Health Promo 03 (Getty) | Advocate.com
||  News  ||
 
October 02, 2008

Palin: My Gay Friend "Made a Choice I Would Not Have Made"

Palin: My Gay Friend

For weeks vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin has repeatedly alluded to having many "gay friends" in interviews, even though gay and lesbian residents of Wasilla, Alaska, the small town where Palin once served as mayor, have suggested the governor has been less than supportive when it comes to gay rights.

But Tuesday night, in a second interview with CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric, Palin elaborated on the friend she’s so often referred to -- a woman she says she’s been close with for 30 years.

Palin sat down with Couric to discuss, among other things, her conservative stance on several social issues. When talk turned to a church that Palin has frequented sponsoring a conference promoting the "conversion" of gays and lesbians to heterosexuality through prayer, the maverick Republican turned defensive.

“I don’t know what prayers are worthy of being prayed, and I don’t know what prayers are going to be answered, but as for homosexuality, I am not going to judge Americans and the decisions that they make in their adult personal lives.”

Palin suggested the press "got it wrong" when they implied she supported the church's beliefs.

Later, despite acknowledging that one of her best friends is a lesbian, Palin went on to suggest that she believes homosexuality is a choice.

“One of my absolute best friends for the past 30 years happens to be gay ... I love her dearly. She is not my gay friend -- she is one of my best friends. She happens to have made a choice that isn’t a choice that I would have made.”

In talking with Couric as she gears up for her debate with Democratic vice-presidential nominee Joe Biden, Palin further clarified her position on abortion. Though she says she strongly believes in counseling young women to choose life, she says jailing a woman for choosing abortion is “not something I would ever support.”

Palin also said that because she believes life begins at conception, she takes issue with the morning-after pill as a form of birth prevention. (Ross von Metzke, The Advocate)

Keywords:  2008 Election 
Related stories from Advocate.com

Reader Comments

These comments are reproduced as written by visitors to this Web site. They have not been edited for content, grammar, or spelling. The viewpoints appearing here are those of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect the opinion or views of advocate.com, The Advocate, or its affiliates.

  • Name: lisa swafford
    Date posted: 2008-10-24 9:17 PM
    Hometown: st louis

    Comment:

    what an angry group of people you are....I guess we're entitled to be just as angry as the straight crowd. I supported Obama for senator of IL and hoped to support him for president some day, but I don't think he's ready for this yet, or at least I don't feel that he's had enough experience for this position. Yes, he's an attractive, well educated black man, but that's not enough for me. I'm not telling you to not support him, but take the high road and do it in a better, more intelligent way if you want to get the respect of others.


  • Name: John D Burke
    Date posted: 2008-10-23 2:21 PM
    Hometown: St.Louis

    Comment:

    Sarah Palin is truely and IDIOT! She is an ignorat, uninformed,backwoods ..." Is she serouslsly still believing that being gay is a choice? Prayer changes many things but not skin color, eye color, hair color OR sexual orienetation. She does not know the US Constitution. Back to 3rd grade Barbie, learn the differences between the Executive, Judicial and Legistalitive branches of this govenrment. She seriously believes that as V.P. that she will be in charge of the Senate!!! We simply cannot have this woman who shoots Moose for sport in office.


  • Name: The Threshold
    Date posted: 2008-10-06 12:26 PM
    Hometown: USA (Orig. Europe)

    Comment:

    To John and Richard, I personally think that the concept of anti-abortionism would quickly end with the conservative base if a gay gene was found. I don't think thye'd have a problem overlooking abortion when it comes to GLB fetuses. This is because conservatives are two-faced and their precious bible still tells them that GLB people are an abomination, Sure conservatives had children who are deformed, retarded, etc. in the past, but I bet if the chance to abort had been available thye'd be the first in line, because they are always the first to judge and alienate those not like them. These are the same people who laugh at people with deformities even though they were born that way and make retard jokes all the hile claiming they are so much for human rights. Liberals are for human rights and not conservatives. How many conservatives care about genocide and even if they claim to will they do anything about it. Conservatives only care about issues insofar as their religion goes.


  • Name: The Threshold
    Date posted: 2008-10-06 12:15 PM
    Hometown: USA (Orig. Europe)

    Comment:

    I don't think personally that any educated, independant women would simply vote for Palin because she's a woman contrary to popular belief. Yes some women voted for Hillary because she's a woman, but she's not conservative, it's a different matter entirely. I voted for Obama during the primaries and not Hillary. I think he can bring more change to the table. I don't know why some people are so surprised Palin's not for GLBT Rights entirely she's a conservative what do you expect. None of the nominees are not even Obama and Joe Biden. They don't want to anger middle America, which is a huge portion of America I might add. To candidate who wants to win will ever be completely on the side of GLBT rights, but one step farther is better than no steps alot or one step backward.


