Unfortunately, this is really a case of preaching to the choir.  I'm having a hard time imagining loyal, or even casual, readers of After Elton having any serious disagreements with the picture of O'Reilly you have presented.  You have done a fine job of laying out the parade of horribles to show that Bill O'Reilly is a liar and a cad.  Your point is well taken that his homophobia is, in some ways, even more deplorable than more overt homophobes, because he attempts to cloak his bigotry by acting as if he is just presenting facts (which are often glaringly incorrect), and makes it seems as if he really has nothing against gay folks. It is just when we have the nerve to come out of the closet and expect to be treated the same as the "normal" people that the problems arise.  

Fox News is to be deplored for giving him a platform, and it is important that we continue to call O'Reilly and Fox out on their lies and distortions.  While it is gratifying (and depressing) to put O'Reilly under a microscope, I fear that the millions of Americans who are watching his show and buying his books are going to continue to believe what he says, and will never see him in the light in which you have portrayed him. So, my question is, how do we get the rest of America to see O'Reilly for what he really is?

 

I want my "pink pistol" too. Okay, I'm a guy and gay. But I still want to be in one of these lesbian gangs. HAHAHAHA. BillO is absolutely insane. Does any one think that maybe Bill has secret sexual fantasies about Lesbian Gangs with these phallic Pink Pistols? OK, not so secret.

In case anyone is joining the party late, Fox "News" is not an actual "news" outlet.  It is a platform for conservative political pundits.  The people that watch it aren't looking for information, they're looking for validation of things they already believe.

Thus O'Reilly is a perfect purveyor of product.  A devout conservative, he simply spouts the kind of jingoism that his audience is looking to hear.

Is he hateful?  Of course he is.  Like any self-respecting conservative his whole world is defined by who he hates.  Is he hypocritical?  Naturally.  Despite his loudly-professed "Christian values" O'Reilly worships no god but conservativism.  I once watched with great amusement as he ripped apart a Presbyterian minister that ran a homeless outreach program because O'Reilly, like any good conservative worshipping the Almighty Dollar, abhors those "lazy" poor people.  Jesus may have loved them, but that doesn't mean O'Reilly the "Christian" does.

KEEP IT UP BILL O'RIELLY YOU FATASS RIGHT WING BITCH!!! WE'LL STILL BE HERE TO FIGHT BACK. THIS ISN'T OUR FIRST TIME AT THE RODEO!! WE'VE FOUGHT BIGGER MONSTERS THAN YOU IN HOLLYWOOD FOR YEARS!!!!!! IT'S A SWORD THAT CUTS BOTH WAYS. WE KNOW HOW TO WIN THE HARD WAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Like you pondered, I don't think Bill O'Reilly is homophobic.  If he was your Uncle Bill, he might even be considered the one uncle who is somewhat understanding.  He would argue with your Aunt Gertrude about your adopting kids or getting domestic partner benefits.

O'Reilly even prides himself, I believe, on being non-homophobic and a reasonable man.  He opposes what he calls "the haters" and "the loons" and many in the extreme right were quite upset when he mocked one of the ex-gay proponents.

Bill doesn't want to take us back to the 50's where gay people "didn't exist" in the minds of the world.  He wants to take us back to the 80's where you may know that someone at work is gay, and you might even invite him and his "roommate" to your Christmas party, but any reference to their relationship is only told in whispers. 

Yeah, I think Bill's position is sometimes nutso.  The idea that only "secular progressives" support gay marriage seems to deliberately ignore the very religious individuals and even denominations that are supportive.  And his "protect the children" notions are ignorant, at best.

But, overall, if some conservatives out there who listen to Bill faithfully hear a message that some accomodations can be made for gay couples or that gay people don't pick their orientation and cannot change it or even that gay people should be able to have jobs and aren't a threat to you or your family, I'll take it.  They won't beleive it from you or I, but if one of their own says it then maybe they will.  And he is one of the least hostile voices coming from the right.

And who knows, maybe Bill O'Reilly will be a open enough to slowly come around on other issues that are important for our lives.  I think he will always see orientation as a taboo subject for polite people and will always admire the closet.  I suspect he will even continue to think of gay people as oddities and be ready to believe the unlikely such as pink-pistol toting lesbian gangs, but I have hopes that he can in time become supportive of civil rights positions.  Were O'Reilly to become supportive on civil unions (or maybe even marriage) or overturning DADT or passing ENDA, this would be incredibly useful in our arguments for equality.

But, then again, maybe I'm just a dreamer.