Mike Pence, the current vice president and one of the country’s most notoriously anti-LGBTQ politicians, is scheduled to lead the U.S. Olympic delegation at the 2018 Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
It’s a decision that’s not sitting well — to say the least — with Adam Rippon, the first openly gay man to qualify for the U.S. Winter Olympics team. Rippon made the team on Jan. 7.
In an interview with USA Today, Rippon said, “You mean Mike Pence, the same Mike Pence that funded gay conversion therapy? I’m not buying it.”
Yes, that Mike Pence. Conversation therapy, or “pray away the gay” therapy, is a much-derided practice based that has been banned in nine states and condemned by both the American Medical Association and the American Psychological Association. The assertion that Pence supports it stems from his 2000 run for a seat in the House of Representatives in which his official position was: “Resources should be directed toward those institutions which provide assistance to those seeking to change their sexual behavior.” He also advocated stripping funding from organizations that “celebrate and encourage the types of behaviors that facilitate the spreading of the HIV virus.”
In that same campaign document, Pence also came out against marriage equality, stating, “Congress should oppose any effort to put gay and lesbian relationships on an equal legal status with heterosexual marriage.”
[quote position="full" is_quote="true"]I wouldn’t go out of my way to meet somebody like that.[/quote]
After being named Trump’s running mate, Pence’s spokesperson denied that he had been referring to conversion therapy. Instead, as Pence told The New York Times he merely meant that the federal government should encourage safe sexual practices — though the spokesperson failed to cite any specific organizations that Pence believed should receive or lose federal funding.
Rippon also questioned how a devout Christian like Pence could overlook Trump’s behavior that openly seems to contradict the tenets of Christianity. Further, he said he’d be loath to spend time prior to the competition with someone like Pence, who has expressed views that Rippon’s sexual orientation is a sign of being “sick,” adding, “I wouldn’t go out of my way to meet somebody like that.”
That said, if Pence was willing to meet following the competition, Rippon would be happy to sit down for a friendly chat and hopefully dispel a few retrograde myths:
“He seems more mild-mannered than Donald Trump. … But I don’t think the current administration represents the values that I was taught growing up. Mike Pence doesn’t stand for anything that I really believe in.”
In a statement, the vice president’s office reiterated that he was proud to have been selected as lead delegate, but with regards to Rippon’s comments about conversion therapy, he repeated his past denials. “This accusation is totally false and has no basis in fact. Despite these misinformed claims, the vice president will be enthusiastically supporting all the U.S. athletes competing next month in Pyeongchang,” the statement read.
Even if you’re willing to give Pence the benefit of the doubt, it’s far from the only instance where he backed anti-LGBTQ policies. In 2006, he railed against marriage equality, stating that allowing homosexual couples equal rights would lead to doom. “Societal collapse was always brought about following an advent of the deterioration of marriage and family,” he said. Naturally, Pence also has stated he believes that homosexuality is a choice. When President Obama planned to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” the Bill Clinton-era directive that barred openly gay people from serving in the armed forces, Pence was against the idea. Per The New Yorker, Pence’s anti-LGBTQ sentiments are so widely known that even Trump reportedly joked, “Don’t ask that guy about gay rights issues. He wants to hang them all!”
As governor of Indiana, Pence went further. Much further. As an AIDS outbreak sprung up in rural Indiana, Pence refused to allow the distribution of clean needles, despite being told by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention that it could alleviate the spread of the disease. And in 2015 he backed the Religious Freedom and Restoration Act an onerous bit of legislation that allowed private businesses to use “religious liberty” as a defense if they chose to discriminate against LGBTQ citizens. It backfired spectacularly — to the point that NCAA threatened to pull its offices out of the state if the bill became law. Faced with overwhelming public pressure, Pence caved.
Rippon has refused to retract any comments offered in Tuesday’s USA Today interview, particularly those in which he questioned the vice president’s faith.
“[F]or Mike Pence to say he’s a devout Christian man is completely contradictory,” he said. “If he’s okay with what’s being said about people and Americans and foreigners and about different countries that are being called ‘s—holes,’ I think he should really go to church.”
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Why do some folks use social media but don't engage?
Psychologist says people who never comment on social media share these 5 positive traits
For over 20 years, social media has developed into a staple in many people’s day-to-day lives. Whether it’s to keep in communication with friends and family, following the thoughts of celebrities, or watching cat videos while sipping your morning coffee, there seem to be two types of social media users: commenters and lurkers.
The term “lurker” sounds equally mysterious and insidious, with some social media users writing them off as non-participants at best or voyeurs at worst. However, mindfulness expert Lachlan Brown believes these non-commenters have some very psychologically positive and healthy traits. Let’s take a look at how each one of these traits could be beneficial and see how fruitful lurking might be even though it can drive content creators crazy.
