Last week, we learned that Speaker Paul Ryan had forced out popular House chaplain Pat Conroy. We still don’t know the exact reason, but there’s speculation Conroy lost his job because he offered a prayer that was too political, urging members of Congress to “guarantee that there are not winners and losers under new tax laws, but benefits balanced and shared by all Americans.” There’s also been speculation that he was fired for inviting a Muslim speaker to deliver an invocation, upsetting far-right representatives.
To be sure, Conroy had rejected an atheist speaker and there’s a strong case to be made that we shouldn’t have a taxpayer-funded chaplain at all.
But right-wing radio host Bryan Fischer is celebrating Conroy’s firing for a very different reason: Fischer claims Conroy was gay… and married to another man. Conroy’s replacement will surely be more anti-gay, so good riddance to him.
“Here is a good news item for the day,” Fischer declared. “He is an out gay man, he’s married to a man — quote, end quote — so it was a shameful move to the put this guy in charge of the chaplaincy of the House in the first place.”
“This is a great win,” Fischer continued. “He’s pro-gay, he’s a homosexual guy that’s married to a homosexual guy. Big win, because Paul Ryan is not going to replace him with somebody who is going to have that kind of a left-leaning tilt. This is good news for the agenda of morality, especially sexual normalcy in the United States.”
It doesn’t take that much research to find out none of this is true…
Conroy is a Jesuit priest — a Catholic — so he can’t be married. He could theoretically be gay and never act on it, but there’s no reporting to suggest that.
So what is Fischer talking about?
Kyle Mantyla of Right Wing Watch says Fischer likely misread this article on LifeSiteNews trashing a gay Democratic congressman for speaking out against Conroy’s firing.
Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, a Democrat from New York, tweeted that Conroy’s ouster is a “shameful anti-Catholic move motivated by conservative extremists in Congress.”
Congressman Maloney is an out gay man “married” to a man.
Maloney is gay. Not Conroy.
Fischer is so bigoted these days, he just sees the word “gay’ and attaches it to whatever name is in the vicinity even when it doesn’t apply. And his gullible audience eats it up.