"Vague culture wars only distract us from our economic decline," Thiel said. Thiel urges Republicans to back off 'culture wars'

Technology investor Peter Thiel implored Republicans from the convention stage on Thursday against waging "culture wars" on lesbian, gay and transgender communities, mere days after the GOP approved a national platform that defines marriage as between “one man and one woman.”

Thiel, who himself is gay, stressed that "every American has a unique identity." He said attempts to require transgender Americans to use particular bathrooms is a "distraction from our real problem." And in a first for a GOP convention, the Facebook board member and PayPal co-founder drew attention to his own sexuality: "I am proud to be gay, I am proud to be a Republican, but most of all, I am proud to be an American," he said.


Yet Republicans just this week adopted a policy platform that chided the Supreme Court for legalizing same-sex marriage, and party leaders called for the decision’s reversal, “whether through judicial reconsideration or a constitutional amendment returning control over marriage to the states.” The GOP’s guiding document for 2016 also even appeared to lend support to conversion therapy, as it “support[ed] the right of parents to determine the proper treatment or therapy, for their minor children.”

Even Thiel appeared to acknowledge this. "I don’t pretend to agree with every plank in our party’s platform," he said, "but fake culture wars only distract us from our economic decline."

After writing big checks backing Carly Fiorina in the early days of the 2016 race, Thiel quietly shifted his allegiance to Trump, becoming a delegate from California for the real-estate mogul. Thiel’s backing sent shockwaves throughout Silicon Valley, where even other prominent Republicans, like HP, Inc. CEO Meg Whitman, have rebuked the candidate.

Many tech leaders have bristled at the GOP nominee’s controversial comments about women, immigrants and minorities — rhetoric that led Apple to rescind its planned support for the GOP convention. And just this week, roughly 150 tech executives — from the CEO of Yelp to Apple’s co-founder Steve Wozniak — castigated Trump in a public letter as a threat to the Internet. Trump, for his part, has directed considerable fire at Apple, Amazon and other tech sector stalwarts.

Thiel, however, didn’t call attention to Trump's many misstatements — or his poor relationship with Silicon Valley.

"Today our government is broken, our nuclear bases still use floppy disks, our newest fighter jets can't even fly in the rain, and it would be kind to say government software works poorly because much of the time it doesn’t even work at all," he said. "That is a staggering decline for a country that completed the Manhattan project. "

Not unlike Trump, Thiel is also a controversial figure in Valley circles. For one thing, he’s taken considerable criticism in the months since it was reported that he funded wrestler Hulk Hogan’s lawsuit against Gawker — a site that had outed him as gay in 2007, long before the investor willingly embraced his sexuality on the GOP convention stage. He’s suggested freedom and democracy are not compatible and questioned the effects of giving women the right to vote.

His statements have put a spotlight on Facebook, where Thiel remains a board member. Asked about his speech, a Facebook spokeswoman said earlier in the day that the company would not be commenting. Earlier this week, though, the social giant said in a statement: “Peter Thiel is attending and speaking at the RNC in his personal capacity. He is not attending on behalf of Facebook or to represent our views.”