Jesus—confidant’ and treasury secretary to the Candace herself? “What hinders me from being baptized into the faith right this minute, Philip?” Dandy, have you ever wanted to be a follower of Jesus with such urgency and conviction? (another rhetorical question as we already know you haven’t, but you can!)

Why would you let anyone coerce you into saying something so anti-Jesus? Your job as an elected representative for some very unlucky Tennesseans is to protect the Constitutional rights of those constituents, preserve their freedoms. keep them safe. bail them out when they’re struggling to eat and stay well. Self-promotion and self-enrichment are not goals stated in your job description. You are not there to instruct anyone in theological commitments and to try to force your narrow and unexamined doctrinal views on even one soul.

I saw a news headline crawling across the tv screen at the gym. I couldn’t hear anything of course. But is it true that you’re claiming never to have made the statement with which you have been widely credited and blaming a staff member whom you appear to be saying posted that comment without your knowledge or permission? That seems extremely odd.

You need to issue an apology to gay people in the US and in a more focused way to Tennessee gay citizens and their families faster than you can say “Epstein and Trump”; Nashville has some FABulous Pride events! Start there.

While you’re at it, you need to apologize to Rep Justin Pearson for the racist abuse heaped upon him by your colleagues (you too?). That was worse than the word “shameful” can encompass. You can do better.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.