Gallagher, who once had a child out of wedlock, speaks for the fidelity-over-anything-else crowd (fidelity over reality, statistics, biology, ability, etc.). Now some people are capable of abstaining before marriage and being faithful to one partner for life—some people, but not Maggie—but these people represent a tiny minority of all sexually active adults. And while those who make this aberrant lifestyle choice should not be discriminated against, the rest of us—the majority of all sexually active adults—should be free to engage in grownup conversations about sex and desire and the reality-friendly ways in which we define and practice fidelity without being shouted down by the monogamously correct. Fidelity, after all, can mean so much more than just “you never get to see anyone else naked ever again.”
—Dan Savage responds to Maggie Gallagher’s criticism of his MTV show deal [via]
Kev C
I thought they arrested Maggie last week for punching a Gauguin.
Soupy
I think that she is busy having her vagina bedazzled. And restored.
Christopher di Spirito
Maggie Gallagher must be pig Latin for “cow,” because everytime I see her, she looks bigger, and bigger, and bigger.
Her retinal discs must be ready to burst.
Right Wingers Are Socioptahs (John From England)
It’s about time a gay activist said this out loud for god sake. Now Dan,talk of her Hindu husband who she refuses to use his last name in public…
Crabby
any average breeder would need at least a six pack of Four Loko to find that sad collection of fat desirable… eew
Cam
Maggie,
Why do you say you are for traditional marriage, and yet you don’t wear your wedding ring?
Why did you not take your husbands name? That isn’t very Traditional.
Why are you and your husband never shown together, and why are you usually not even in the same city?
For somebody claiming to be for traditional marriage her marriage is less traditional than most gay relationships I’ve seen.
Crabby
seems it’s always the same ones… twice divorced, with bastard spawn, closeted homos, or adulterers that fight for ‘traditional marriage’
Mykelb
Mrs. Srivistav, why are there only 6 admonishments to men about having sex with men in your iron-age fairy tale book (buybull) and over 2000 about having sex with women? Seems rather lopsided to me.
bab
Dear Maggie,
You’re full of shit.
Love,
Bab
jj
LMAO!
Oli
@Kev C: haha! I was about to write that!
Mike in Asheville
Maggie is a maggot for her BELIEFS and attempting to force those beliefs on us.
But enough with the ugly and fat comments. Martin Luther King’s wise words apply here: “Don’t judge me by the color of my skin” — or in this case, looks and/or weight — “but by the content of my mind.”
Its Maggie’s mind that makes her a maggot.
And @ Crabby, really, bastard spawn? Blame the child for the conduct of the parents? Isn’t this the 21st century?
B
No. 6 · Cam wrote, “Maggie, Why do you say you are for traditional marriage, and yet you don’t wear your wedding ring? Why did you not take your husbands name? That isn’t very Traditional. Why are you and your husband never shown together, and why are you usually not even in the same city? For somebody claiming to be for traditional marriage her marriage is less traditional than most gay relationships I’ve seen.”
Those questions seem to be based on several implicit assumptions that might not be true.
First there is the assumption that she actually believes what she says. She makes her living as a right-wing operative, and part of that job is selling a specific point of view. Selling something in that way doesn’t mean you really believe it. She may or she may not.
Second, a reason not to use her husband’s last name could simply be the same reason that the actor Cary Grant did not use his real name, Archibald Leach.
Third there are quite understandable reasons for them not to appear together during her public appearances touting right-wing causes. Maybe her husband is a liberal or sensible enough that he’d really be embarrassed to be seen there. Maybe he’s just camera shy.
Bottom line: until you know for sure, don’t guess and assume your guesses must be right.
Gigi
@B: Shut up! This is one of those cases where you say: “Ya! Good one!!” I learned that a long time ago when a friend had a fallout with a mutual friend of ours. I started the “maybe she meant this” thing and was summarily shut down. I’ve never made that mistake again.
Maggot is an abhorrent person. If Puke and Bile were to have a child it would look like her. End of story.
Jeffree
When shove comes to push, Maggie’s profession is fundraising. She’s the pro spokesperson for a particular brand of hate, and we all know that she’s successful at stirring up the pot, generating buzz and keeping the coffers full. She’s not unlike the tobacco lobbyists, the pyramid schemers and the peddlers of snakeoil.
Whether she believes what she says or not doesn’t matter so much. If she got run over by an icecream truck tonight, there would be someone else to replace her tomorrow, someone willing to play the part.
