Charges that Ron Paul is anti-gay have
been addressed by former aide Eric Dondero.
In an op-ed published Monday on Right
Wing News, Dondero, who worked for Paul during various campaigns
going back as far as 1987, weighed in on the controversy of whether
Paul knew about racist
and homophobic writings in the newsletters he published in the 1980s
and 90s.
“Is Ron Pual a homo-phobe?” Dondero
rhetorically asked. “Well, yes and no. He is not all bigoted
towards homosexuals. He supports their rights to do whatever they
please in their private lives. He is however, personally
uncomfortable around homosexuals, no different from a lot of older
folks of his era.”
Dondero related two incidents to
support his claim.
“In 1988, Ron had a hardcore
Libertarian supporter, Jim Peron, Owner of Laissez Faire Books in San
Francisco. Jim set up a magnificent 3-day campaign swing for us in
the SF Bay Area. Jim was what you would call very openly gay. But
Ron thought the world of him. For 3 days we had a great time
trouncing from one campaign event to another with Jim’s gay lover.
The atmosphere was simply jovial between the four of us. (As an
aside we also met former Cong. Pete McCloskey during this campaign
trip.) We used Jim's home/office as a 'base.' Ron pulled me aside
the first time we went there, and specifically instructed me to find
an excuse to excuse him to a local fast food restaurant so that he
could use the bathroom. He told me very clearly, that although he
liked Jim, he did not wish to use his bathroom facilities. I chided
him a bit, but he sternly reacted, as he often did to me, Eric, just
do what I say. Perhaps 'sternly' is an understatement. Ron looked
at me directly, and with a very angry look in his eye, and shouted
under his breath: 'Just do what I say NOW.'”
“'Bobby,' a well-known and rather
flamboyant and well-liked gay man in Freeport came to the BBQ (in
Surfside Beach). Let me stress Ron likes Bobby personally, and Bobby
was a hardcore campaign supporter. But after his speech, at the
Surfside pavilion Bobby came up to Ron with his hand extended, and
according to my fellow staffer, Ron literally swatted his hand away.”
Dondero added that he would not
describe the incidents as homophobic, “but rather just unsettled by
being around gays personally.”
“Ron, like many folks his age, very
much supports toleration, but chooses not to be around gays on a
personal level. It's a personal choice. And though, it may seem
offensive to some, he has every right in my mind to feel and act that
way.”