Sometimes you just need a laugh, and anti-gay marriage bigots often provide the punchline. Right-y radio host Dennis Prager hit Larry King Live last night in a match up with Perez Hilton, who thanks to Miss California appears to be our only hope in explaining gay marriage to America. (This is not a positive development.)
Says Prager: “I would like children to be raised to believe that when they grow up they will get married. And that they are not asked when they are six or seven years old, ‘Will you marry a boy or a girl?’ I think there’s enough sexual confusion in the life of children not to add that. I want gays to have every right, however, redefining marriage is not called for.”
You know, because letting men marry men, or women marry women, somehow will start a nationwide quiz on children’s sexuality!
Meanwhile, listen to Prager explain why letting gays get married should not be compared to letting people of mixed races get married. It’s embarrassing.
How about we take this to the next level?
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Optomic
Perez’s head explodes at 2:20.
getreal
It is a testament to how far our country has come when anti-marriage advocates look radical.
Observer1000
I love how Denis Prager has been reduced to arguing with a person with a fake name about a beauty pageant!
Timmeeeyyy
1. It’s a sad day when Perez Hilton is the spokesperson for gay and lesbian civil rights issues. He’s not the brightest bulb in the pack.
2. Larry King continues to talk about making marriage a civil institution. It already is a civil institution. The state merely gives ministers (and boat captains) the power to perform a civil marriage.
3. Prager’s arguments about differences between men and women is quite strange. So does he believe that men and women should have different rights, responsibilities and access to the law because they are different?
Harrison
Who let this pig go on Larry King? He’s probably the last person I would have representing the gay community. But at least some PR person has spent the last couple days cleaning him up.
getreal
It is interesting how these conservatives all say they are all for gay rights they just don’t believe in marriage equality when just a few years ago they were completely against gay rights of any kind.
rogue dandelion
@getreal: It is also interesting that they argue against marriage, presenting civil unions as the alternative, when most states do not have anything approaching civil unions with full marriage rights, and many states have banned civil unions as well.
that guy’s argument that men and women have different legal rights with regard to different legal institutions is completely and demonstrably false.
getreal
@rogue dandelion: These men see know irony in defending separate but equal haven’t they ever heard of Brown vs Board of Education? There arguments are emotional talking points that don’t having any resonance and won’t hold up to legal scrutiny. Conservatives think this country is theirs and they are trying to stop yet another population from having a piece of the American dream because they don’t want to share. They are like children in the sandbox who don’t want to share their toys.
Hannah
I’m not a Perez Hilton fan at all, but why the hell is he answering these questions so much better than any other of our representatives on these CNN mini-debates? Solomonese needs to take notes.
P.S. I’m loving how they never discussed Miss USA past Perez Hilton’s intro of “judge” but the headline referred to the Miss USA crown.
Tony
I’m gay and I would rather listen to Prager discuss gay marriage than Perez. Sad statement that there isn’t someone better to speak for gays. It appears as if CNN is saying gay marriage is a joke so let’s have a joke talk about the issue.
Chitown Kev
@Hannah:
Yeah, I am kinda admiring Hilton. Sure he jad no business tossing the B-bomb or the c-bomb given his public persona but he’s not bad at answering the questions plus he can be a bit of a bitch. If he toned down the slurs and studied up a bit on the issues, I could see him as a spokesperson, though he”s not quite there yet. But he is willing to step up (admittedly, he may have his own personal motives behind that).
Chitown Kev
@Chitown Kev:
“He had no business”
Michael
I doubt many of you slamming Hilton actually watched the video…I was seriously surprised by Perez’s interview with Larry King. I def. consider him a pretty big jerk, but he made some very valid points and came across as well spoken. You can discount his validity as much as you want based on his background (a blog) but he reaches a VERY large percentage of our youth and is often the only exposer teens and young adults have to this issue. Do I say he is a great gay rights activist? No. But he is certainly doing more for the movement than any of us here writing comments. Hell, he is doing more than some of the other people out there being chosen to speak on national TV.
Alexa
@Hannah: I know, sucks doesn’t it? I loathe Perez, but he more than held his own there, and came across very well.
