tolerant intolerance

Joe Scarborough: Let Gays Get Married, Just Not In My State

Former Florida congressman Joe Scarborough has been called many things in his career. Most recently, Christopher Buckley called him the new face of the Republican Party. If that were even remotely true, would having the Morning Joe host indirectly in charge of the GOP be an okay thing for gays?

Yes! And: no.

You’ll get the idea from this clip that Joe doesn’t hate the idea of gay marriage. He doesn’t care if two gay guys get married “in Vermont,” because that doesn’t affect his marriage in Florida. But when Chris Matthews quizzes him on whether he’d be okay with two gay guys marrying in Florida, Joe is suddenly a bit squeamish.

This is not a terribly unique opinion. “Not in my backyard” can be applied to anyone looking to seem progressive, whether they’re pro-prisons or pro-halfway houses, just so long as they’re in someone else’s neighborhood.

But it’s just Joe’s stance that marriage equality is a “social issue” that should be regulated by the states — and not an equal rights mandate deserving of federal declarations — that will forever keep him in history’s Intolerant column.

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