Candace Gingrich to Olbermann: Progress is being made on marriage equality

Nick Cargo and David Edwards Published: Wednesday November 26, 2008
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Candace Gingrich, Youth Outreach Director for the Human Rights Campaign and openly gay half-sister to twice-divorced "traditional marriage" advocate Newt Gingrich, sat down with MSNBC's Keith Olbermann to discuss California's Proposition 8.

New poll data suggesting a shift in opinion on the state's gay marriage ban, which could be enough to change the initiative's outcome were the vote to be held today, "just exemplifies the progress that's being made on people understanding what marriage equality is all about," Gingrich said. "It's been three weeks since the election, but people have continued having conversations about this issue. They've continued seeing the families that are affected by having their marriage taken away from them."

"And I want to thank you, Keith, because your rant was exactly what was needed," she added. "It was continuing that dialogue, and you helped a lot more people understand the issue."

On November 10, Olbermann devoted a "Special Comment" to addressing the marriage ban, which passed 52%-47% in this month's election. "What if somebody passed a law that said you couldn't marry?" he asked marriage equality opponents. Gays "want what you want," he said, "a chance to be a little less alone in the world."

"Marriage equality for gay and lesbian couples doesn't threaten anything, or anyone's marriage," Gingrich went on, saying that President-elect Obama's statements on the issue make it clear on where he stands, even though he has stopped short of supporting full civil marriage in name. "It is not something that people should have to fear. And [Obama] said very simply, you know, this is about people's civil rights, and they should be afforded to folks whether or not he, personally, agrees with them or not."

Gingrich took her brother, former Speaker of the House, to task over statements he made on the November 14 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor.

"I think there is a gay and secular fascism in this country that wants to impose its will on the rest of us," he said. "I think it is prepared to use the government if it can get control of it. I think that it is a very dangerous threat to anybody who believes in traditional religion. And I think if you believe in historic Christianity, you have to confront the fact."

On Saturday, Ms. Gingrich shot back in a Huffington Post piece:

...The truth is that you're living in a world that no longer exists. I, along with millions of Americans, clearly see the world the way it as -- and we embrace what it can be. You, on the other hand, seem incapable of looking for new ideas or moving beyond what worked in the past.

Welcome to the 21st century, big bro. I can understand why you're so afraid of the energy that has been unleashed after gay and lesbian couples had their rights stripped away from them by a hateful campaign. I can see why you're sounding the alarm against the activists who use all the latest tech tools to build these rallies from the ground up in cities across the country...

...What really worries me is that you are always willing to use LGBT Americans as political weapons to further your ambitions. That's really so '90s, Newt. In this day and age, it's embarrassing to watch you talk like that. You should be more afraid of the new political climate in America, because, there is no place for you in it.