" But I think for a lot of Americans the unfamiliar territory of a (closeted) "gay" President is probably no more threatening than that of a (half-) black President or a woman President or (shudder) an openly non-religious President.

Absolutely right, Genie! But I wasn't speaking of a closeted gay president. I was speaking of an openly gay candidate for president. I think the chances of such a person being elected to the highest office would be virtually nil.

Interestingly enough, several Republican Congress people who have been revealed to have been involved in homosexual activities even while actively working against "gay rights" seem to have continued to be embraced by their Republican constituents. The only gays whom the right-wingers seem to be dead set against are the Democratic or "liberal" ones.

Excellent point, Genie. It's amusing, isn't it? At the end of the day, all that seems to matter to most people when it comes to politics is that their side should win. If they are liberals, that means that the liberal side should win. If they're conservative, it's the other way around. Thus they can easily forgive in people of their own side what they would find utterly unforgivable in the opposition, and that's why both the Right and the Left are riddled with hypocrisy, in my opinion.

And that's why I take issue with both of them. (though I am definitely to the Left in my general leanings)