In the 1980s, Republicans sat silent as AIDS wiped out a generation of LGBTQ+ men, some of them among the greatest artists of their time.

By the end of the decade, the art world tried to celebrate the lost souls by displaying their work. For example, the Corcoran Gallery of Art planned to host a retrospective of the works of photographer Robert Mapplethorpe.

Some of his photos are quite explicit. Masterful, insightful, but explicit.

In response, Republican Senator Jesse Helms freaked the fuck out and tried to defund the entire National Endowment for the Arts, which had helped fund the exhibition.

That is who the GOP is. A group of people that won’t lift a finger as people they look down on die. Then they will rush to shit on anyone to tries to honor the dead

So, if I don’t seem terribly outraged by the acquittal vote today, it’s because I’ve known for 30 years that the GOP ain’t nothing but garbage.

Photo Credit: National Institutes of Health, shared under public license via Wikimedia Commons