Son of a Bigot, Rises Above Father
Earlier this week, at their weekly Legislative Coffee, Representative Manny Steele (R-SD) compared homosexuals to pedophiles. Steele said this to support his vote for NO on HB 1144-the South Dakota Bill that would ban discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. After learning more about Representative Steele, and his family…and his 6 sons, we knew the math was on OUR side, he doth protest too much.
On Thursday, we spoke with Rep. Steele regarding his stance for No on HB 1144, we discussed his comment and wanted to give him a chance to apologize and recant this ignorant statement. During our time with the representative, he was given multiple opportunities to recant and apologize for these remarks. No apology was offered. Steele only continued to tow the line of hate and ignorance by saying that being Gay is “a choice.”
“There are people that are beastialogists. There are people who have sex with animals, so do we say that’s ok? Is that ok for society?” -Rep. Steele
Let the hypocrisy begin. It wasn’t until cornered with his circular and arcane logic broken, that he gave up and admitted that he actually has a homosexual son. He reluctantly admitted, “my 3rd son…is Gay,” and later inquired if we would reach out to him and attempt to try and defend his record. This was his last possible refuge from sounding like a monster. Fortunately for us, and our community, his own son, Randy Steele admits, “I wouldn’t vote for him.”
Learn more after the jump…
Yes, during our conversation, Rep. Manny Steele revealed that his 3rd oldest son, Randy, is Gay and lives with his partner of 16 years in Palm Springs, CA. Rep. Manny Steele voted NO on a bill that would have supported his own son.
Over the weekend, Equal Junction met with Randy Steele. Randy is an eloquent, giving, and an upstanding member of the Palm Springs community. A boy who took a male date to a school dance in 1980 in South Dakota, a trailblazer. We asked him about his father’s disappointing vote on HB 1144 and his father’s stance on homosexuality. Randy Steele expressed to us that the way “he (Rep Steele) is able to compartmentalize in his mind and with his religion is that he considers um…homosexuality to be a character flaw like addiction.”
Who is surprised? Old world views, bad messages, bad flip-flopping voting record. The surprise and silver lining is truly his son, Randy Steele walks the walk his father can only claim to hold dear. For three years, Randy and his partner of 16 years traveled this great country, coast-to-coast, congregation to congregation, doing good works. While spending 5 months in New Orleans, Randy and his partner championed the rebuilding and reopening of the St. Bernard’s Parish Women’s Center. Leading by example, changing real minds and hearts “one person at a time.” Spending time rejoicing and worshipping with groups that “traditionally” may not know a couple(s) like them. Randy stated, “So I think that being able to continue the conversation which we didn’t have for many years, and just agree to disagree, and I indeed, I am who I am, and I am going to live my life and be a positive impact on myself and people around me and do things like this to continue to educate.” Stepping over the pride borders to expand them.
When we continued to press Rep. Steele did state that he wanted Gays to “be treated fairly” but he does NOT want them to get married or be treated fairly while seeking employment. In regards to DADT, he stated it as “the only doctrine I know,” but closer to the end of our time together we asked if we decided to enlist, he said, “It would be fine with me.” We are still unsure if this was not an offer for us to be anywhere else other than continuing to press him on equality. So it would be fine for LGBT citizens to die for our country while the representative votes to keep them as second-class citizens.
So how did this father and son strike a balance…or did they? With baited breath we hoped for this to be the difference, that these two men had found a way to strike a balance that could be an example and beacon to all of us. Especially those of us with large families that run the gamut of views and beliefs whether religious or political. So we inquired about a recent family event in their life and wanted to have both the representative and son’s take on the events. Representative Steele said the following, …he called me last week uh, it was my birthday, so we had a visit for a ½ hr. He knows where I stand, as far as how I feel, as far as his relationship with a man to a man. That’s not what God intended us to be, and He intended to be a man and a woman, that’s procreation and that’s what is set up as and has been for 1000’s of years. Now, his choice is, he’s and adult and he has a right to…(trails off)
We asked Randy about this birthday conversation. Randy said the following, “Uh, It was good we hadn’t spoken in several months that I can remember…there’s enough to talk about to the family or on the surface, um…that we won’t need to dive into the opposing political views on every phone call…um so you know whether we do that, or if I am fired up or if he’s fired up, we will sit and listen, we share our thoughts and ideas on it…um you know, I prob…I would have a totally different conversation with him than you would have with him in opposing equality.” They have reached a balance that works for them, and that is to be admired. However, when with Randy, one does get the sense that he is still hurt by his father clinging to these ideas. As adults, their relationship can be one of mutual respect with strong fast reservations; it is the generations, siblings, partners, and extended family that suffer from tenuous bonds. …we disagree on this part of life, and I have my views, he has views, I don’t judge him, he doesn’t judge me, we let God do the judging and we get along fine and I have no problem with that…, Representative Steele. The nieces, the nephews that bless this family deserve to see their grandfather love their uncle Randy as a whole, and not with reservations about his “choices” or while supporting discrimination.
Randy and his partner David deserve more than to be treated as if they have a faulty charter flaw. Representative Steele could learn from his son’s example, yet he hid him politically. He hides Randy while he is attempting to construct a South Dakota where his own son would remain a second-class citizen. No father’s goals should include institutionalizing the repression and segregation of their own family. It is not the Christian or American way to live, Sir.
How this applies to equality and change: True character is seen in choice…South Dakota needs to make a different choice. If you are Gay and your family is a public official and does NOT vote for equality, TELL US. We will give them their lime light in the shade of hate. Rep. Steele’s views are compassionless, they are residual ignorance that is oppressing over 11% of this population and continues to lead to the suicidal death of 1 out of every 3 teenagers who identify themselves as Gay. There is blood on their hands and they can no longer stand for family values while wading through the bodies of a disenfranchised generation. Randy, his partner, his good works and soul, we believe, is this country’s future.
Editor’s Note: Here is Equal Junction’s editorial fear. What if this was a ploy to become a famous bigot…or really a ploy to begin a run for higher office by airing what Representative Steele would consider his dirty laundry in our quaint blog? Not here Sir. This will just be the beginning of our commitment to you, Sir. Your views are a dinosaur of ideas and logic, and we’ll keep them extinct.
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