The Hypocrisy of Homophobia

The issue of gay marriage became a central issue to many voters in this election. With the amount of people showing up at the polls to make a statement about 'moral values', gay marriage bans passed in 11 states. In Mississippi, where interracial marriages became legal way back in 1987, it passed with 86 percent of the vote.

For years leading up to this election as well, websites like Tongue Tied have chronicled incidents of 'political correctness' with the motto that Americans don't have a right 'not to be offended'. I actually agree with that, but I've emailed Scott Norvell in the past to point out that he only mentions left wing political correctness. He responded once, and it wasn't a very friendly email.

When it comes to gay marriage, though, there is no difference. The only defense that gay marriage opponents claim for their position is that it offends them. It's 'immoral'. And if enough people find something offensive, they can ban it. Wow, that sounds like political correctness to me.

I've emailed Scott Norvell to ask him to include the gay marriage bans in his Tongue Tied blog. Here's the text of my email:

Editor,

I'm curious why I haven't seen any reporting on the election results in the 11 states that banned gay marriage. I was rather surprised to see such a large number of my countrymen unable to understand the basic principle of your site, that people do not have a right not to be offended by the behavior of others. I cherish this principle as a libertarian American, and am dismayed by the overwhelming political correctness inherent in those election results.

Thanks for your time,