I can't find anything wrong with Mr. Keillor's comments. He used the word "stereotypical." Now we all now and love our stereotypical flamboyant friends. Are these really the people who should be raising children? Club-hopping, fashion-obsessed, finger snapping-individuals?
Some of the stereotypical behaviors in our culture are not desirable. You can look at any other culture as well and find stereotypical behaviors that are not good either. Are we supposed to pretend that stereotypical behaviors don't exist?

Garrison Keillor? Dont we have far more menacing enemies to get enraged about?

Mark - Yeah, stereotypical behaviors do exist, but Keillor seems to be insinuating that all gay men are like that, and that any of us allowed to have kids would show up to school plays wearing feather boas or in full Joan Crawford drag. He says that society has come to accept the stereotypical gay man. But most of the gay men I know aren't stereotypical queens. And for that matter, what about society accepting the gay men who don't act like that?

Oh... this reminds me... i have GOT to clean out my closet.......

I think he was trying to be funny - that is, making fun of people who believe that; also, saying that once you become a parent you become boring, etc. I don't think he was raggin on The Gays.

That said, it's sad that someone like Mark takes these remarks at face value. Like some straight dads aren't "famboyant" (whatever the hell that means). Or for that matter, that some gay dads can't leave the kids with the gramps and go out and shake it all night once in a while (I have friends with kids who - gasp - go to circuit parties and they're GREAT parents, thank you very much).

Anyway, Garrison Keiller is a boring old fart. I could nevver understand taht faux-cornpone crap he peddles but then I hateNPR for its self-satisifed, wishy-washy take on everything anyway, so what do I know?

"Now we all now and love our stereotypical flamboyant friends. Are these really the people who should be raising children?"

Why the hell not? How does wearing pohka dots disqualify one from raising a child?

Did anyone bother to read the article he wrote? He's also taking to task serial monogamist heteros, as well as the government, as well as poking fun at himself. Unless you're very familiar with Keillor's style, which is self deprecating and taking EVERYTHING under the sun with a grain of salt, don't condemn him. He's a satirist. Let's expend our energy on people who take what they're saying completely seriously, like Anne Coulter or George W. or any number of other hate mongers.

I'll sign this "A Boring Old Fart Who Loves NPR and Loves Garrison Keillor and Is a Huge Big Faggot!"

This is taken out of context. It's lame satire included in an essay called "Stating the Obvious." The essay is really about what's good for children. And it all statrts with a statement about the waste of US taxpayers' dollars on a frivolous pointless study conducted by the Dept of Education that revealed, among things things, that "going to art museums and looking at art is good for schoolchildren." I'll say it again: whatever happened to the gay talent for sensing irony? Does it shut off as soon as the word stereotype appears? I thought the Queerty staff were masters of ironic writing. Tell me you can't spot it in others' writing.

I agree with xlibris (who also has a delightful name) that the quotes were out of context -- the context being yet another lame attempt at folksy satire by GK. I don't think there's anything necessarily wrong with the "gay talent for sensing irony" -- it's just that the irony in the piece is so badly carried off it's not only hard to smell, it smells like something else altogether. That, and it's difficult to maintain a thick skin when fundies from the Three Major World Religions are saying similar stuff, just without the bad irony.

If what he said is so horrible than why are tickets for his shows advertised on this article??????????

The comment about flamboyance and loud clothes made me chuckle. He obviously never met my mother. She was a brunette with hair as red as Lucille Ball's. I remember her wearing chartreuse slacks and blouses that were as loud as a foghorn. I don't think standing in the background was in her playbook. Our relationship was always a bit iffy but we got on better than she did with my sister. Fortunately, we now live on the opposite sides of the Atlantic.

My closest friend is so stereotypical we laugh about it. He is also one of the best parents I've ever known. He took care of his sons from birth when his wife proved to be less maternally inclined than one might wish. He loves them and they love him.

Oh and Matt, four of the five Major Religions all say and do bad things to gay people. Talk to a gay person from a Hindu family and you will be surprised at how much like a fundie from Islam, Chrisitianity, or Judaism they sound.

Garrison Keillor does not take things seriously, including himself. That is one reason for his success.

The guy is a humourist, commentating on today's world.

I have not relied on "sound bites" to make a judgement, but have read his piece in Salon ... and I am not in the least offended.

His article was infact an observation of a school he visited during 'I Love Reading Week', comparing the kids with when he was in second grade.

Come on, what he wrote is FUNNY ... and a pretty good observation on today's society ...

"Under the old monogamous system, we didn't have the problem of apportioning Thanksgiving and Christmas among your mother and stepdad, your dad and his third wife, your mother-in-law and her boyfriend Hal, and your father-in-law and his boyfriend Chuck. Today, serial monogamy has stretched the extended family to the breaking point. A child can now grow up with eight or nine or 10 grandparents -- Gampa, Gammy, Goopa, Gumby, Papa, Poopsy, Goofy, Gaga and Chuck -- and need a program to keep track of the actors. "

OK, so I'm his age. But I'm gay, to boot.

There was nothing amusing about that article. Just another 50's nostolgist, who wishes everything would stay the same so he doens't have to feel old and left out. He's trashing gay marriage and ridiculing gay parents.

Is this article absolutely useless? Yes. Do I wish I could get back the minute I spent reading it? Indeed.

Paul, look again. He's self-deprecatingly MOCKING 50's nostalgia. Keillor describes and simultaneously pokes fun at the "marriage is all about the children" mentality by taking it to its logical conclusion that parents' feelings don't matter, which is HILLARIOUS>

From: An old gay guy
To: You, Dan Savage, and Andrew Sullivan

Three words:

Clueless. F*cking. Wonders.

I still love the guy, and as a Midwesterner, I suppose I have to.

I think his comments defining 'maleness' are misguided, but this is not a time for people to loose jobs; its an opportunity to begin a discussion.

And what a discussion with Mr. Keillor would be a wonderful one indeed.

"I hateNPR for its self-satisifed, wishy-washy take on everything anyway, so what do I know?"

I'm not alone!

Uh, this is a guy who, a few months ago weighed in on the Lutheran gay marriage debate, coming down on the side of the lesbian/gay community. Have you folks listened to Prairie Home Companion? Almost everything he talks about is lampooning American "values" that run counter to American ideals. This piece illustrates the ways in which people defend their erroneous opinions with stereotypes and simplications. All things considered, his take on parenting is delightfully twisted, filled with fathers who terrify their children while dressed as the Easter Bunny and the parents whose unfulfilled dreams are pressed upon their miserable children. He's no 1950's nostalgist, he's a progressive ironic thinker.

May I suggest some of you wander over to TMZ and Salon, and see what they're chatting about? Regardless of Mr. Keillor's intentions, the comment boards are full of hate and ignorance triggered by his column. And I mean some serious, nazi-level hate is coming out. I know that the internet exaggerates things, but still: If someone writes a satire, and all the thugs jump up and down and cheer "right on you give it to those fags," then the satire missed its mark. It's triggering hate.

And for that the bitch better stand up and apologize.