Prayin' Palin

Well, I guess we now know where she stands. Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin has tried to package herself as pro-gay, but in the end, after a few questions on the matter, she showed her true closeted self.

In an interview with Katie Couric, Sarah was questioned about her links to this church she attends in Alaska. Apparently, that place of holiness offers a program to church-goers called 'Pray the Gay Away.' (Say wha?) Don't ask me what happens. My best guess is that a bunch of church-folks gather round and invoke the powers of god to drive the devil out from deep within the gay guy. Probably deeply-rooted in the belief that homosexuality is either a disease that can be cured, or spawned by the devil and can be driven out by fervent prayer.

When asked about her links to this church, here is what dear Sarah very coherently said: "But what you're talking about, I think, value here, what my position is on homosexuality and you can pray it away, because I think that was the title that was listed on that bulletin. And you know, I don't know what prayers are worthy of being prayed. I don't know what prayers are going to be asked and answered. But as for homosexuality, I am not going to judge Americans and the decisions that they make in their adult personal relationships." (I cut this quote out from some press story.)

Which sort of led her down a slippery slope, because the next thing she said, maybe because she doing damage control, was something about her having a best friend that was gay but (here comes the but) who also "happens to have made a choice that isn't a choice I have made." 

So there it was, right out in the open. Palin's views on homosexuality, which squares with what a great many other Republicans think - that homosexuality is a lifestyle choice. People choose to be gay, and therefore, if there are consequences attached to that choice, then people who make that choice have to live with and accept those consequences. Swallow them, practically.

Hmm, where do I start. 

I can probably point out the great number of suicides by gay teenagers who agonize over who they are and that they'll never be accepted by their parents, and they end up killing themselves rather than risk rejection from their loved ones. (So if it were a choice, it would have been so easy to choose not to be gay, live on happily in the midst of family members, and lead a straight life, right?)

Or the number of runaways who flee to big cities with no money and no friends, prepared to eke out a life of certain hardship, easy prey for human and drug traffickers. Or maybe let's just focus on the guys who make the choice to be straight and marry, and then end up compulsively cheating on their spouses without the ability to control their sexuality.

Palin has to recognize and understand this fundamental disconnect in her belief system before she can effectively respond to the needs of her gay constituents. Sure, she can say she supports equal rights to "visitation rights in the hospitals, joint ownership of property, life insurance policies", which is all well and good when it comes to courting the gay vote. (Yeah, that's what she apparently agreed with in her debate with Biden - but only after saying she was against gay marriage).

But, I suspect all these 'concessions' were driven merely by her need to pander, and not because of an intrinsic understanding of the issues affecting gay people, and by a genuine desire to serve their needs. These are nice talking points to offer in a debate or under questioning by fierce reporters, a safe middle position to take. But is this something she really wants to do?

Maybe her track record in Alaska can tell gay voters how concerned she really is about them, how she really feels about helping them and what to do with the inequality and discrimination they face daily in their lives. Let's see what she did during her term as Governor. Did she do the same thing as David Paterson, the Governor of New York, who signed an Executive Order authorizing New York to recognize gay marriages celebrated in other states? Well, according to my in-depth research - here's what she did for gay people:

She prayed for them.