Hearne: Quinton Lucas Romantic / DUI Question Ignite Facebook Firestorm

Uh, this would be “me”

Make no mistake, Kansas City loves its barbecue…

As evidenced in no small part by the barbecuing I just took on my Facebook page over yesterday’s Quinton Lucas piece. Check it out.

On second thought, allow me to shall share a couple of the more incendiary ones.

“Just what the hell are you doing, Hearne Christopher?” Phillip begins. “How dare you. Even hinting of outing someone who doesn’t say one way or the other is pretty evil.”

“This is ugly, awful gossip,” adds Jaime. “It is only his business, and other than how he advocates for all Kansas citians, it has no bearing on his qualifications or ability to lead. I expected better from you.”

“You ought to be fucking horsewhipped,” adds Chris. “How dare you?”

You get the picture…

Not that there wasn’t a comment or two – out of dozens – that actually got it.

“I don’t understand the uproar—the article doesn’t even remotely hint that being homosexual is bad or anything that would approach hate of a minority group,” writes Martha. “It’s just asking is Lucas authentic, is (he) really showing who he is to the public?
Isn’t journalism supposed to make us think outside our comfort zone, or should it just be a monotone repetition of popular in-vogue adherences?
I think the commenters do protest too much.”

Does it matter if Lucas is gay? Not to me, but probably to some…like the big shots and special interests backing him (of which there are many).

One point former KC First Lady Gloria Squitiro made in her new book that Dwight Sutherland reviewed recently; that Kansas City is controlled by big business and special interest groups.

In all likelihood – if Lucas is gay – those kinda people would probably prefer to keep that on the down low until after the election. Kinda like South Bend mayor Pete Buttigieg did for three years after he was elected as a straight dude.

And just as the prominent Democrat political operative quoted in my story noted, the “black community” prefers to believe Lucas is straight and has a white girlfriend “tucked away” somewhere.

So why would Lucas want to hide the fact that he had a white girlfriend – or that he was gay – were either true? To avoid turning off voters who might find either one distasteful is the obvious answer.

While it’s unlikely Lucas or his supporters would have been inclined to float rumors about him being gay – given that those rumors are out there – they well might have floated the white girlfriend rumor to avoid taking a hit in the black community.

Case in point, as per Wikipedia’s “Homophobia in ethnic minority communities” page.

“Homophobia is considered prevalent within the African American community,” it begins. “Numerous reasons are given for this, including the image young black males are supposed to convey in the public sphere; that homosexuality is seen as antithetical to being black in the African American community; and the association of the African American community with the church in the United States.

“African Americans in general tend to have more homophobic beliefs than the rest of the country. More black Americans support the idea that queer people should be condemned, or that AIDS is an acceptable punishment for gay people.”

Now juxtapose that with the book, Why Black Men Love White Women by author Rajen Persaud.

In any case, what’s the big deal if Lucas is gay or not?

One commenter spoke to that point:

“His sexuality is relevant in that Jolie has been out from the beginning,” writes Gracie. “There are many people who will vote against her just because of this. It is naive to think otherwise. And it may indicate character issues, if true. I am tired of the lying.”

Now a tip of my hat to local media and bloggers who were either too clued out to be aware of these rampant rumors – or too gutless to report on them – rather than let someone else (as in me) take the hit first. Thus giving them the excuse to jump on the bandwagon…with the added benefit of dissing me in the process…take a bow Tony boy, you know you  deserve it.

Now that’s what I call a win-win proposition!