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Afternoon Greg: Chip Arndt on Obama’s silence, Alec Baldwin on gay marriage and David Hyde Pierce slams CA Supreme Court

So much going on right now. I’m going to use today’s afternoon column to try and catch up on all of it.

Let’s start with our President, Mr. Barack Obama, and his strange and surprising silence to his LGBT constituents these days. No comment on the CA Supreme Court ruling, no comment on DADT, no comment on DOMA. It’s an absolute slap in the face. Activist Chip Arndt – best known for winning CBS’ Amazing Race several years ago with Reichen Lehmkuhl, wrote on his Facebook page earlier today:

http://www.gayamericanheroes.info/sitebuilder/images/Chip_Arndt1-312x421.jpg

Chip Arndt President Obama, whom I supported from the beginning, having fund raisers in NV and Los Angeles and not addressing OUR concerns and community while LGBT rights are trampled at the Pentagon, in CA (Prop 8), DOMA, slow movement in Congress to pass ENDA & Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Bill, where is the President we helped raise millions of $ for? Act now, act strong, and, yes, act up!

Well said Chip! For the life of me, I cannot understand why the president and his administration have chosen to behave so arrogantly and so indifferently at this time. Surely they can address these issues while dealing with domestic and international issues.

Why alienate us this way?

http://randt.files.wordpress.com/2008/05/30rock_main1.jpgSTRAIGHT ALLIES COME THROUGH: Obama has been a disappointment but other straight people have recognized the time in history and stepped up to lend their support. You have tireless advocates for equality like Cyndi Lauper, Sharon Stone and Charlize Theron, new voices like Rob Thomas, and celebs like Drew Barrymore and Kathy Griffin showing up at rallies.

The latest famous voice to chime in is that of Alec Baldwin who wrote a column on gay marriage for Huffington Post.

Alec, the Emmy winning star of NBC’s 30 Rock, writes seeks to debunk the notion that marriage should only be between a man and woman in order to create a family. Well, what about childless couples? Do they deserve to be allowed to stay married?

He writes:

Beyond any issues of infertility or illness, there are men and women who are married in the eyes of the state, enjoying all of the legal benefits, who have no intention of having children. They seek only companionship and all of the entitlements that come with marriage. Sex, joy, partnership, caring. All of that is theirs, even though they will never bear children and willfully so. If the state says they are free to do that, why aren’t gay couples, as well.

I really like Alec’s closing line: You do not need to have one ounce of affinity for gay people in our society whatsoever to recognize that they are being shamefully wronged every day we allow this to continue.

David Hyde Pierce Says He's MarriedDAVID HYDE PIERCE ON MARRIAGE: Emmy and Tony award winning star David Hyde Pierce was quite candid on The View this week when discussing the CA Supreme Court ruling making no attempt to hide his disgust. The star of Frasier and Broadway’s Spamalot and Curtains is among the 18,000-plus couples whose marriages will stand despite the marriage ban created by Proposition 8. He and husband Brian Hargrove quietly married in October after 25 years together.
rian and I always sort-of kept a low profile. We didn’t hide our lives, but we just thought ‘let’s make an example of just people going about their lives and trying to create the best household’, and our families, and friends and colleagues knew all about us. He told Barbara Walters:

“We got married very quietly last October 24th, and thought that was fine … and suddenly the state of California said ‘no it’s not’. And what we thought was a private, personal decision turned out not to be. We now find out that legally we are still married, but that’s a mixed-thing too, it’s like ‘oh great, we made the cut’.”

It’s a very odd thing, and I understand all the religious and emotional issues involved, but it was a very angry-making feeling, both in November when it was taken away from me, and this past Tuesday sitting in front of the television thinking ‘I hope the Supreme Court thinks it’s okay for me to be married’. Excuse me, but it’s none of your business!

Well said David!


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