The Gay Community Has Bullied America?!

This whole time we've been thinking that it's the LGBTQ community that's been suffering at the hands of discrimination and bullying, both in the workplace and wider society — but in actual fact, we've had it all wrong. No, the real bullies, says Minnesota GOP Rep. Michele Bachmann, are members of the gay community. And she's had enough.

At the notorious Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC), Bachmann told Lars Larson, a conservative radio talk show host, that she's still upset about Republican Arizona Governor Jan Brewer's decision to veto SB 1062, the anti-gay legislation that would have legalized discrimination on religious grounds in the state. The "Religious Freedom Restoration Act", Bachmann and its supporters have argued, has absolutely nothing to do with the gay community because the document doesn't specifically mention sexual orientation.

The bill's downfall, said Bachmann, was the result of LGBTQ activists bullying voters and politicians.

"There's nothing about gays in there. But the gay community decided to make this their measure," Bachmann told Larson. "I think the thing that is getting a little tiresome, the gay community, they have so bullied the American people, and they've so intimidated politicians. The politicians fear them, so they think that they get to dictate the agenda everywhere. Well, not with the Constitution you don’t.”

Bachmann then goes on to say that "activist judges" are attempting to take away her religious freedom, and that President Barack Obama is a lawless president who completely disregards the Constitution.

Last week in an interview with The Fine Print, a collaboration between ABC News and Yahoo, Bachmann said she was sorry Brewer decided to veto the bill, because "tolerance is a two-way street" and she feels those with deeply-held religious beliefs aren't being tolerated right not.

“Religious liberties and the protection of our religious liberties is a right,” she said in the interview. “Right now, there's a terrible intolerance afoot in the United States, and it's against people who hold sincerely held religious beliefs. I believe it goes both ways. You have to tolerate people who you don't agree with, but people who hold religious beliefs need to be tolerated."

We'd love to say we were surprised by Bachmann's opinions on the Arizona anti-gay legislation, but it's not exactly the first time she's come out with something like this. In the past she's blamed Democrats for swine flu, equated the tax code to a WMD and said she's not really sure that evolution is a thing.

We're pretty sure those "bullies," not to mention just about everybody, are happy she's retiring at the end of this congressional session.