Montana Republicans: criminalize being gay

The Montana Republican Party, taking a page from its intolerant, self-righteous, American Taliban brethren in the South adopted language in its platform in June that calls for keeping "homosexual acts illegal", despite the Montana Supreme Court striking down such laws as unconstitutional in 1997.

The party adopted an official platform in June that keeps a long-held position in support of making homosexual acts illegal, a policy adopted after the Montana Supreme Court struck down such laws in 1997.

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But going against the grain is the Montana GOP statement, which falls under the "Crime" section of the GOP platform. It states: "We support the clear will of the people of Montana expressed by legislation to keep homosexual acts illegal."

Montana GOP executive director Bowen Greenwood said that has been the position of the party since the state Supreme Court struck down state laws criminalizing homosexuality in 1997 in the case of Gryczan v. Montana.

Republicans and tea partiers often talk about limited government with regard to public policy. However, when it comes to personal relationships and consensual acts in your bedroom, they become a voyeuristic Big Brother, angling for ways to have government impose their beliefs on everyone else.

Sure, when it's politically expedient, these conservatives will recite the Constitution and throw in warnings to opponents using buzzwords like "activist judges" and "strict construction". However, just as quickly, these same people will cast aside the Constitution, violate your civil liberties with the Patriot Act and its warrantless wiretaps and violate your human rights by waterboarding you.

In this case, the Montana Republican Party would insist on following you into your bedroom to ensure that your personal relationships meet their standards, because in their strict-father worldview you need to conform to their beliefs and their version of morality.

The good news is that legal experts say that the Montana Supreme Court's decision in 1997 and the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in Lawrence v. Texas in 2003, make the Montana Republican Party's platform statement only an expression of their extremist views that has no chance of ever becoming the law in that state.