‘Kiss My Gay Country Ass’: Kentucky’s Beshear Taps New Poet Laureate
Silas House Claims Two-Thirds of Kentucky are Bigots for Supporting Trump
Kentucky’s Democratic governor has appointed Silas House, a left-wing writer who believes that Appalachia is “homophobic” and that most of Kentucky’s voters are “bigots,” as the state’s poet laureate. During the ceremony, Gov. Andy Beshear praised House’s “unique gift” and named him the state’s “literary ambassador to the rest of the world.” However, House has a history of criticizing the political and religious beliefs of many Kentuckians, particularly supporters of former President Donald Trump, whom he once told to kiss his “gay country ass.”
House’s appointment is a risky move for Beshear, who faces a challenging reelection bid this November. Kentucky has not voted for a Democratic presidential candidate since 1996 and swung for Trump by almost 26 points in 2020. Beshear won his first term in 2019 by a margin of just over 5,000 votes. He has since distanced himself from President Joe Biden, stating in December that his reelection campaign “isn’t going to be about national figures.”
House frequently expresses his left-wing views and disdain for conservatives on Twitter. He once tweeted, “If you support Trump, you’re a bigot. Just claim it.” House also claimed that Appalachia is part of the reason Trump is in office and that the region is mostly homophobic. He has written extensively about his critiques of evangelical Christianity, which is embraced by nearly 50% of Kentuckians.
House’s vision for a Republican-led future is depicted in his 2022 novel, Lark Ascending. The book follows the journey of a young gay man who tries to flee to Ireland after the United States is “overrun by extremists.” Beshear praised the book at the Writers’ Day event, citing it as an example of how House “tells his Kentucky story.”
House’s “Kentucky story” includes a confrontation with Beshear’s father, former Gov. Steve Beshear, during a 2011 anti-coal mining protest at the governor’s mansion. He wrote about the experience in a New York Times op-ed titled “My Polluted Kentucky Home,” in which he lamented how teachers told him to “change my accent if I wanted to get ahead in the world.”
Although House’s political commentary is primarily focused on criticizing Republicans, he has also supported Democrats. In a 2019 essay for Salon, House wrote about how Pete Buttigieg’s presidential campaign inspired “gay Christians” like himself. However, House once again criticized evangelicals in the essay.
“The thing that none of them realize is that every time they allow their judgment to rear its head, support for Buttigieg grows even stronger among many potential voters,” House wrote.
Buttigieg ultimately dropped out of the Democratic presidential primary and received only 2.5% of the vote.
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