The GOP platform might be openly hostile to the LGBT community across the board, but one GOP kingmaker has apparently looked deep into his heart and discovered some tolerance...tolerance that comes with strings attached, of course. Apparently, if you’re a Republican who is “good on taxes,” you should be allowed to make personal choices about how you want to live your life.

How very magnanimous of Grover Norquist. The man is all heart.

In the days following the widely-viewed Diane Sawyer interview with Jenner regarding the former Olympian and current reality show star's transgender identity, Norquist – a major player in GOP politics who, according to Harry Reid, manipulates Congressional Republicans “like puppets” in his uncompromising zeal to keep taxes on the 1% as low as humanly possible – tweeted in support of fellow Republican Jenner:



"I spoke with Bruce Jenner at a Hollywood ‘Friends of Abe’ dinner. He is a solid Reagan Republican. Good on taxes. Leave him alone."

So apparently basic human rights like being “left alone” to live your life without bullying and harassment are contingent upon being a Republican and having a stand on taxes that pleases Grover Norquist. As several tweets in response pointed out, shouldn’t it be enough to “leave him alone” because he’s a human being?

Oh, I forgot. This is the GOP we’re talking about. Rights are conditional.

The fact is, Norquist is going to have one hell of a time convincing his fellow Republicans to allow Jenner even that small and conditional amount of tolerance. Since Norquist brought up “Friends of Abe,” the right-wing Hollywood group of Republican shills which I wrote about at length last month, let’s examine what several prominent “Friends of Abe” have said about the LGBT community:

Former Saturday Night Live performer, current Tea Party darling, and perennial lunatic Victoria Jackson has declared "I do not believe in homosexuality." She also compared being gay to being a terrorist: “This new al-Qaida magazine for women has beauty tips and suicide-bomber tips! Gimme a break! That is as ridiculous as two men kissing on the mouth! And I don't care what is politically correct. Everyone knows that two men on a wedding cake is a comedy skit, not an 'alternate lifestyle'! There I said it! Ridiculous!”

Jackson is a member of Friends of Abe.

Echoing Jackson, Friends of Abe co-founder Pat Boone has compared those who protest in support of gay marriage to violent, mass-murdering terrorists. “What troubles me so deeply, and should trouble all thinking Americans, is that there is a real, unbroken line between the jihadist savagery in Mumbai and the hedonistic, irresponsible, blindly selfish goals and tactics of our homegrown sexual jihadists.”

Friends of Abe co-founder Jon Voight has openly condemned marriage equality, as has another Friends of Abe member, David Mamet, who described it as a “moral affront” in his book “The Secret Knowledge.”

“Firefly” star Adam Baldwin has compared gay marriage to incest. Baldwin is a member of Friends of Abe (indeed, a recent book, excerpted on AlterNet, claims that Baldwin literally thumped bibles against a table during religious rants at secret Friends of Abe meetings).

Actor and longtime Friends of Abe member Orson Bean (the late Andrew Breitbart’s father-in-law) called marriage equality “an assault on marriage,” claiming that pro-marriage equality protesters are waging a "war on democracy itself."

And on and on it goes.

One wonders how Norquist’s buddies at Friends of Abe will treat Jenner at their next private gathering. Or if Jenner will even be invited at all.