A conservative writer has been fired by the right-wing websites The Daily Caller and The Federalist after going on an anti-gay rant on Twitter this weekend.
The issue began when Denise McAllister tweeted that she had “slipped” by trying to talk to her husband during a basketball game Friday night.
“Trying to talk to my husband while Carolina is playing. He looks at me and says, ‘Woman, you know better than this. The game in on.’ He’s right. I slipped. Commercial comes on. I fetch him a beer. He grabs me. Deep kisses. Patience and timing, ladies. That’s the lesson.”
Openly gay journalist Yashar Ali, who writes for New York Magazine and HuffPost, retweeted the post highlighting the words ‘He’s right. I slipped,’ and commenting, “Oh Denise” with an unhappy emoji.
“He’s right. I slipped.”
Oh Denise ☹️ pic.twitter.com/8cWlcGPtUm
— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) March 31, 2019
McAllister responded to Ali writing, “A gay man commenting on a heterosexual relationship is just. Sad. Pathetic really.”
Ali retweeted that post adding, “I guess Denise is not happy that I’m worried about how her husband treats her.”
2. I guess Denise is not happy that I’m worried about how her husband treats her. pic.twitter.com/ZIJ6cTROda
— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) March 31, 2019
McAllister escalated the back and forth telling the world Ali “doesn’t know his purpose as a man” or “as a human being.” She added that Ali “wallows and tries to find himself in another man’s asshole.”
In a since-deleted tweet, she claimed Ali might have a “crush” on her, adding, “Maybe I’m making him doubt his love of penis.”
Ali came back sharing that, as an Iranian, a gay man and a Catholic, he’s never felt ashamed and wouldn’t change who he is.
I was bullied for being Iranian as a kid. But I never felt ashamed of my ethnicity. I came out on 8/17/2001 & while it hasn’t always been easy, I have always been proud of who I am. I’m Iranian, gay, and Catholic. Perhaps an odd combo, but I wouldn’t change who I am for the world pic.twitter.com/xGPzoDzM13
— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) March 31, 2019
About an hour later, Ben Domenech, editor in chief of The Federalist, tweeted that McAllister would not be writing for his publication any longer.
In response to your many inquiries, we've spoken and Denise McAllister will not be writing for us at The Federalist any more.
— Ben Domenech (@bdomenech) March 31, 2019
In a deleted tweet, McAllister later shared that she “quit” The Daily Wire after Ben Shapiro, the site’s editor in chief, had reached out and informed her she was “no longer welcome” because of her anti-LGBTQ Twitter rant.
In an email Sunday afternoon to HuffPost, Shapiro reportedly confirmed that The Daily Wire has “no plans” for McAllister to write for them. He also underscored that McAllister had been a ‘contributor,’ and not an employee.
Eventually, McAllister returned to Twitter with an apology for Ali saying she had reacted out of “a perceived attack” on her family.
https://twitter.com/McAllisterDen/status/1112414636442308608
She also, however, bemoaned the fact that she was fired for criticizing a gay man, but no one stood up for her when she defended “masculinity” and “God’s design for sexuality.”
Charlotte Clymer, who works for the Human Rights Campaign, pointed out that gay folks can be fired just for being who we are in 30 states. #Touché
In 30 states, LGBTQ people can still be fired solely due to their sexual orientation and/or gender identity.
LGBTQ youth have a suicide rate that is much as three times higher than their non-LGBTQ peers.
Seems like you’re struggling to recognize basic humanity here.
— Charlotte Clymer 🇺🇦 (@cmclymer) March 31, 2019
By the way, before you think these right-wing sites were suddenly standing up for LGBTQ people, it’s worth noting that Domenech is married to The View co-host, Meghan McCain, who McAllister recently had a Twitter dust-up with as well.
McAllister called the gabfest “a roundtable of delusional mental midgets,” and McCain clapped back, writing, “You were at my wedding Denise…”
So, her firing by McCain’s husband may not have been all that altruistic.
you were at my wedding Denise….
— Meghan McCain (@MeghanMcCain) March 26, 2019
Life in the Twitterverse, kids.
Funny that this woman cannot see Ali was expressing his concern for her lack of clarity around her acceptance of reasons for abuse. She might have thought it was funny but there are plenty of women who “slip up” and get a fist to the face. Sad she thinks she was defending heterosexual relationships and not abusive relationships.