  • Name: The Threshold
    Date posted: 2008-10-06 12:08 PM
    Hometown: USA (Ori. Europe)

    Comment:

    As far as I'm concerned Joe Biden wiped the floor with Sarah Palin in the Vice Presidential Debate. Her own performance proved that she is not ready to be a Vice Presidential nominee. She seemed more like she was putting on a show for the cameras. Did you happen to notice those winks he put in every now and then. She didn't seem like she was using her own words and sge didn't know enough about the facts. Whenever she was asked a hard question she ignored it. Which is why it's so ironic that she stated towards the end that she likes answering tough questions. That was a real laugh.


  • Name: Carole
    Date posted: 2008-10-02 7:55 PM
    Hometown: MO

    Comment:

    Thanks to Anthony Newsome from Dublin, Ireland for his comments. They should be on the front page of every newspaper in America!


  • Name: Toolie
    Date posted: 2008-10-02 4:16 PM
    Hometown: Atlanta

    Comment:

    Why, oh why, would ANY gay person be Palin's friend? Must be a Log Cabiner.


  • Name: Lindon Pearson
    Date posted: 2008-10-02 3:59 PM
    Hometown: Atlanta

    Comment:

    This lady is psycho and has the straight "backwoods" mentality and SHE IS NOT GOING TO CHANGE. We cannot let these clowns run our country.


  • Name: anthony newsome
    Date posted: 2008-10-02 2:33 PM
    Hometown: dublin

    Comment:

    reading through the comments already submitted, its good to see that gay people in the US are against her, and glad tidings can be had in knowing that Palin is getting a hard time from republicans, in a poll of people in europe today the majority which means 99.99.99% would vote for Obama, Europeans would also not vote for Palin, here in Ireland people see that Obama would get america back on track, it's econemy, employment, security and standing on world affairs, John Kerry should have won the election last time and we all know that Gore did win, Palin has ideas which would create very serious problems in the USA and impact negitively within world affairs, regardless of her gender, Palin is a danger to the fundemental rights of people, banning books, perhaps even burning books, get out and use your vote on November 4th, anto


  • Name: Roger Burr
    Date posted: 2008-10-02 1:17 PM
    Hometown: Marble Hill, MO

    Comment:

    Thank you Darren Collins of Toronto, for your most insightful comments. You are certainly right in wanting the last eight years of right-wing tyranny to come to an end. In the unhappy event John McCain IS elected; please save me a place in Toronto, since life in THIS country will have ceased to be worth living.


  • Name: Wallace
    Date posted: 2008-10-02 1:12 PM
    Hometown: Baltimore

    Comment:

    It is always funny when straight people say that gay people "chose" to be gay...I always ask them at what point in their lives did the stop considering being gay, and decided to commit to being straight? Who was the person that had you in such a state of confusion?


  • Name: carol
    Date posted: 2008-10-02 1:07 PM
    Hometown: MO

    Comment:

    If an educated (supposedly) person still can not understand that GLBT is not a choice, as S. Palin does, she really shouldn't be running for anything in American Politics, let alone a VP position. At least understand human beings before you try to lead them in any capacity. We need a complete change in education and what our country stands for with its Constitution, and start by excluding extremists beliefs in religion that bring disparages to our citizens, through laws being instituted by some of our states in our Union of America. Obama stands for change in the way our government has been leading us. I hope this blight on our country of the past eight years will be extinguished under another administration.


  • Name: john
    Date posted: 2008-10-02 1:27 AM
    Hometown: Spokane Wa

    Comment:

    I think Richard Davis brings up a very legitimate point that if a gay gene is ever identified ,unborn LGBT people could be subject to some "sexual orientation cleansing". The democratic position of choice could aid , foster, and protect this action.


  • Name: Darren Collins
    Date posted: 2008-10-01 9:06 PM
    Hometown: Toronto

    Comment:

    I can't wait to see her in the Debate tomorrow. You will not be able to write that kind of comedy ever. I'm Canadian and have choosen to watch your V.P. debate over our party leaders debate. There has to be a way to make what Palin says into a drinking game. Cheers my cousins and lets hope to end the 8 years and look forward to the future.


