Don’t cry for Patti LuPone. The truth is she never cared what anyone thinks.
The Broadway legend criticized Lindsey Graham this week on Twitter after the notoriously conservative South Carolina senator defended Donald Trump’s dangerously racist comments about congresswomen Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, Ayanna Pressley, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, calling them a “bunch of communists.”
Lindsey Graham you are a disgrace. On a personal note, why don’t you just bite the bullet and come out. You might just come to your senses.
— Patti LuPone (@PattiLuPone) July 18, 2019
“Lindsey Graham you are a disgrace,” LuPone tweeted. “On a personal note, why don’t you just bite the bullet and come out. You might just come to your senses.”
Many rushed to denounce the gay icon and her tweet as “homophobic,” claiming that the comment reflects a double standard among liberals regarding the LGBTQ community.
Wow! Patti LuPone is homophobic! Who knew?
— Kevin (@razorchild63) July 18, 2019
“Homophobia is ok when WE do it.”
— JenniferW (@JenWoodruff79) July 18, 2019
So woke that homophobia is okay just because it’s directed at someone on the right
— Wes (@wesman0615) July 18, 2019
Nice homophobia sis.
— Helen Wheels (@txtiger1) July 19, 2019
Liberals all fly the multicolored flag when it's one of their own but let there be a gay conservative and they suddenly become homophobic.
— Facetious G (@GilWil77) July 19, 2019
So it's cool to make jokes about one's sexuality if they don't agree with you now? Hypocrites..
— Ellie❤ (@EllieSnow93) July 19, 2019
Some loyal fans, however, had LuPone’s back. “Drag that queen,” tweeted one follower.
Hilariously, most of the responses come from upset conservatives about how intolerant Patti is being. And y'all need to understand what homophobic means.. she's not criticizing him b/c he's gay, she criticizing him b/c he's secretly gay. There's a difference. Ask @aaronschock!
— David B (@dbannisterjr) July 19, 2019
Far from gay-bashing, @PattiLuPone's call to Graham to be his genuine self is a recognition that being in the closet results in problems in all avenues of life. It allows people to blackmail or manipulate you. And aybe some of those people are the President.
— Judith Newman (@judithn111) July 19, 2019
There is not one cell in Patti’s body that is homophobic! Period. She has been an ally & had our back since day one. Only in bizarro, upside-down, twisted, anti-intellectual trump universe is this misunderstood as homophobic. Lindsey Lohan Graham is a disgrace!
— Paul Leary (@paulleary) July 19, 2019
Brava Miss Patti. Drag that queen
— Scott Smith (@SmithSsmith03) July 18, 2019
The two-time Tony winner and longtime LGBTQ rights advocate made headlines in 2017 for an epic rant against Trump, calling him “certifiably insane” and a “motherfucking asshole.”
Graham, a 64-year-old “confirmed bachelor,” was also one of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh’s most passionate defenders during the United States Senate Judiciary Committee hearings regarding Dr. Christine Blasey Ford’s sexual assault allegations.
Graham responded last year to a tweet by Chelsea Handler that many also criticized as homophobic. Handler wrote, “If you’re wondering why Republicans took a sick day today, it’s probably because it’s #NationalComingOutDay. Looking at you @LindseyGrahamSC.” The comedian was also slammed for another seemingly homophobic tweet suggesting Graham was being blackmailed with a “dick sucking” video.
Rosie O’Donnell likewise tweeted last year that the Republican senator was a “closeted idiot.”
While Graham has repeatedly denied he is gay, some sites have reported his sexual orientation is an “open secret” in D.C. circles.