Virginian senatorial candidate Jill Holtzman Vogel and husband Alex Vogel prove the old adage: politics makes for strange bedfellows.
While Mrs. Vogel’s built a campaign around “traditional” values and homophobia, PageOneQ reports that Mr. Vogel made over $500,000 last year lobbying for gay enabler Viacom.
While his wife runs a campaign with strong anti-gay messaging, Alex Vogel continues to serves as a lobbyist for gay-friendly Viacom, which broadcasts shows condemned by conservatives such as Queer as Folk, The L Word, TransGeneration, and the cartoon Rick & Steve: The Happiest Gay Couple In All The World.
Filings at the US Senate’s US Lobby Registration & Reporting Disclosure Page reveal that Vogel’s firm has earned $510,000 in the last 3 years for its work lobbying on behalf of the media giant. Six months after his firm was hired, Viacom officially launched the LOGO network, which so-called “pro-family” groups immediately condemned.
As part of her campaign stumping, Vogel said she would “be a strong voice in advancing pro-life issues and traditional marriage.” Obviously her husband’s work says something else.
Rt. Rev. Dr. RES
What a beautiful family. I love families. I love family life. The difference with Alex and Jill Vogel is that my sense of “family values” includes same-sex couples, especially in this nation and doubly true for VA, and even opposite sex discordant couplings or single straight moms and dads, too. All she sees are “legal strangers who are “playing house”. Tragic reality. At least in some states, some degree of recognition is possible. My special appreciation for gay men and women who are raising families as we do in Canada.
The Vogels are Jewish. They may be observant or not. She must know that reform and some conservative congregations support marriage equality and the building of these families.
Most families today are not the “Ozzie and Harriet” variety. Not even Oswald Nelson and Harriet Hilliard Nelson could replicate their marriage success to the second generation. David Oswald Nelson is happily married to wife number two but divorced the one the Church still recognises. Eric Hilliard Nelson’s life is better known, and the grandchildren are also divorced and remarried. The Nelson family was Roman Catholic, as were the Harmons.
SteveMD2
Talking about gays, Marriage is being destroyed – by the straight people with their nearly 50% divorce rate. I and my spouse ( a hetero couple) will on Dec 27 celebrate our 40th year together.
And we are thrilled that the gay families in this country are beginning to be recognized as such. Massachusetts has gay civil marriage. about 8 other states have civil unions or registered partnerships, both a second class citizen but better then nothing form of civil marriage.
And while we are talking about civil marriage under the law, lets realize that many United Churches of Christ, virtually all Universalist – Unitarian Churches, most Jewish Reform and Reconstructionist temples, and some Jewish Conservative temples will do gay marriage religious ceremonies. Also, so Episcopal churches do “committment ceremonies” – I’ve attended one, and it absolutely was a religious marriage, except for the lack of the word marriage.
America is making progress, albeit slowly, in ending the great shame and even greater sin of Homophobia. We are on the same path Canada, parts of Mexico, Argentina, all of columbia, virtually all of western europe with two exceptions, Israel, Republic of South Africa, and New Zealand have travelled in recognizing gay families under their law.
Rt. Rev. Dr. RES
Steve MD2 – thank you so much for joining your voices in support of same-sex marriage or marriage equality. My marriage licence is no different in content or intent than those of my parents in 1945 or my grandparents in 1890. In Canada, it was the support of the faith community that enabled our secularists to struggle in the courts and in the parliament to Royal Assent.
We have been partnered since 1976, and married since 2003 and we have one son.
Please understand some posters have never grown out of minority oppression and the ghettoization of both their minds and bodies. They fear assimilation for the spiritual and physical violence that still attends the “general culture”.
Minorities within minorities are more “down low” because there sometimes is a limit to how much oppression a human being can tolerate.
Keep your voices high and tell your story. Whether certain segments of the gay and lesbian community understand r accept straight support from family breeders ( I hate the term, because many gays and lesbians are breeders too,.,.)because it will be a key factor for liberation, like it is and was with us.
Old SF Friend
Oddly, Jill’s husband Alex grew up in San Francisco amongst an extremely liberal, gay-friendly set of family and friends… Not sure what happened to him frankly.