I need to meet more homophobic Jews.
Fortunately, I have some fantastic Christian friends but, as regular readers may have noticed, the majority of Christian rhetoric around homosexuality is pretty horrible. Yet the majority of Jewish comments I encounter are either positive or merely neutral. What about the Orthodox Jews? Why aren’t they just as noisy? These are just the random questions I have.
So after Monday’s rant on religion, I can’t tell you how delighted I was to see Jon Stewart interview Mike Huckabee the other night. Huckabee’s the cheery Andy Griffith of Christian fundamentalism, who refuses to acknowledge the humanity of gay people but does it with an “aw shucks” grin that wins most people over.
But not Stewart, who doggedly yet respectfully took him to task:
It’s so thrilling to listen to a straight guy who gets it. Stewart’s been a longtime hero of mine and never moreso than this week!
Another hero is activist Wayne Besen, who responded to that odious No Mob Veto ad with a crazy little thing we like to call the truth.
I’ve been asked why the US gay marriage debate matters so much. Why can’t gay people be satisfied with all the legal benefits of civil unions? Well, aside from the separate-but-equal status they create, the one we’ve been fighting against for decades, a new report out of New Jersey (a PDF) shows that civil unions are doing more harm than good. They just don’t work.
With all this in the air, Gus Van Sant‘s “Milk” is beginning to rack up the big film awards. Look for this guy at the Oscars:
And finally, a woman I’ve always loved, even if her metal bikini did nothing for me. Carrie Fisher is hilarious, completely mad and all-around awesome — Stewart can make her Secretary of State!
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