1. Cautious about vulnerability
Consciously or not, making a post online or commenting on one puts you and your words out there. It’s a statement that everyone can see, even if it’s as simple as clicking “like.” Doing so opens yourself up to judgment, with all the good, bad, and potential misinterpretation that comes with it. Non-commenters would rather not open themselves up to that.
These silent users are connected to a concept of self-protection by simply not engaging. By just scrolling past posts or just reading/watching them without commentary, they’re preventing themselves from any downsides of sharing an opinion such as rejection, misunderstanding, or embarrassment. They also have more control on how much of themselves they’re willing to reveal to the general public, and tend to be more open face-to-face or during one-on-one/one-on-few private chats or DMs. This can be seen as a healthy boundary and prevents unnecessary exposure.
Considering many comment sections, especially involving political topics, are meant to stir negative emotional responses to increase engagement, being extra mindful about where, when, and what you comment might not be a bad idea. They might not even take the engagement bait at all. Or if they see a friend of theirs post something vulnerable, they feel more motivated to engage with them personally one-on-one rather than use social media to publicly check in on them.
2. Analytical and reflective mindset
How many times have you gone onto Reddit, YouTube, or any other site and just skimmed past comments that are just different versions of “yes, and,” “no, but,” or “yes, but”? Or the ever insightful, formerly popular comment “First!” in a thread? These silent browsers lean against adding to such noise unless they have some valid and thoughtful contribution (if they bother to comment period).
These non-posters are likely wired on reflective thinking rather than their initial intuition. Not to say that all those who comment aren’t thoughtful, but many tend to react quickly and comment based on their initial feelings rather than absorbing the information, thinking it over, researching or testing their belief, and then posting it. For "lurkers," it could by their very nature to just do all of that and not post it at all, or share their thoughts and findings privately with a friend. All in all, it’s a preference of substance over speed.
3. High sense of self-awareness
Carried over from the first two listed traits, these silent social media users incorporate their concern over their vulnerability and their reflective mindset into digital self-awareness. They know what triggers responses out of them and what causes them to engage in impulsive behavior. It could be that they have engaged with a troll in the past and felt foolish. Or that they just felt sad after a post or got into an unnecessary argument that impacted them offline. By knowing themselves and seeing what’s being discussed, they choose to weigh their words carefully or just not participate at all. It’s a form of self-preservation through restraint.
4. Prefer to observe rather than perform
Some folks treat social media as information, entertainment, or a mix of both, and commenting can feel like they’re yelling at the TV, clapping alone in a movie theater when the credits roll, or yelling “That’s not true!” to a news anchor that will never hear them. But contrary to that, social media is a place where those yells, claps, and accusations can be seen and get a response. By its design, social media is considered by experts and the media as performative, regardless of whether it is positive or negative. Taking all of the previously mentioned traits into account, one can see why they would prefer to “observe the play” rather than get up on the stage of Facebook or X.
On top of that, these non-commenters could be using social media differently than those who choose to fully engage with it. Using this type of navigation, there may be nothing for them to comment about. Some commenters are even vying for this for their mental health. There are articles about how to better curate your social media feeds and manipulate algorithms to create a better social media experience to avoid unnecessary conflict or mentally tiring debate.
If you go on a blocking spree on all of your accounts and just follow the posters that boost you, it could turn your social media into a nice part of your routine as you mainly engage with others face-to-face or privately. In terms of commenting, if your curated Instagram is just following cute dogs and all you have to offer for a comment is “cute dog,” you might just enjoy the picture and then move on with your day rather than join in the noise. These non-commenters aren’t in the show and they’re fine with it.
5. Less motivated by social validation
The last trait that Brown showcases is that social media users who browse without posting tend to be independent from external validation, at least online. Social media is built to grow through feedback loops such as awarding likes, shares, and reposts of your content along with notifications letting you know that a new person follows you or wants to connect. This can lead many people to connect their activity on social media with their sense of self worth, especially with adolescents who are still figuring out their place in the world and have still-developing brains.
Engaging in social media via likes, shares, comments, and posts rewards our brains by having them release dopamine, which makes us feel good and can easily become addictive. For whatever reason, non-commenters don’t rely on social media as a means to gauge their social capital or self worth. This doesn’t make them better than those who do. While some non-commenters could have healthier ways to boost their self worth or release dopamine into their systems, many get that validation from equally unhealthy sources offline. That said, many non-commenters’ silence could be a display of independence and self confidence.
Whether you frequently comment online or don’t, it’s good to understand why you do or don’t. Analyzing your habits can help you determine whether your online engagement is healthy, or needs to be tweaked. With that information, you can then create a healthy social media experience that works for you.