The American Family Association’s Bryan Fischer has been thrown into apoplectic rage by Mitt Romney’s choice of the openly gay Richard Grenell as his foreign policy spokesman, and today he’s posted a column with a list of demands for Romney: Bryan Fischer: Re: Richard Grenell: Romney Has Some ‘Splaining to Do.

This is not just an Etch-A-Sketch moment for the governor, it is a crossing-the-Rubicon moment. It appears to be a dog-whistle to the homosexual lobby, a way of saying to them I’m with you, not with them. It appears to be his way of saying to gay activists that when push comes to shove you can count on me. I’ll be in your corner, not theirs. 

This appointment certainly revives the oft-stated concerns about Gov. Romney from both the right and the left that he has no moral core, and is, as one left-wing columnist said, “a hollow man.” 

What can the governor do, if he wishes to, to contain the collateral damage from this spectacularly misbegotten decision? 

For starters, he can answer one question for the American people: “Gov. Romney, is homosexual behavior healthy or harmful? Yes or no?”

Typical of Fischer’s dim-witted hate speech — he wants a “yes or no” answer to a question that doesn’t have a “yes or no” answer.

If he answers “Yes,” how can he expect the pro-family community to support him? If he answers “No,” then why he is putting someone who engages in such behavior in such a prominent position in his campaign?

The muddled thinking of a bigot.

Fischer goes on to list his demands for the GOP and Mitt Romney. For people like Fischer, one thing is paramount: hatred of gays, and the necessity to deprive them of civil rights.

1. Publicly support the North Carolina marriage amendment. He needs to go to North Carolina and publicly declare his support for its marriage amendment, which will be on the ballot May 8. He must not hide behind the skirts of the 10th Amendment, as he has sought to do on RomneyCare. We must hear him say, loudly and clearly, “I support natural marriage as the union of one man and one woman, and I urge North Carolina voters to vote for man-woman marriage on May 8.”

2. Commit to a vigorous defense and implementation of DOMA. Then in his Liberty University address on May 12, he must publicly declare that he will aggressively defend the Defense of Marriage Act in court. “I hold the institution of marriage in the highest regard, and will faithfully discharge my duty as your president to uphold and defend the laws of the United States. My administration will pursue the most vigorous defense of DOMA possible, and it will be faithfully implemented on my watch.”

3. Revoke federal spousal benefits for domestic partners of homosexuals.Then, also in his commencement address, he must publicly declare that he will revoke President Obama’s illegal decision to grant spousal benefits to gay partners of federal employees, which is flatly prohibited by DOMA. He needs to tell the good folk at Liberty, “I believe in natural marriage, and I believe in following the law. I will honor the institution of natural marriage in all my public policy decisions, and so on my first day in office, I will issue an order reserving federal spousal benefits exclusively for husbands and wives in natural marriages.” And he needs to make it clear that this includes Richard Grenell as well.

4. Support reinstatement of the ban on homosexual conduct in the military. He must declare a change of position on homosexuality in the military, and openly support the reinstatement of the ban on homosexual conduct in the armed forces. He must say, “As commander-in-chief, I publicly support reinstatement of the ban on homosexuality in our military. We must make unit cohesion, military recruitment, and military readiness our highest priorities. We cannot allow the introduction of sexual tension into the ranks to detract from our mission of protecting and defending the people of the United States. The armed forces should not be used as a laboratory for social engineering, and that will not happen on my watch.”

5. Support right of chaplains to teach biblical view of homosexuality. He must also declare that, as commander-in-chief, he will support the right of military chaplains to openly criticize the normalization of homosexual behavior. “As your commander-in-chief, I will respect freedom of religion, speech and conscience for all our military chaplains. They will have the freedom under my leadership to teach a biblical view of marriage and sexuality without any fear of punishment.”

6. Publicly pledge to veto ENDA. He must declare that he opposes the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) and will veto it if it reaches his desk. ENDA will provide special employment protections for those who engage in unnatural sexual behaviors and will subject every values-driven employer who makes unnatural sexual conduct an issue in personnel decisions to a potentially crippling lawsuit. “As president, I will protect the constitutional rights of every employer in America to freedom of religion, freedom of speech, and freedom of association. I will see to it that my administration vigorously defends the right of every values-driven employer to hire employees who reflect his values and the values of his company.”

This is what the religious right calls “pro-family.”

Fischer has a real point here, buried in the usual hate speech; Mitt Romney may believe he can just shake the Etch-a-Sketch and move back toward the center now that he’s certain to be the nominee, but it’s not going to be that simple. The Republican Party has been ferociously pandering to hateful creeps like Fischer, and they’re not going to take signs of “moderation” very well.

(h/t: Right Wing Watch.)