June 25, 2012 | Sex & Society

Gay activists give Reagan the finger

During last week's gay-pride reception at the White House, a group of activists let it be known that they are still very, very, very angry with Ronald Reagan. They took pictures of themselves making obscene gestures at the portrait of Reagan.

Two of the individuals, Matthew “Matty” Hart and Zoe Strauss, posted photographs of themselves on Facebook giving the middle finger to Reagan’s official portrait.

“Yeah, fuck Reagan,” Mr. Hart said. “Ronald Reagan has blood on his hands. The man was in the White House as AIDS exploded, and he was happy to see plenty of gay men and queer people die. He was a murderous fool, and I have no problem saying so. Don’t invite me back. I don’t care.”

“It is unfortunate that the image conservative America is seeing today of LGBT people is of gay leftists misbehaving at the White House, rather than the millions of patriotic, decent LGBT citizens, many of whom, like Log Cabin Republicans, hold President Ronald Reagan in high esteem,” argued Christian Berle, from the Log Cabin Republicans. “These photographs have hurt our community and make advocating for inclusion and equality more difficult. The participants should be ashamed.”

Embarrassed, the White House issued an apology.

“While the White House does not control the conduct of guests at receptions, we certainly expect that all attendees conduct themselves in a respectful manner,” said spokesman Shin Inouye. “Most all do. These individuals clearly did not. Behavior like this doesn’t belong anywhere, least of all in the White House.”

Talk about holding a grudge ...

Gay activists make obscene gesture at Reagan White House portrait []