Whoa, begone 18 March 2007, 00:53

I’m used to folksy nostalgia (and pee jokes) from that man responsible for what Canadian unity we have left, Stuart McLean. What I’ve heard from Garrison Keillor makes me think that Stuart is more or less his Canadian equivalent. I have little problem with these guys and their mode, until Keillor drew fire from Dan Savage.

The reason my idol Dan is right:

Down South, there’s a war raging about same-sex partner benefits, marriage, and adoption. (Now guess which side I’m on.) Keillor momentarily forgot this in his effort to satirize today’s (in my case, 1982’s) blended families. And Keillor went as far as to insinuate that The Queer Question foregrounds itself and backgrounds children of these parents.

If [male gay couples] want to be accepted as couples and daddies … the flamboyance may have to be brought under control. Parents are supposed to stand in back and not wear chartreuse pants and black polka-dot shirts. That’s for the kids. It’s their show.

This isn’t satire or comedy, but an accusation of parental selfishness with all the impact of a lame gay-joke. Please. Who’s foregrounding whom? I bet a ton of queer parents would LOVE to have their families stop being an issue. And who’s making it an issue? Haters. Until the war is over, “liberals” ought not to align themselves with haters, even in ignorance. Also, careful criticizing people’s parenting skillz — someone (especially a member of an embattled group) might take it personally.

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