Month: May 2008

“[McCain told Ellen] that even though she‘s gay, she should be allowed to sign her name like an adult … Next thing, he‘ll say gay people should be allowed to drive and keep pets.”
— Rachel Maddow
John McCain humiliated himself on Ellen DeGeneris’ show this week when he said he opposes gay marriage but is in favor of permitting gay people to “enter into legal agreements.”

ELLEN DEGENERES, “ELLEN”: I‘m, obviously, excited and to me this is only fair and only natural and what are your thoughts?

MCCAIN: Well, my thoughts are that I think that people should be able to enter into legal agreements. I just believe in the unique status of marriage between man and woman.

On MSNBC’s Countdown last night, openly gay Air America host Rachel Maddow hilarilously ridiculed McCain’s paternalism:

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“Imagine a world in which generations of human beings come to believe that certain films were made by God or that specific software was coded by him. Imagine a future in which millions of our descendants murder each other over rival interpretations of Star Wars or Windows 98. Could anything — anything — be more ridiculous? And yet, this would be no more ridiculous than the world we are living in.”

— Sam Harris (1967 – ), author, The End of Faith, Letter to a Christian Nation

Although it is disappointing that slightly more than half of Californians disapprove of the state supreme court decision that overturned the ban on gay marriage, this represents a significant deflation of opposition from 2000, when a ballot initiative banning gay marriage passed with 61 percent of the vote.
Ballot initiatives that pass usually start with higher favorability in polling than 54 percent, which means there is a good chance this measure can be defeated.
The new Los Angeles Times poll found that:

By bare majorities, Californians reject [by 52 percent] the state Supreme Court’s decision to allow same-sex marriages and back [by 54 percent] a proposed constitutional amendment aimed at the November ballot that would outlaw such unions, a Los Angeles Times/KTLA Poll has found.

But the survey also suggested that the state is moving closer to accepting nontraditional marriages, which could create openings for supporters of same-sex marriage as the campaign unfolds.

More than half of Californians said gay relationships were not morally wrong, that they would not degrade heterosexual marriages and that all that mattered was that a relationship be loving and committed, regardless of gender.

Overall, the proportion of Californians who back either gay marriage or civil unions for same-sex couples has remained fairly constant over the years. But the generational schism is pronounced. Those under 45 were less likely to favor a constitutional amendment than their elders and were more supportive of the court’s decision to overturn the state’s current ban on gay marriage. They also disagreed more strongly than their elders with the notion that gay relationships threatened traditional marriage.

If the out-of-state political operatives behind the ballot initiative were hoping to help deliver California to John McCain in November, they may have miscalculated:

Responding to a separate question, only 10 percent of registered voters said that gay marriage was the most important issue facing the state, although more than 5 in 10 voters characterized it as important, just not the most important. Another third of voters said it was not important at all.

Among those who felt it was the most important, more than 6 in 10 were conservatives or those who consider themselves part of the Republican religious base. They were overwhelmingly voting for McCain, the poll found.

Ballot initiatives that pass usually start with higher favorability in polling than 54 percent, which means there is a good chance this measure can be defeated.

Good riddance:

Irmo High School Principal Eddie Walker’s has announced he’ll resign effective June 2009 over the creation of a Gay-Straight Alliance club at the school.

But for one group, June 2009 isn’t soon enough.

South Carolina Equality is demanding that either Walker’s resignation be effective immediately, or he be terminated.

“This Principal has emphatically and publicly stated that he does not support a significant portion of his student body. He has created an atmosphere where intolerance is considered a principled stand,” says SCE Executive Director C. Ray Drew.

The group says research shows 80 percent of gay students do not know a single supportive adult at their school, 38 percent of gay students face hostility and violence, and 18 percent of gay students experience physical assault.

“Eddie Walker has created a liability problem for the school. If a gay student is harmed, the District could be held accountable for creating a hostile school environment,” says Drew. “Every day that this Principal remains at Irmo High, students will continue to live in fear for their safety. These unsafe and dangerous conditions for gay students are intolerable. ”

So far, Lexington School District Five has not commented on the group’s demands.

A man this ignorant should not be in charge of the education of young people.

Kevin Wuzzardo, a morning anchor on the ABC affiliate in Wilmington, N.C., and an alumnus of Irmo High School, says he finds Walker’s stance to be an embarrassment for the school:

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