Lorenzo
Perez did a great job. The windbag bigots always get more air time. Civil Marriage is a Civil Right.
Kevin@BGFH
@getreal: It is interesting how these conservatives all say they are all for gay rights they just don’t believe in marriage equality when just a few years ago they were completely against gay rights of any kind.
I think you’re absolutely right, and it’s the most significant gay rights development of the decade. The shift is so dramatic, it’s a sea change in the way people think. And it backs themselves into a corner. It buys themselves a little time by making them seem reasonable and polite, but it also suggests the inevitability of progress.
Jon B
I generally can’t stand Perez, but I thought he did a great job. He certainly did better than Joey S. who always has this holier than thou look of smugness on his face and refuses to make any meaningful points. Gay advocates need to learn to get down in the dirt when they argue with bigots, and Perez is very well acquainted with dirt.
InExile
Kudos, Hats off to Perez Hilton!!! Thank you Perez for speaking out for all of us and doing it in an intelligent manner. Perez Hilton and Meghan McCain are doing a better job standing up for LGBT issues than our new administration! Perez for President!
Cookie Monster
Anyone commenting in favor of Perez has obviously not read any of the many articles using his actions as an example of how immoral and heterophobic gays are:
http://bit.ly/vrzrX
http://bit.ly/18rMSL
http://bit.ly/BYk9J
No matter how well he may have done on Larry King, Perez has been an embarrassment the gay community. Why make a hero of a fag who’s making us look bad?
Bruno
Solmonese comes off too tame, Perez is too much of a loose cannon…when are we gonna get a really great debater doing the rounds? Dan Savage wasn’t bad, maybe he needs to get a more consistent gig on one of these networks.
rick
dennis prager is a conservbative radio host because he FAILED on television.
Pete
@Chitown Kev: Yeah, that’s what I have a problem with, in addition to the fuckery that is his site: enough with the (misogynistic) slurs. Thankfully, he’s not trowing around homophobic slurs as he sometimes does, but his misogynistic bigotry needs to stop. Go after Ms. California’s homophobia–and general dipshittery–without bashing her gender.
I get that these slurs are common but it doesn’t make them right. Besides, how many of us hate being feminized because it’s seen as degrading? I keep thinking of all these boys who killed themselves for being considered “gay.” They were all mocked for being “girly.” Misogyny and homophobia go hand in hand.
Kid A
@Bruno: There are always going to be those with issues with Dan Savage, but he’s always on-message and effective when doing the pundit-thang
sparkle obama
perez hilton has made a lot of mistakes & i can’t condone him calling miss california bad names
but he is doing a good job here.
he is learning on the job & also blazing a trail for more articulate lgbt pundits.
i’m going to give him props & an A for effort.
no more calling people out of their name, tho.
i am going to try to stop calling people “trash”, my damn self.
gays can do better!
sal
bad divorce!!!!!!!!!!!!!now lets watch the congregation flee lol
sal
i mean ban lol
sal
if the father is beating up the mother,dont divorce!!!!follow our oh so wise friend,the home needs the two parents,male and female!!sounds like a perfect home to me!!lol
sal
oh and if one of the parents die,thats needs to be stopped!!God must bring that parent back to life cause the family needs two parents of the opposite sex!!so lets sue death,he’s ruining the “family” unit
sal
the point im tryin to make is that these christian leaders will never take on the majority of the population “sinful” ways(like divorce,gluttony,women equality etc)cause they know they will look out of touch with reality.
Alexa
@Cookie Monster: I don’t think anyone is making a hero out of Perez, most of us seem to be saying that we really don’t like him, but in this particular appearance he did well.
sal
..there are adoption centers filled with kids yet you have idiots like the Dugger family who pop kids out like its a jackpot ,with no thought of the resources their kids are gonna use!!!No flipin christian condemns em,or says hey u why not adopt!!??there are tons of kids who need homes NOWWWWWW!!!!!
John from England(used to be just John but there are other John's)
@ ALL
Perez was just…O.K.