  • Name: Marc
    Date posted: 2008-10-01 8:04 PM
    Hometown: Woombye, Queensland

    Comment:

    I would like the he governor to tell us the exact day she made the decision to be straight! How did you arrive at the decision Governor? If she can, then she's one up on me since I don't remember 'making the decision' to be gay.


  • Name: Granny
    Date posted: 2008-10-01 7:16 PM
    Hometown: Menifee, CA

    Comment:

    I was raised in a very religious family I never even heard the word "gay" until I was in my late teens. I was dating a young man but somehow I could not or would not set a wedding date. Then I found out I had a crush on one of my girlfriends. I never acted upon it but never got married either. Then it happened, I feel hook, line and sinker for a beautiful woman. We lived together for 12 years and in those 12 years I went through emotional hell trying to hide my sexuality from friends and relatives. After we broke up I lived with one other person for 30 years, still hiding in the closet (I thought). When my mother died, my brother asked me if I was gay and I admitted it. He told me he accepted it but didn't understand it. It took me long enough to realize that I was born gay.


  • Name: Tony Myers
    Date posted: 2008-10-01 5:50 PM
    Hometown: NYC

    Comment:

    Is this a choice that she WOULD NOT make or COULD NOT make? Evidently, for Ms. Palin, the American value of being true to one's self is not an ideal she shares. The obstinacy of gays and lesbians with not choosing to push back their real feelings and sucking it up for a lifetime of conformity is the real reason for the states of their lives. It is meaningless whether or not this will result in more broken homes (divorces, etc), higher rates of suicide and stress, egregious acts of violence and selective treatment. Any discrimination that gays SUFFER (sorry change that to EXPERIENCE; a less loaded word) are a direct result of the choices that they have made, consequently, why on earth would they be deserving of Life, Liberty or the pursuit of Happiness. Only special interest groups would dare to aspire to such an outmoded American Dream.


  • Name: Tony Myers
    Date posted: 2008-10-01 5:50 PM
    Hometown: NYC

    Comment:

    Is this a choice that she WOULD NOT make or COULD NOT make? Evidently, for Ms. Palin, the American value of being true to one's self is not an ideal she shares. The obstinacy of gays and lesbians with not choosing to push back their real feelings and sucking it up for a lifetime of conformity is the real reason for the states of their lives. It is meaningless whether or not this will result in more broken homes (divorces, etc), higher rates of suicide and stress, egregious acts of violence and selective treatment. Any discrimination that gays SUFFER (sorry change that to EXPERIENCE; a less loaded word) are a direct result of the choices that they have made, consequently, why on earth would they be deserving of Life, Liberty or the pursuit of Happiness. Only special interest groups would dare to aspire to such an outmoded American Dream.


  • Name: Anna
    Date posted: 2008-10-01 4:48 PM
    Hometown: Los Angeles, CA

    Comment:

    Tell Sarah Palin to tell the Skinheads and all those that wish to pray upon lawabiding LGBT citizens not to intrude upon the "personal" choices of adult americans. Who choses a lifestyle where you never know if someone is your friend or enemy. Where violence is more likely to happen to you if your at a gay event. Unfortunately unless her friend suffers some unplesant incident - Sarah Palin will never be a friend of gays


  • Name: Roger Burr
    Date posted: 2008-10-01 4:23 PM
    Hometown: Marble Hill, MO

    Comment:

    In ONE sense, I look forward to the day when a 'gay' gene is identified. That alone will render moot all the 'nature-vs-nurture' arguments about ones sexuality. With such scientific PROOF that sexual orientation is NOT a choice, the breeders will have no option but to grant us FULL equality.


  • Name: Sarah's Secret Lover
    Date posted: 2008-10-01 3:52 PM
    Hometown: Sapphos, Greece

    Comment:

    So, basically, she's saying that while she HAS lesbian feelings, she's CHOSEN not to act on them. How interesting!


  • Name: Art M.
    Date posted: 2008-10-01 3:49 PM
    Hometown: SFCAUSA

    Comment:

    No, Richard Davis, I will NOT give this Republican whore a break. She's said that she thinks homosexuality is a choice, and it's a choice she would NOT have made. That means homosexuals chose WRONG, and you don't think this REPUBLICAN - who has taken the Republican oath to support the party's platform like every OTHER Republican holding political office, and whose platform quite clearly is ANTI-GAY. You can't argue with that, because it's the truth. Why ANY gay person would listen, believe or support anything that comes out of a Republican's mouth is beyond reason or logic. If you believe and support what this bitch is saying, you're supporting your own doom. AND - remember, if they can determine the sexuality of a child in the uterus, SO CAN WE. Let US start aborting straight fetuses and see how THEY like it!


