AKA William

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I had to read Monica Hesse’s article “Opposing Gay Unions With Sanity & a Smile” twice to make sure I was understanding it correctly, and all I have to say is, “Gross.”

Well, not all I have to say. Let’s see. In it, Hesse paints a flattering, sympathetic, and loving portrait of NOM’s Brian Brown – the devout Catholic executive director of the National Organization for Marriage. Brown believes his religious beliefs should be forced on others.You might recall Brown’s lie-filled appearance with MSNBC’s David Shuster where Shuster called him out on his lies.

But Hesse wasn’t going to let the truth get in her way. Nope, instead, she writes this:

He has a master’s degree from Oxford, and completed course work for a doctorate in history from UCLA. He shoulders the accusations of bigotry; it’s horrible when people say that your life’s mission is actually just prejudice. He tries to help people see that opposing gay marriage does not make them bigots, that the argument should have nothing to do with hate or fear, and everything to do with history and tradition.

The reason Brian Brown is so effective is that he is pleasantly, ruthlessly sane.

. . . He takes nothing personally. He means nothing personal. He is never accusatory or belittling. His arguments are based on his understandings of history, not on messages from God that gays caused Hurricane Katrina.

After speaking at length to Brown’s very religious wife, who complains how hard it is to be a bigot these days, Hesse closes the article with a little slice-of-life portrait of the wife asking what time her husband will be home for dinner. Brown, of course, shrugs because he doesn’t know how long denying civil rights to Americans will take. Awww.

I’m all for unbiased journalism, of seeing the other side of an argument. But this is just strange. And, oddly, Hesse also includes this cryptic line: “The gay marriage supporters have not met Brian Brown. They should. He might be more worth knowing about.”

Not “gay marriage activists.” Not “marriage equality supporters.” No, she writes, “gay marriage supporters.”

Read the entire strange article here. And also read HRC Backstory’s response as well.