Based on her membership in a church which promotes a “reparative therapy” conference, some gay bloggers have become convinced that Sarah Palin harbors anti-gay views despite the fact that they can’t track down any comments from the Alaska Governor berating people like us.
Perhaps it has to do with the live-and-let-live attitude of the Last Frontier.  A reader alerted me to an article (from the Advocate of all places!) finding that  most Alaskans are remarkably tolerant of their gay fellow citizens. Â
To be sure, writer Julie Bolcer acknowledges that “the gay experience in the Last Frontier is marked by contradictions that can perplex the rest of the country,” the gay people she talked to find a welcome in the state governed by the Republican vice presidential nominee.
When former Wasilla resident Aaron Stielstra came out to his parents, he found it didn’t change their feelings for him. Â He even found his home-state more welcoming than larger metropolitan areas in the “Lower 48:”
I once had an experience where I was walking down the street in Boys Town [Chicago] holding the hand of my then-boyfriend, and we were heckled by people passing by in a truck. . . . Similar things have happened to me in Los Angeles, and in Orange County. Nothing like that has ever happened to me in Wasilla, and I have acted the same way there.
He added that Sarah Palin’s home town “is a pretty good generalization for most of the state.â€
It seems that Palin’s public statements on homosexuality reflect on the state where she lives. It looks like we can expect her to bring that live-and-let-live attitude to Washington.
Perplexing only to those who cling bitterly to an outdated stereotype of how conservatives feel about teh gheys.
I think most people are pretty realistic about how 21st century conservatives feel about gays. No ill will, wouldn’t send us off to concentration camps, etc., but also tend to few equal rights as a silly social issue not worth spending time on. Even though we’re being told “no” with a smile instead of a scowl, some of still don’t think that’s right. Go figure.
As for Palin herself? She probably falls into that category. The only thing we really have to judge her on is her veto of the anti-gay legislation that would have barred DP benefits. As I recall, she said she was vetoing it because she had to under the state’s constitution as interpreted by the court but she was personally in favor of it, regardless of the veto. That’s a principled stand and I can respect it as a professional and political decision. It doesn’t mean I have to like the underlying sentiment or her support for the state constitutional amendment banning gay marriage.
Shame her campaign won’t allow the media to, you know, ask her any questions in order to confirm one way or the other.
Media blackout for Palin at, what, 24 days and counting?
Days without a Barack Obama Press Conference: 204
Barack Obama has not had a press conference since March 3, 2008, which he walked away from in a huff after dodging eight questions.
You lost, talkingpoints.
Who is foolish enough to believe anything any politician says, especially when campaigning? Her veto and the reason for it speaks volumes to me, and I take that at face value. As far as tolerance in Alaska, Palin is not the reason. I just got back from two weeks up there, and most of the folks I talked with didn’t know enough about her to make many judgments, and they just left it at that. In my time there I didn’t see or experience any intolerance from anyone for anything.
Furthermore, given that the media has demonstrated that it’s more interested in spreading stories about how her child isn’t really her child, what exactly does she owe them anyway? It’s obvious that the media’s only concern is in attacking her, egged on by bigots like torrentprime.
Give it up, TP.
The media’s dead, killed off by elitist liberals. Nobody’s watching anymore.
thanks for the Advocate article….I sense that Sarah Palin is honest when she says she has a lot of Gay friends and family friends and has a live and let live attitude and doesn’t make judgments. That comes across in her answers and in the general nature of live and let live Alaskans.
I trust in Sarah Palin far more then I do in so called liberals who claim to be feminists and also accepting of Gays UNLESS you are not the correct kind of feminist or the correct kind of Gay person (code word for if you aren’t liberal..then you are a freak..)
in this day and age with a lot more to worry about in this country, all the MSM can come up with in general is past craziness when attacking Sarah Palin…..while being boot lickers for Nobama..
as V the K said that is what you get from idiots who can’t see past their noses and in San Francisco are mystified about the rest of the country that treat people as people and don’t care what they do in the privacy of their bedrooms and whom they love as consenting adults….unless you are liberal and they care plenty then if you don’t have their group think….
they are as predictable as Nobama is present but unaccounted for in the issues of the day.
Orange County is known for its liberal atmosphere, too.
If you examine her record, you’ll see that whatever her own personal beliefs, she’s not very interested in legislating them.
prof,
to play Devil’s advocate here… Has she ever been a legilsator? I ask because I do think that legislators shold have the most leeway to ‘vote by their beliefs’ they’re hired to make laws that are the best (as they see it) for the country. Tne executive carries out the laws or, in most cases, say if they can’t follow the law because of the constitution.
Actually, yes, on the city council. But you’re referring to her as Governor. No, a Governor is not a legislator, but a Governor, like the President, can certainly wield influence over legislators (see Bush v. Congressional GOP on NCLB or the Medicare bill). And like Presidents, Governors can sign or veto bills. Palin has never tried to influence the state legislature to pass bills that may reflect her own social conservatism, and recall that she chose to veto that bill.