On the November 19 broadcast of The War Room with Quinn & Rose, co-host
Rose Tennent said of the nationwide protests that have followed the passage of a California
ballot initiative
to amend the state constitution to ban same-sex marriage: "[T]here are so many people at the
events that aren't gay." Co-host Jim Quinn replied, "Yeah, they're guilty straights," to which
Tennent responded, "Guilty straights -- there we go." Earlier in the broadcast, Quinn stated:
"[G]ays never wanted to get married until what -- about five years ago, we started to hear about
this? ... [T]his is all -- this is a purely political act." In fact, same-sex couples have
brought court cases to overturn bans on same-sex marriage for decades.
According to the website
glbtq.com, the first court case challenging a ban on same-sex marriage was brought in
Minnesota in 1970. Two men applied for a marriage license and sued the state when their
application was rejected "on the sole ground," in the words of the Minnesota Supreme Court, "that
petitioners were of the same sex, it being undisputed that there were otherwise no statutory
impediments to a heterosexual marriage by either petitioner." The court
upheld the ban on same-sex marriage in its 1971 decision. Numerous
court
cases
challenging same-sex marriage bans have been brought since then, including cases in
the
1970s, the
1990s, and the current
decade.
As Media Matters for America documented, Quinn previously said:
"The only thing that -- the only thing that gay marriage produce -- well, gay marriage doesn't
produce anything that the state has an interest in. Gay sex produces AIDS, which the state
doesn't have -- or should have an interest in. They should charge homosexuals
more for their -- for their health insurance than they charge the rest of us." Quinn later added:
"So why don't they charge gay men, especially, higher premiums? Because they're engaged in an
activity that will have an impact on that -- on the health care system."
Talkers Magazine lists Quinn & Rose on its "Heavy
Hundred" list, which it describes as a list of the "100 most important radio talk show hosts
in America." According to the show's website, it airs on 18
radio stations and XM Satellite Radio.
From the November 19 broadcast of Clear Channel's The War Room with Quinn & Rose:
TENNENT: You know, Elton John
weighed in on all of this, and I thought it was interesting what he said. He said that -- he
said, "I don't want to be married. I'm very happy with a civil partnership. If gay people want to
get married, or get together, they should have a civil partnership." Hey, that's what we've been
saying all along, isn't it?
QUINN: Good grief, the voice of reason.
TENNENT: He said, "The word 'marriage,' I think, puts a lot of people off. You get the same equal
rights that we do when we have a civil partnership. Heterosexual people get married. We can have
civil partnerships." Now, see, this is interesting, because if that is -- you know, and this has
been my argument all along. If there are the same rights -- equal rights within a civil
partnership -- why are they going after marriage?
QUINN: Because it -- that's one of the basic underpinnings, one of the basic legs of Western
civilization --
TENNENT: Right.
QUINN: -- and Judeo-Christian civilization.
TENNENT: They break that down --
QUINN: Right. Break it down, deconstruct it --
TENNENT: And you've broken down society.
QUINN: Exactly. Exactly. This is a purely -- the whole marriage issue is -- gays never wanted to
get married until what -- about five years ago, we started to hear about this?
TENNENT: Yeah.
QUINN: No, this is all -- this is a purely political act.
TENNENT: See, he, actually, John -- Elton John distanced himself from the protesters and all the
protests that are taking place in all the cities across the United States. He said, "What is
wrong with Proposition 8 is they went for marriage."
[...]
TENNENT: This fringe that is out there -- and they're mobilizing, although they're seemingly
bigger than a fringe, but they are still a fringe.
QUINN: Oh, yeah.
TENNENT: They are a fringe.
QUINN: They're very visible; loud.
TENNENT: And they're embarrassing to even other homosexuals in this country. They are. Their
behavior, I think it's --
QUINN: Well, they've managed --
TENNENT: -- reprehensible. I really do. What?
QUINN: They've managed to fill the streets, though, with angry people. They get people all worked
up about this stuff.
TENNENT: Yeah. And some of the people that are joining them aren't even necessarily gay, either
-- you know --
QUINN: Oh, no. They're --
TENNENT: -- there are so many people at the events that aren't gay.
QUINN: Yeah, they're guilty straights.
TENNENT: Guilty straights -- there we go. So, Jim, I got a question for you. All of this -- like,
later today, I hope, or possibly Friday, I wanted to go over some of the appointments.
Recommandations
)
and reject those that you are not interested in
(
)
