Don’t get me wrong, I can laugh at a good joke, even one on me.
But I’m having some trouble with Rep. Denny Rehberg’s, R-Mont., recent prank (Missoulian, Feb. 16).
The shirt referred to Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, who was caught in a men’s airport bathroom sex sting, and Idaho Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter.
Rehberg’s joke was first reported by the Hill newspaper, which covers Congress. It said Rehberg was proud of the gift bag and quoted him as boasting, “I spent a bit of time putting the things together.”
The Hill also said Simpson was amused but not surprised at Rehberg’s action.
I was amused and surprised for Rehberg revealing to me and other constituents back home in Montana what many of us feared n he’s a small-minded, privileged, white, Christian man. A man comfortable belittling a minority, basking in the idea that while you can’t throw about the word “towelhead” like former Montana Republican Sen. Conrad Burns, you can still josh the gays and have a giggle with the other boys on the playground.
But wait. Craig says he’s not gay. He’s just a straight guy who got caught trying to have sex with another man in a public bathroom. Dang it, Rehberg! Get your minorities right!
I’m also disappointed in Rehberg’s boast. He is a smart Montana guy. Surely it would have occurred to him to make the gift bag a bit more memorable n with, say, a piece of Matthew Shepard’s bloody shirt. Those guys next door in Wyoming were probably just joking at some point before they left Shepard to die, tied to a fence post. Heck, maybe Rehberg could call the parents of 15-year-old Lawrence King of Oxnard, Calif. He was shot in the back of the head last week by one of his classmates who thought the jokes about King being gay were true. Maybe King’s parents would have given Rehberg one of his toys, a game or his favorite CD.
Rehberg could have called me, a fellow Montanan, for ideas. As a gay man trying to live under the Big Sky, I’ve experienced some of the jokes and pranks he attempted to execute last month.
Seriously, Rehberg. You are serving at the pleasure of your Montana constituents. We elected you to represent our interests and protect our liberties. We don’t need another comedian.
Tonight, as you relax in the privileged air of Washington, D.C., I hope you remember all the farmers, ranchers, bankers and truckers who sent you East. The teachers, the cops and the rodeo clowns. Even those of us who aren’t white, male, straight or Christian. Remember us, who know what a joke is and isn’t. Who know that hate is hate. Those of us who believe that every human being deserves to live with understanding, compassion and acceptance. Those who have seen wedge politics shred the social fabric of our neighbors.
Remember us the next time you decide to pull a prank.
P.S. n I shudder to think what you sent Mary Cheney, the lesbian daughter of Vice President Dick Cheney, for a gift after the birth of her and her girlfriend’s baby. A flannel shirt and a Subaru? If you haven’t gotten the Cheney family a gift for their new grandchild, I suggest you contact the Montana Human Rights Network, or any of us LGBTI folks back home, before you spend some time putting together a bag.
Ken Spencer is a case manager at a recovery house, a barista and a Montana-born and -raised gay man. He writes from Bozeman.
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