There’s an article in Think Progress today about Saxby Chambliss, who said in defending his support for marriage inequality:

: I’m not gay. So I’m not going to marry one.

As Think Progress points out, this is only the most recent of a series of statements by Republican lawmakers where their glaring empathy gap becomes apparent— they’re good only at feeling sorry for themselves and are seemingly incapable of feeling compassion or empathy for circumstances they haven’t experienced themselves:

Just last week, Rep. Steve Stockman (R-TX) lashed out at the Violence Against Women Act because it included protections for people who are transgender, a term the Congressman seemed unfamiliar with.

In 2009, Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ) tried to cut a requirement for maternity care, arguing, “I don’t need maternity care,” and thus it’s unfair that his policy should have to be more expensive.

In 2006, Sen. James Inhofe (R-OK) justified his opposition to marriage equality by boasting his pride that there’s never been “any kind of homosexual relationship” in the “recorded history of our family.”

When the House Oversight Committee held a hearing about Obamacare’s requirement for employers to provide contraception to employees, Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA) invited a panel of all men to testify against the provision, claiming the hearing was about religious liberty, “not about reproductive rights and contraception.”

Newt Gingrich opposed allowing females to serve in military combat roles because if they were to stay in a ditch for 30 days, they would “get infections,” whereas men are “basically little piglets” who when dropped in a ditch, “they roll around in it.”

Joking that in his state they “vote early and vote often,” Mitt Romney expressed his support for Voter ID laws during his presidential campaign, even though they suppress voters of color, students, and the elderly.

As TP comments:

If Republicans truly want to reach out to diverse groups as their “Growth and Opportunity Project” claims, they are going to have to begin to learn how to empathize with the experience of people [who] are different from themselves.

Republican Lawmaker Opposes Marriage Equality Because He Doesn’t Want To Marry A Man