Remember 2010? I'm sure you do. Remember the cries about "jobs, jobs, jobs" from the Republicans? Well here's a good example of how much teabag Republicans really care about job creation.
Rep. Jeff Landry, a teabagger freshman from Louisiana, has a new priority: the elimination of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette's new LGBT studies minor. Yes, seriously. This is what is keeping Landry up at night. That some kids are learning about lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender studies at his alma mater.
Why? Well, I think we know why. But Landry claims it's because
it fails to provide an economic benefit to the participants or financial sense to the taxpayer.
Well, as somebody who is involved with LGBT studies on the graduate level, I obviously take issue with that. For a number of reasons. Follow me below the fold.
First and foremost--and I don't think I need to tell many people here this, because you're not teabag morons like Landry--there is plenty of benefit to an LGBT studies minor. We're talking about a minor. It complements one's major. There are plenty of seemingly non-related majors in which it would be quite useful indeed to add on LGBT studies. Speaking for myself as a PhD student who studies 20th century US and LGBT history, I am pursuing LGBT studies as a minor field to bring a theoretical, interdisciplinary approach to the history I study. The University of Louisiana at Lafayette offers a number of minors such as African American studies, Latin American studies, Cajun and Creole studies, and religious studies, all of which also serve a purpose. The idea that this is some kind of useless blow-off minor that makes no sense is just insulting not only to those of us involved in the field, but to the LGBT community at large. Not to mention, it is a direct attack on the university's LGBT population. But, of course, that's undoubtedly what Landry intended, so mission accomplished.
Secondly, as KLFY local news notes, it's not costing the taxpayers a fucking thing.
According to President Savoie, the LGBT minor did not require budgetary allocations or divert resources from other areas.
This "problem" of taxpayer waste is total and complete and utter
fiction.
This is nothing but a mixture of personal bigotry and opportunistic politics in action. With all the issues this member of the Republican Congress should be worried about, it's just insane that attacking a paid-for, diversity-fostering minor at a university that obviously didn't give him much of an education. It's just shameful.
Here's Landry's announcement of his bid for Congress. Notice it only takes about 30 seconds before he starts talking about jobs.
Here's a hint, Rep. Landry. Go do your fucking job and work on creating some jobs. And do your homework before you launch asinine attacks on programs you don't understand.