Greta Neubauer posted her standard Pride message this week. She declared herself part of the LGBT+ community and promised to defend “our rights” in the Capitol. The post arrived right on cue for June. Nothing special unless you realize she is married to a man and just gave birth to her first child.
She first claimed the identity in a 2020 op-ed. She wrote that she was queer, that she had dated men more often than women, and that she sometimes wondered if she was queer enough. Frankly, I don’t care what she says she is, but at what point can we say that “queer” is just political speak for “I’m not sure what I am, but I’d like to use this for political gain.”
Today, she is married and recently her first child—congratulations! As just a dumb conservative who doesn’t understand the idiosyncrasies of the “queer community,” how does she get to engage in traditional marriage and motherhood yet claim membership in the queer community? Honestly, someone help me understand this. She still uses “our rights” language that presents her not as an ally, but as a distinct member of the group. Can anyone lock in that label into perpetuity no matter how circumstances change?
Kelda Roys walked so Greta could run. In 2011, before her Democratic primary against openly gay Mark Pocan, Roys spoke at a pride rally. She talked about fleeing Wisconsin with her “partner” to get married in Iowa, where same-sex marriage was already legal. What she failed to disclose was the fact her partner is a man. The move was overt. It looked like a direct play for victimhood status in a race against an openly gay opponent. Pocan later called it a bad political calculation she probably regretted. No one is arguing that Greta’s version is as egregious as Kelda’s, but it tracks along the same thread of using it for political grandstanding. She simply keeps the old label active while her family life moves in the opposite direction.
It does not matter whether the claim is true, updated, or stretched. Both cases function as shameless virtue signaling. I could care less what she claims to be, but I could imagine some LBTQ leaders being a bit uneasy about her attempt to be included in the “queer community.”