  • Name: Richard Davis
    Date posted: 2008-10-01 3:35 PM
    Hometown: Las Vegas, NV

    Comment:

    C'mon, give Sarah a break. She said as clearly as possible: "I am not going to judge Americans and the decisions that they make in their adult personal lives." Whatever her personal opinions, she has said she isn't going to base her public policy decisions on her religious faith. As for her stance on abortion, I think gay men, lesbians and transsexuals should wake up to the fact that our very right to exist is on a collision course with a woman's right to choose. As medical science advances to the point of being able to detect the sexual orientation of a fetus in the womb, how many little gay boys and lesbian girls do you seriously think are ever going to see the light of day? Right-wing pro-lifers like Palin may, ironically, turn out to be defending the GLBT community from the moment of conception!


  • Name: Deb
    Date posted: 2008-10-01 3:11 PM
    Hometown: Los Angeles, CA

    Comment:

    Her imaginary 'gay friend' sits on her left shoulder during interviews and whispers answers to difficult questions in her ear. It's all her fault, those ignorant answers. Truly...palin is a neanderthal and a liar. Help send her home to Alaska and into the arms of her 'choosey' lesbian sidekick. VOTE!!!


  • Name: Matt
    Date posted: 2008-10-01 2:47 PM
    Hometown: Nashville, TN

    Comment:

    Wow, I feel sorry for her "friend". With friends like Sarah Palin, who needs ememies!


  • Name: Bob
    Date posted: 2008-10-01 2:47 PM
    Hometown: Pittsburgh PA

    Comment:

    Alas, the only real "choice" that is being made by Sarah is HER OWN CHOICE to be uneducated, ignorant of reality, a hypocritical Christian, and an ill prepared politician that would be one burst blood vessel away from being the leader of the most powerful country in the world. Bubba Gump couldn't have said it any better when he described "stupid".


  • Name: Andrew
    Date posted: 2008-10-01 2:39 PM
    Hometown: Columbia, MO

    Comment:

    Being gay is a choice just like we have a choice just like Sarah's choice to wear snazzy glasses (which everyone will get a free pair of frames if she becomes vice-President). I especially like the fact how many choices we have in the grocery stores. Alaska is the reason we have so many choices. Alaska is a great place to take a cruise. I'm not sure if they have gay cruises though. Anyway, being gay is a choice only if you are from Alaska. Everywhere else it is not a choice unless you want it to be. OK?


  • Name: Dan
    Date posted: 2008-10-01 2:35 PM
    Hometown: Portland

    Comment:

    Honestly, I don't even know why these people try to explain their thoughts on being gay. As a person who has heard the phrase "that's your choice" from friends, employers, family members, and from the church that I used to attend, I've found that more often than not it's the preamble to something far more sinister... namely the metamorphasis of homophobia into it's newest and most politically correct form. I say to Sarah Palin what I've said to bosses, co-workers, church members, and family for over 10 years now: "Take your choices and shove it."


  • Name: Pete
    Date posted: 2008-10-01 2:29 PM
    Hometown: Studio City, California

    Comment:

    I saw this interview, and Palin was as pathetic as ever. She acted ever so progressive in saying that she didn't condemn her gay friend (perhaps an imaginary one) for the "choice" that person made. As a gay person, I don't want to waste any more of my time even thinking about McCain or Palin. I already know they are not my friends. And Log Cabin Republicans must surely know that also!


  • Name: Roger Burr
    Date posted: 2008-10-01 1:02 PM
    Hometown: Marble Hill, MO

    Comment:

    Just a passing thought... Let's not overlook the possibility that this 'gay friend' may exist only in Palins imagination. She and her running mate have told, and been caught in, one lie after another. This may all simply be a 'sop' to the LGBT community whose support from the Log Cabin know-nothings; she is trying to court.


  • Name: Mark
    Date posted: 2008-10-01 12:58 PM
    Hometown: Seattle

    Comment:

    And we will choose not to vote for Sarah Palin just like she "chose" her heterosexuality. That way we won't have more of this stone-age fairytale thinking in the highest office of the land. It's NOT mainstream.