Let’s fight the untruths and the lies. Fighting the message isn’t as fun as mocking the messenger, but it’s what will matter most.
JT
now Dan Savage can be transphobic, biphobic, and misogynistic on TV! Of course he is a total media whore so the 15 seconds of fame that MTV will give him will go to his head.
It’s clear that his whole “It gets better” campaign isn’t about helping GLBT youth-all while he trashes adult bisexuals and Trans people-but it’s just about getting him a reality TV show on MTV, fame/self promotion, and money.
Dan Savage is also highly Transphobic and does not understand people who are trans or intersexed.
Dan Savage has a lot in common with Maggie, he’s full of hatred towards trans people and bisexuals.
Dan may claim that he’s a friend and ally to women but you wouldn’t know it from his misogynistic rants in his “advice” column.
Such as where he told a woman who’d been raped that she should just STFU and have sex with her husband even though she was not over the rape and having sex with her husband gave her traumatic flashbacks about being raped.
Then there’s that racist tantrum Dan threw at African Americans in the state of CA when prop8 passed.
Why any woman or anyone at all would go to Dan Savage for any sort of “advice” is a mystery.
He’s an idiot and a tool who does not know anything about human sexuality at all.
The whole “It gets better” project was not about helping GLBT youth-all while Savage trashes adult Trans people and bisexuals-but it’s about self promotion, fame, money, getting a reality TV show on MTV, and pointless do nothing feelgood celebrity videos that don’t actually help GLBT youth at all.
“It gets better” is the stock quote every kid even straight kids are told in school when things are rough.
Sorry Dan but you don’t speak for all gay men, the gay “community” or the larger LGBT community.
B
No. 14 · Gigi wrote, “@B: Shut up!”
Rather, I suggest that you grow up.
I might add that it is hardly being complimentary towards Maggie Gallagher to suggest that one consider the possibility that she may not believe anything she spouts and is just spouting it because it is part of her job, making her kind of a “homophobe for pay.” The term “homophobe for pay” BTW is a less crude but more specific term than “advertising whore”.
unclemike
@JT: JT, you are so wrong-headed it’s almost like you’re from another planet.
Soupy
I think it’s Jason again. Or the Russian clown posse.
Shannon1981
I am convinced there is something wrong with her. Like some kind of mental illness. No way does anyone like she does under normal circumstances.
B
No. 20 · Shannon1981 wrote, “I am convinced there is something wrong with her. Like some kind of mental illness. No way does anyone like she does under normal circumstances.”
Whether it should be taken as proof of a mental illness just might depend on how much she is being paid for her antics. Just look at these guys, each acting as crazy as a loon: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HWlDFRRH6yE&feature=related (and unlike Maggie, they are really funny!)
Tony
Maggie….COME OUT, you big lesbian. It’s ok to be gay !! 🙂
We see you…and we KNOW ! wink wink 🙂
Pete
I bet Magpie is jealous of Bristol Palin raking in the cash for her teenage screwing. Mama Sarah is sure proud!
Steve
@B wrote, “Those questions seem to be based on several implicit assumptions that might not be true….First there is the assumption that she actually believes what she says…. ”
Maggie Srivistav (Gallagher) has made it abundantly clear, very explicitly, that she absolutely does believe in the mission of her organization. She has used the words “I believe”, literally thousands of times in her testimony and speeches. She personally raised the oney and organized the National Organization for Marriage. She is NOT a “hired gun”.
Cam
@B:
B, I actually know the answers, my problem is that the press never asks her. She says she is fighting for “Traditional Marriage” therefore her REASONING for what she is doing is irrelevent, if what she is doing isn’t traditional, then it isn’t traditional. As for Carey Grant changing his name, he did that for the stage…may I point out, that she is not an actress.
As for your need to defned every right winger out there, you may want to ask yourself, why, if you don’t know the reasons for Maggies behavior are you so eagar to jump up and find any excuse to defend her.
B
No. 24 · Steve wrote, ‘@B wrote, “Those questions seem to be based on several implicit assumptions that might not be true….First there is the assumption that she actually believes what she says…. ” Maggie Srivistav (Gallagher) has made it abundantly clear, very explicitly, that she absolutely does believe in the mission of her organization. She has used the words “I believe”, literally thousands of times in her testimony and speeches.”
Err, Steve, just because a spokescritter says “I believe” thousands of times does not mean the person actually believes it: people in such positions are expected to lie shamelessly when required to support the organization that hired them. Just look at Bill Gates in the South Park movie: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Ntr-pw_6C0 if you want a funny example (just to make the point).
