Last week, Michigan RNC Committeeman (and noted homophobe) Dave Agema came to the defense of 'traditional marriage' at a GOP holiday reception by saying that gays falsely claim people with AIDS as their lovers in order to cheat the system and get free medical benefits.
Disgusting comments right? Well the Michigan Republican Party doesn't seem to think so. ABC 13 reports that the state party held a meeting on Saturday in Lansing and chose to ignore a proposed measure that would have disavowed the party of "demagogic rhetoric that is incendiary and unbecoming of civil discourse." Although the measure didn't mention Agema by name, it was widely interpreted to be in reference to Agema's incendiary comments. But neither the measure, nor Agema's comments, was addressed publicly at the meeting.
Agema also made no mention of the controversy when he spoke at the meeting. He did, however, promote the party platform, which defines marriage as between a man and a woman and urge party members to avoid "the quagmire of political correctness."
In a Facebook post, Equality Michigan managing director Emily Dievendorf denounced the party's decision to ignore Agema's comments:
Today was more than a missed opportunity, it was a slap in the face to all those who are harmed enough by an almost complete lack of basic rights in Michigan for LGBT people," she said.
