Letter to Newt Gingrich from his gay sister

It's no secret that Newt Gingrich has a lesbian sister. Nevertheless, Newt's familial relationship with Candace Gingrich has apparently not enlightened him at all.

Just as he demonstrated his insensitivity to his ailing first wife by divorcing her while she was battling cancer, Newt has now demonstrated his insensitivity to his sister -- who happens to be a gay rights activist working for the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) -- by essentially (and baselessly) calling Prop 8 protesters "gay and secular fascists".

But Candace wasn't going to sit back quietly and let her brother's ridiculous diatribe go unanswered.

So she fired off a brilliant response to her brother. Here is part of her letter to Newt:

Dear Newt,

I recently had the displeasure of watching you bash the protestors of the Prop 8 marriage ban to Bill O'Reilly on FOX News. I must say, after years of watching you build your career by stirring up the fears and prejudices of the far right, I feel compelled to use the words of your idol, Ronald Reagan, "There you go, again."

However, I realize that you may have been a little preoccupied lately with planning your resurrection as the savior of your party, so I thought I would fill you in on a few important developments you might have overlooked.

The truth is that you're living in a world that no longer exists. I, along with millions of Americans, clearly see the world the way it as - and we embrace what it can be. You, on the other hand, seem incapable of looking for new ideas or moving beyond what worked in the past.

Welcome to the 21st century, big bro. I can understand why you're so afraid of the energy that has been unleashed after gay and lesbian couples had their rights stripped away from them by a hateful campaign. I can see why you're sounding the alarm against the activists who use all the latest tech tools to build these rallies from the ground up in cities across the country.

This unstoppable progress has at its core a group we at HRC call Generation Equality. They are the most supportive of full LGBT equality than any American generation ever – and when it comes to the politics of division, well, they don't roll that way. 18-24 year olds voted overwhelmingly against Prop 8 and overwhelmingly for Barack Obama. And the numbers of young progressive voters will only continue to grow. According to the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning, about 23 million 18-29 year olds voted on Nov. 4, 2008 – the most young voters ever to cast a ballot in a presidential election. That's an increase of 3 million more voters compared to 2004.

These are the same people who helped elect Barack Obama and sent a decisive message to your party. These young people are the future and their energy will continue to drive our country forward. Even older Americans are turning their backs on the politics of fear and demagoguery that you and your cronies have perfected over the years.

This is a movement of the people that you most fear. It's a movement of progress – and your words on FOX News only show how truly desperate you are to maintain control of a world that is changing before your very eyes.

>> Read the full letter.

Well said, Candace.

It's easy to see which sibling has more class.