B
No. 25 · Cam wrote, “B, I actually know the answers, my problem is that the press never asks her. She says she is fighting for “Traditional Marriage” therefore her REASONING for what she is doing is irrelevent, if what she is doing isn’t traditional, then it isn’t traditional. As for Carey Grant changing his name, he did that for the stage…may I point out, that she is not an actress.”
Cam, she’s “fighting for tradition marriage” because she’s paid to say it. She could be serious or she could be just performing.
BTW, the example of Carey Grant changing his name is relevant: if her husband’s name is hard for Americans to pronounce or remember (or just sounds weird to the rednecks whose support she is trying to get), she has a valid business reason to use her maiden name.
BTW, there is a simple test, although unfortunately an expensive one: see if she accepts an offer for a position with a gay-rights group that offers her twice her current salary! There are certainly people out their who would switch sides at a drop of the hat if the price were right. The question (which I view as being an open one due to a lack of definitive information) is whether she is one of those.
Jeffree
@B: I keep going back to the analogy of the tobacco lobbyists. [the movie “Thank You for Smoking” comes to mind. They’re job is to say what their employer wants them to, regardless of their own personal feelings.
Ethical? Nah. Does it require lots of mental gymnastics? Probably.
I have little doubt that Maggie would switch teams for the right offer. She may or may not believe most of what she says, but spewing her rot keeps a roof over her head, keeps her ego stoked, and lets her feel the rush that comes with power….
Jimmy Fury
@B:
You make a good argument. Unfortunately not a valid one because your premise is flawed.
Maggie is not a run-of-the-mill employee. She was the founder. She has a degree in religious studies and has been active in conservative politics since she was a student.
She is not just some paid mouthpiece detached from the cause she represents. She is the *voluntary* face of that cause.
Steve
What I’m most confused about is who the hell would fuck this Grimace in an Anna Wintour wig? Was it a quiet Friday night and a group of boys were out Hogging?
B
No. 29 · Jimmy Fury wrote, “@B: You make a good argument. Unfortunately not a valid one because your premise is flawed.
Maggie is not a run-of-the-mill employee. She was the founder. She has a degree in religious studies and has been active in conservative politics since she was a student.
She is not just some paid mouthpiece detached from the cause she represents. She is the *voluntary* face of that cause.”
But you are jumping to conclusions. Once out of school, she may have realized that an anti-gay thing was a niche product she could market. There’s a lot of things someone who is religious and conservative could do that are not anti-gay. It’s possible she is just in it for the money.
BTW, calling her a “*voluntary* face” doesn’t change the obvious – her income most likely increases with the size of her organization. So, there could be a profit motive here, even if she is inclined towards religion and political conservatism (Barry Goldwater, for instance, was very conservative but not anti-gay, and you can be religious without being anti-gay as well).
Steve
@B:
NOM did not hire Maggie Srivistav (Gallagher).
Maggie Srivistav (Gallagher) founded and organized NOM.
B
Re No 31:
One thing I should have added regarding Jimmy’s comment about Maggie being into religious studies and conservatism in school ….
Lot’s of people start out kind of idealistic in college and then make a 180 degree turn when they get out in the “real world”. Read http://books.google.com/books?id=YkVe3DEa0iAC&pg=PA337&lpg=PA337&dq=Gingrich+idealism+college&source=bl&ots=H_CmBOEZp5&sig=Rb3n24VKFOjOWqWMj1JkTn-A7ow&hl=en&ei=XbSfTZKIHIjZiALKh5D1Ag&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBcQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Gingrich%20idealism%20college&f=false for a comparison between Bill Clinton and Newt Gingrich: “For all the genuine idealism that propelled them into politics, moreover, both men quickly gained a record for hypocrisy, questionable loyalty, and amorality in the murky quest to win and retain power.”
Don’t assume the Maggie you would have met when she was a student is at all like the Maggie you would meet today (and I don’t mean weight issues).
B
No. 32 · Steve wrote, “@B: NOM did not hire Maggie Srivistav (Gallagher). Maggie Srivistav (Gallagher) founded and organized NOM.”
Microsoft didn’t hire Bill Gates either, and he was not donating his time, and he’d fib as much as needed to help sell his company’s products. Do you think Maggie is working at NOM for free?
I’m simply pointing out that Maggie does not necessarily believe what she spouts – instead she could simply believe that she’s found a niche that will rake in some cash for her by appealing to the country’s homophobes.
Greg
I learned a new word today: aberrant.