Why can’t we expect more? Oh that’s right…why get intelligent gay democrats or GOP’s…
It’s just so easy to make us seem a certain way…
Perez seemed not made for a debate..sad because he’s love of Paris Hilton etc is so profound, great and sincere..
Motard
When Perez Hilton is the person to point out the fallacies in your argument, there’s something to be said that you’re not being taken particularly seriously anymore.
InExile
@Motard: Is Joe Salmonese taken seriously? WE have no one who is taken seriously!
Riandra
Are people seriously thinking Perez Hilton did well? I thought Dennis Praeger did all the talking and Perez babbled through it. It was almost embarrassing to see him. If people thought that Joe Solmonese was worse, I can only dread to think how his debate with Pat Buchanan went down.
P.S: Why bring the miscenegation laws, when you know the republican will say it’s not the same thing? Perez should have said “Hate is hate. You don’t choose to be gay, just like you don’t choose the color of your skin.”. Enough with the tradition this, tradition that rants.
J. Clarence
@Timmeeeyyy: I don’t like the fact that Perez is the spokesperson either, but at least he’s not had bad as what the social conservatives are putting up.
Jason
In his continued quest for fame Perez really made gay marriage look bad. He should have never agreed to be on Larry King. He certainly is aware that he is a gossip columnist (a bad one at that) and should have left debating to those who know what they are talking about. How about Keith Boykin? Joan Garry? Chad Allen? Mel White? I just pulled these off the top of my head. I’m sure producers at CNN could have found more qualified speakers to debate Prage. It makes me wonder if CNN purposely wanted Perez knowing he would be a weak link and not represent the issue well.
Kyle
I’m confused. Let me get this straight….Miss USA loses the crown because she honestly states her belief about marriage, yet, President Obama holds the same beliefs and he gets elected President. I recall that Perez Hilton was an Obama supporter. Explain to me why we elect a man to be president that doesn’t believe in gay marriage, but when a beauty queen states the same defintion of marriage as our president (who many gays elected) it causes such an uproar. What world are we living in that a beauty queen’s statements cause more of an uproar amongst GLBT individuals than what our President says on the same topic? These are frightening times we live in.
scott ny'er
wow. Perez lost a lot of weight.
i think he did a decent job. Kudos to him. As long as he didn’t look like an idiot, I’m behind him. Well, not in that way. Ewwww. Not my type.
Motard
@InExile:
I like to think that between Ellen, Rachel, and Anderson, we’re reasonably covered.
Now someone just needs to phone Elton, Rupert and Rosie before they open their pieholes again.
NewYorkness
Best line was at the end when they both agree that “it is okay for men to be with men”….hahaha….quick catch PH!
William Just
Dennis trots out the ol’ “well we outnumber ’em argument. we’re 97% and they’re only 3%!”… as if that should mean that the 3% shouldn’t have any rights because it’s such a small number.
God I hope the California Supreme Court does its duty and protects our constitutional rights!
john
Perez did a very good job, I think. I got totally lost with the other guy.
John K.
@Tony: I don’t really like Perez, but he destroyed Prager in this clip.
vchanpe
In any future state election involving gay marriage….it is the “swing voters” that will make or break the proposition. I have a feeling that the Utube video clip of Perez Hilton calling Miss California a “Dumb B*tch” and the Utube video clip of Perez Hilton retracting his earlier apology will be played over and over again on Television just prior to election day. This is exactly what happened in California on proposition 8. A video tape of a gloating Galvin Newson was played over and over again in California which had a huge impact on propostion 8. Perez Hilton is probably not smart enough to realize this. His ego and his need for publicity will simply play into the hands of the Christian Conservatives on election day.
Chachi
Sorry,
Perez is a total idiot. If he speaks for your cause then you have more than failed. Also, gay marriage is immoral, unethical and illogical and will not be allowed.
You will fail….
Skippy
Perez is a complete and total idiot. It really says something when both Conservatives AND GLBT activists hate him. It seems like the only people that actually like him are 14 year old Myspace whores who kissed a girl and liked it and now think they’re bisexual. And hipsters.
Besides, new research suggests that Homosexuality, like gay marriage, is something that humans invented rather than being genetically prevalent or present in any Constitution or culture for the former.