The Blaze: Gay Activists Visiting White House Take Photos of Themselves Flipping Off Reagan Portrait

[Patricia M. McBride]

I am trying to think of anyone who would go to the white house and show such disrespect. Only one gentleman indicated he did not join in to this errant child  behavior. If this were one or even two people misbehaving, you might say it  isn't the standard, but when only one person out of a group representing a  community of members to these groups behave in a manner that is not commensurate with the public building they are in, I have grave concerns about more than their upbringing and sense of what appropriate behavior is.  I  don't know of any other group of representatives for distinct groups of  citizens brought into the white house that have behaved like this.  There are many more pictures out there as the group was proud enough of their folly to actually record it with pictures and videos.  It is shameful.

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Posted on June 22, 2012 Madeleine Morgenstern

Gay activists from Philadelphia posed for pictures while giving the middle finger to a portrait of former President Ronald Reagan during a recent trip to the White House, according to Philadelphia Magazine:

Matthew "Matty" Hart, left, Mark Segal, center, and Zoe Strauss, right, pose in front of portraits of Presidents Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush at the White House. (Image source: blog.phillymag.com)

From phillymag.com:

Last Friday, an attaché of important gay people from Philadelphia made a trip to Washington D.C. as invited guests of President Barack Obama for the White House’s first-ever gay pride reception….some of them took advantage of photo opportunities to give the late President Ronald Reagan the middle finger

“It’s not a gesture that I would use in the White House when representing our city and our community,” opines Philadelphia Gay News publisher Mark Segal (center), who opted for a sarcastic thumbs-up pose in front of the portrait of George W. Bush over the more vulgar one demonstrated by his Reagan-loathing peers, Matthew “Matty” Hart (left), the national director of public engagement at Solutions for Progress, and self-taught photographer turned toast-of-the-town Zoe Strauss (right).

[…]

But his counterparts couldn’t seem to care less. Hart posted his photo on Facebook with the caption, “F–k Reagan.” [Zoe] Strauss simply posted hers without commentary. After all, the murderous facial expression and double-barreled bird-flipping seem to speak for themselves. Comments ranged from “you forgot to add with a chainsaw” on Hart’s “F–k Reagan” note, to my personal favorite, “star wars … up yours,” on Strauss’s.

A larger version of one photo, posted on Facebook by Zoe Strauss [update: the photo has been removed from Strauss's Facebook page but is available on her Twitter account with the caption, "F--K YOU, REAGAN!" Update II: Strauss's Twitter has also been made private]:

Image source: Facebook

Strauss posted a second one on her blog with the comment: “Me and LB making out under a portrait of Reagan at the White House. That was amazing.”

Image source: zoestrauss.blogspot.com

Neither Hart nor Strauss responded to The Blaze’s requests for comment about the photos.

Strauss refused to speak to Philadelphia Magazine about the photos, reportedly texting that she was “keeping out of the press!” Hart, however, repeated his “f–k Reagan” epithet to the publication:

“Yeah, f–k Reagan,” reiterates Hart one week after the reception. “Ronald Reagan has blood on his hands. The man was in the White House as AIDS exploded, and he was happy to see plenty of gay men and queer people die. He was a murderous fool, and I have no problem saying so. Don’t invite me back. I don’t care.”

The reception, which featured live music from the Marine Corps band, also saw a marriage proposal between a female-to-male transgendered person and a biological woman, according to Philadelphia Magazine. Video below, which also includes Hart:

Video of proposal:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gaQ-e-It0kM

Read more here:  http://www.theblaze.com/stories/gay-activists-visiting-white-house-...