Gay Activists Flipping Bird at White House Flips Off Americans

BY Diane Anderson-Minshall

Yesterday Philadelphia magazine published photos of three Pennsylvania gay activists making hand gestures in front of presidential portraits after being invited by President Barack Obama to the White House’s recent LGBT pride reception. While Philadelphia Gay News publisher Mark Segal did a sarcastic thumbs-up pose in front of the portrait of George W. Bush and remained above most of the media criticism, his colleagues Matthew Hart, National Director for Public Engagement at Solutions for Progress, and photographer  Zoe Strauss (pictured here) gave former President Ronald Reagan’s portrait the middle finger. According to Philadelphia, Hart posted his photo on Facebook with the caption, “Fuck Reagan” and later told reporters,“Yeah, fuck Reagan. 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.”