Write-in candidate plans to block openly gay SC legislator
Georgia Gay, Assistant Editor
Photo courtesy of pixabay.com
Republican Jason Elliott, the first openly gay legislator in South Carolina, has faced major heat from Brett Brocato. Brocato is a local engineer who plans to start a write-in campaign for S.C. House of Representatives in order to block Elliott. He was advised by a group of Christian conservatives to run to uphold conservative sexual values.
A flyer posted to Brocato’s Facebook page stated that Elliott is “uniquely unqualified to defend the family.”
In other words, because Elliott is gay and a divorce attorney, he is not deemed fit to run for this position. “Clearly, scriptural teachings would not condone a homosexual lifestyle, and so efforts that could be perceived as ‘normalizing’ homosexuality are looked at warily among evangelicals,” said professor Roeder, a political science professor at North Greenville University.
Roeder added the United States is a democratic country and we cannot limit rights based on sexual orientation when it comes to political rights, like voting and running for office.
With the national politics dominating the screens of many homes, not many know of this current issue.
When asked why national politics seem to be the center of attention, professor Dujohn Johnson, a history professor at North Greenville, responded with: “…because in the long-term it affects us more. In addition, national politics also determines and dictates state politics as well due to constitutional prohibition on the states.”
Refocusing back to the current issue, Elliott won the Republican primary back in June, defeating Rep. Wendy Nanney. Elliott never made social issues such as the LGBT community the center of his campaign. His opinions on gun control and abortion align with conservative beliefs.
Given this knowledge, Brocato and other people in the district were unaware that Elliott was even gay and some would prefer their representative to not be gay. The question being posed is: Does it matter the sexuality of the legislator and does that deem him qualified or not?
