I'm just going to say straight off the bat that this week's column is a rant inspired by the vapid commentary made by The View's Elisabeth Hasselbeck and Shari Shepherd the passing of California's Proposition 8.
In case you are unfamiliar with Prop 8, last Tuesday California - to my knowledge - one of the most liberal states in the Union voted to overturn a California Supreme Court decision which recognized same sex marriages as marriages, rather than just civil unions, which passed earlier in 2008.
This morning, in typical fashion, even in the face of liberal pundit Keith Olbermann appearing on The View this morning, Hasselbeck and Shepherd spouted forth party line anti-gay marriage bullshit. Stating that the marriage is "a sacred act between a man and a woman" and so forth. Sadly, we cannot find video at this time of their specific comments; but, suffice it to say that they were narrow minded and typical of Hasselbeck and Shepherd's religious conservative POV.
The women of The View have been saying increasingly stupid things about California's Proposition 8 since it passed last week. Last Friday, Whoppi Goldberg started a conversation about Prop 8 by saying:
"Apparently a record number of minority voters turned out for the election which helped socially conservative victories like gay marriage... They are trying to take rights which were initially given to folks, or gay married couples, they are now trying to take those rights away."
It's the minority's fault? Come on. Let's insert a "what the fuck" right here.
Barbara Walters then stated that churches will lose their tax-exempt status or officiants would be jailed if they refuse to perform same-sex marriages; and, that children would be forced to learn about same sex marriages in public school.
Both huge fallacies which were pushed by super-conservative religious institutions (from states other than California, coughUtahcough,) prior to November 4th to try to rally the "anti-gay marriage" vote. This was designed to raise fear and challenge the rights of Californians with "traditional views of marriage" to live and raise their children as they see fit.
This political tactic turned out to be effective, as Proposition 8 passed by 489,252 votes, 52% to 47%.
The truth of the matter is that public schools -in California or elsewhere - have never taught marriage as a philosophy to children and there is no threat to religious officiants or establishments which choose not to perform gay marriages having their tax exempt status threatened or their clergy jailed.
The California Constitutional Amendment recognizing marriage between same sex couples is about affording gay men and women the same legal rights which are granted to couples of the opposite sex upon performing the act of marriage. Despite the fact that California still supports same-sex civil unions, there is a difference in the legalities. The civil union legislation requires same-sex couples to jump through tons of legislative hoops to ensure that their families rights are protected in same manner that heterosexual couples have instantly upon saying the words "I do" and signing a marriage certificate.
Examples: a heterosexual couple marries and adopts a child, both parties are recognized as the child's parent. A same sex couple in the same situation, one of them has to petition the court for parental rights...
A heterosexual couple marries and unfortunately one of the partners passes away. The remaining partner is recognized as their next of kin. Same sex couple? Not the same.
The California constitutional amendment recognizing same-sex marriage is one which is about protecting civil rights. It doesn't pass judgment, it protects. And, you would think that in a year when we pretty unanimously elected an African-American to the office of President of the United States, that individual voters, regardless of their personal beliefs would band together in favor of promoting civil rights for all. Especially in California - one of the most liberal states in the Union.
Sadly, it is not the case. Largely due to the spread of misinformation about what the Constitutional Amendment means to the individual family. And, the women of The View have been complicit in that process, so much so that openly gay talk show host, Ellen DeGeneres and GLAAD contacted producers of The View about spreading misinformation. Thankfully, today Whoppi Goldberg did her best to clarify some of the "errors" in reporting which occurred last week regarding supporting same-sex marriage in California; though, Hasselbeck and Shepard interrupted with the same narrow minded rhetoric which the religious right has been using to dupe voters through the election.
This is an expected tactic by political pundits; but, popular talk show hosts? The women of The View (specifically Hasselbeck & Shepard) exhibited clear bias, further substantiating their lack of journalistic training or ability. You'd think that at least their producers would realize that they have influence over millions of viewers; and, perhaps dig into the facts a little bit deeper or read the legislation before letting their co-hosts spout off stupid shit on national television.
It's called journalistic responsibility; clearly something which is lacking on The View.
While we should all be saying "what the fuck" to the voters of California, educated individuals should be questioning how exactly what should have been an easy defeat of an extremely biased ballot proposition designed to eliminate the rights of the people, we all would be remiss if we didn't hold a mirror up to the pop culture idiots who have taken it upon themselves to preach their values to a huge viewing audience.
Have your own opinion, agree-disagree, it doesn't matter to me - just present the actual facts - instead of becoming complicit in fear mongering by presenting unsubstantiated information about what legislation does or doesn't do.
It is doubtful that the same-sex marriage/civil rights for all battle is on which is over with the passing of Proposition 8; but, let's just hope it doesn't take 143 years to afford everyone equal rights under the law. And, that perhaps with the change of political tone in this country that stupid individuals such as Hasselbeck and Shepard will fade away into the woodwork as irrelevant, taking their hateful, biased opinions with them.