Elizabeth Edwards
reiterated her support for same-sex marriage in a
speech Saturday in Sacramento, saying the idea that it
threatens heterosexual marriage is ''complete
nonsense.''
''I think that we
have undue fear of gay marriage,'' she said.
Edwards was
scheduled to address a prominent gay rights group in San
Francisco Saturday night. Earlier in the day, she said she
would discuss a Sacramento man who died after he was
attacked by people who mistakenly thought he was gay,
according to his friends.
The death of
Satendar Singh, 26, has galvanized Sacramento's gay
population and others who see it as an outgrowth of antigay
rhetoric coming from local evangelical Christian
Slavic churches.
Singh's friends
say the people who attacked him earlier this month
as he was leaving a picnic at Lake Natomas were speaking
Russian. Singh was punched once in the face and fell
backward, hitting his head. He died July 5 after four
days on life support.
Authorities are
investigating Singh's death as a possible hate crime.
At a Sacramento
news conference Saturday afternoon, Edwards said she
rewrote the speech she planned to give in San Francisco when
she learned of Singh's death.
As she campaigns
for her husband's presidential campaign in California,
Elizabeth Edwards has staked out an independent position on
gay rights.
She appeared last
month at a breakfast before San Francisco's gay pride
parade, where she announced her support for same-sex
marriage.
The next day, her
husband, John Edwards, said her position surprised even
him. The former North Carolina senator opposes same-sex
marriage but supports civil unions. (AP)
