Wednesday, September 29, 2004
Questions related to this conspiracy of silence
Just some questions for the press (and others unsure how to think of the Maya Keyes stuff):
Why is it that when Noelle Bush goes into drug rehab, the press can report on that, but when OUT lesbian Maya Keyes is campaigning with her dad, wearing RAINBOW paraphernalia and apparently chatting with locals about queer youth outreach, it's taboo?
Why is it okay to run a gossip item about Cynthia Nixon and her being mum about her possible same-sex relationship, but not about someone who has put herself in the public eye by CAMPAIGNING for her EXTREMELY HIGH PROFILE (and vocally anti-gay-rights) father while wearing rainbow paraphernalia?
How weird is it that the press seems to be imposing silence and shame on someone who is neither silent nor ashamed?
If Alan Keyes were going around saying that interracial relationships were destructive of society, would it be news that Maya's girlfriend is white? Or boyfriend? What if she campaigned with him wearing paraphernalia that was generally known to show pride in interracial relationships?
There is a story here. chillinois has put all the pieces together, conclusively, and it's not a "rumor" ... unless this is an ELABORATE HOAX - dating back YEARS - it's public and publicly available information. What if she'd appeared in a (small) gay magazine article about gay youth? What if she'd published a 'zine? What if she'd written a book? She put it out there, friends. GOOD FOR HER!
Finally, just because Alan won't talk about it, doesn't mean you can't write about it. As recently as yesterday, Keyes had on the front page of his campaign Web site the claim that Obama was "two-faced" -- trying to have it both ways by soliciting support from the gay community but being against gay marriage. Oh, that's not there anymore. Why not?
Look, my guess is that Alan is actually NOT a hypocrite on this issue. He probably DOES believe that his daughter is a sinner, and is praying for her daily, and does not wish for her to become the issue in this campaign. He very likely still loves her and loves to be near her and loves for her to be on the campaign trail with him. He does NOT believe she should be able to serve in the military, or ever get married, or be immune from testifying against her partner, or have protection against anti-gay discrimination by her employer or landlord or realtor. He believes that if her same-sex relationship is treated identically to his opposite-sex relationship, then the moral sanctions against rape, child molestation, and public sex will also come crashing down, leading to a Marxist tyranny of the state. But until he clarifies that his moral attacks against gays apply equally to his beloved Maya, I don't blame others for assuming that he is guilty of hypocrisy.
In any case, I think the real scandal is that he's paying for his daughter to go to Brown. BROWN! Nice conservative values there, dad...
Why is it that when Noelle Bush goes into drug rehab, the press can report on that, but when OUT lesbian Maya Keyes is campaigning with her dad, wearing RAINBOW paraphernalia and apparently chatting with locals about queer youth outreach, it's taboo?
Why is it okay to run a gossip item about Cynthia Nixon and her being mum about her possible same-sex relationship, but not about someone who has put herself in the public eye by CAMPAIGNING for her EXTREMELY HIGH PROFILE (and vocally anti-gay-rights) father while wearing rainbow paraphernalia?
How weird is it that the press seems to be imposing silence and shame on someone who is neither silent nor ashamed?
If Alan Keyes were going around saying that interracial relationships were destructive of society, would it be news that Maya's girlfriend is white? Or boyfriend? What if she campaigned with him wearing paraphernalia that was generally known to show pride in interracial relationships?
There is a story here. chillinois has put all the pieces together, conclusively, and it's not a "rumor" ... unless this is an ELABORATE HOAX - dating back YEARS - it's public and publicly available information. What if she'd appeared in a (small) gay magazine article about gay youth? What if she'd published a 'zine? What if she'd written a book? She put it out there, friends. GOOD FOR HER!
Finally, just because Alan won't talk about it, doesn't mean you can't write about it. As recently as yesterday, Keyes had on the front page of his campaign Web site the claim that Obama was "two-faced" -- trying to have it both ways by soliciting support from the gay community but being against gay marriage. Oh, that's not there anymore. Why not?
Look, my guess is that Alan is actually NOT a hypocrite on this issue. He probably DOES believe that his daughter is a sinner, and is praying for her daily, and does not wish for her to become the issue in this campaign. He very likely still loves her and loves to be near her and loves for her to be on the campaign trail with him. He does NOT believe she should be able to serve in the military, or ever get married, or be immune from testifying against her partner, or have protection against anti-gay discrimination by her employer or landlord or realtor. He believes that if her same-sex relationship is treated identically to his opposite-sex relationship, then the moral sanctions against rape, child molestation, and public sex will also come crashing down, leading to a Marxist tyranny of the state. But until he clarifies that his moral attacks against gays apply equally to his beloved Maya, I don't blame others for assuming that he is guilty of hypocrisy.
In any case, I think the real scandal is that he's paying for his daughter to go to Brown. BROWN! Nice conservative values there, dad...
