I am a fan of Ellen Degeneres. I consider her to be a beautiful, funny, smart person as well as a fabulous dancer. I would be delighted to have her as a friend.
She is openly gay. I support equal rights for gay people because, you know, rights are rights. And for this to be a truly free nation based on justice, we have to have equal rights for all people– gay and straight, because that’s what equal means.
And I am not just saying that because I like Ellen. I’d say that even if I didn’t think she was awesome. Which I do.
I mean, just because I don’t like someone or agree with how they live their lives doesn’t mean I get to dictate my opinions to them and deny them basic civil liberties.
For example, I do not agree with the way certain members of the group One Million Moms live their lives. They seem like a humorless bunch of bigots and I worry that they are raising their children to be humorless bigots, too, and my daughter and future grandchildren will have to interact with them.
But just because I don’t agree with their lifestyle– and think they should not be allowed to adopt kids because they will indoctrinate them with that lifestyle– doesn’t mean they aren’t entitled to the same rights as everyone else.
Sure, I wish they wouldn’t flaunt their mean-spirited choices in my face by influencing retailers to take a delicious and cleverly named flavor of ice cream off store shelves, but far be it for me to deny them freedom of speech as protected by the First Amendment.
But just as they have the right to speak, I have the right to do the opposite of anything they suggest. For example, I now plan to do much more of my shopping at J.C. Penney.
Not that I plan to abandon Macy’s because true love cannot be denied, but JCP, you won my respect today.