  • Name: Roger Burr
    Date posted: 2008-10-01 12:51 PM
    Hometown: Marble Hill, MO

    Comment:

    Here we go with 'Choice', again. When are these idiots going to learn that being gay/lesbian is NOT a choice??!! I never made a conscious decision to be gay, any more than my hererosexual siblings chose to be straight. It is this whole concept of 'choice' that gives fuel to the bigots fire; encouraging them to think that all we LGBT people need to do is 'choose' to change, and we'll be 'cured'. WAKE UP, AMERICA... Being gay or lesbian is not a life 'style'; it's a LIFE!!!!


  • Name: Tami
    Date posted: 2008-10-01 12:24 PM
    Hometown: Greenville SC

    Comment:

    As an american voting for Obama I am amused and happy at her total inability to articulate her opinion on anything. As a Gay person I am happy that she has a gay friend - even though she doesn't understand the ins and outs - which is apparently no different than any other topic! It could and should make for some great political debating Thursday night between her and Biden. I really hope it makes the talk ticket somehow. I also hope her friend calls her up and gives her hell!!


  • Name: Anthony
    Date posted: 2008-10-01 12:22 PM
    Hometown: West Chester, PA

    Comment:

    I don't care what Governor Palin said in the Couric interview. I still don't believe she has a gay friend. Let alone a female lesbian friend. The views she holds doesn't line up with the mind of an open minded person. She just keeps talking about her so called friend because she is thinking of her own political future and she doesn't want to come off as a member of the far right wing.


  • Name: Mike Canada
    Date posted: 2008-10-01 12:14 PM
    Hometown: Wasilla Alaska

    Comment:

    I’ve made my home here in Wasilla for a few years now, and I understand how some individuals would do not want to be the center of attention in the national media (I certainly wouldn’t), but if I where Palin’s ‘Best Friend’ I would certainly have made it QUITE clear to her that being homosexual is NOT a choice. I would be very offended (yet still stand with my friend) at this statement that Palin has made to the press. I hope that whoever this individual happens to be will or would have already done this.


  • Name: Bob
    Date posted: 2008-10-01 12:09 PM
    Hometown: New Jersey

    Comment:

    Let's not pretend that Sarah Palin's ignorant remark about homosexuality being a "choice" is somehow unique to her and conservatives who "don't know any better". There are plenty of liberal Democrat heterosexuals out there suffering from the same appalling ignorance about gay people. Has our society--- and particularly--- "the media" failed to properly educate the American people about homosexuality? You betcha. Big time. We have hardly made a dent toward ending the stigma and stereotyping of gay Americans.


  • Name: Joe
    Date posted: 2008-10-01 12:06 PM
    Hometown: Fort Worth

    Comment:

    Is Palin's gay friend like Stephen Colbert's black friend? Someone who thinks you choose to be gay is no friend. Don't be enablers with these people - be civil, but don't give them the idea that you are friends.


  • Name: Marcie Bianco
    Date posted: 2008-10-01 12:02 PM
    Hometown: highland park

    Comment:

    Good for Ms. Palin. This seems to be the smartest thing she's ever said. As humans, we libidinally cathect to a range of things, and, based on how those connections make us feel, we establish preferences. Ergo I prefer to be sexually intimate with women. One's sexual preferences are an ethic (in the Spinozist sense, of course).


  • Name: Tom Privitere
    Date posted: 2008-10-01 11:59 AM
    Hometown: Rochester, New York

    Comment:

    Why do we, as lgbt Americans, rise to the bait everytime some backwoods neanderthal voices an opinion which is clearly so pre "9/11". There were gay firemen; policemen; citizens and heroes who responded to the worst crises to hit our country since Pearl Harbor. Our lgbt men and women have died in Iraq and countless other battles for freedoms denied us. I refuse to dignify Palins pandering by legitimizing her "friendship of choice". If she were a real friend to this lesbian, she'd be marching in the streets with us during PRIDE WEEK. Can anybody in Alaska tell me what Sara does to publicly decry homophobia?


  • Name: Eric
    Date posted: 2008-10-01 11:30 AM
    Hometown: Carlson

    Comment:

    It would be nice if the writer of this article used proper English - embarrassing.


  • Name: Jen
    Date posted: 2008-10-01 11:12 AM
    Hometown: New york

    Comment:

    I dont understand why some people are so close minded. Not a day goes by that I ask my self why do i feel the way i do? Alot of it has to do with how society and the church as viewed gays and lesbians. I have and still keep trying to be something I am not. I just wish our political leaders would just open their minds and see that we are all human beings just like them.


  • Name: david greene
    Date posted: 2008-10-01 10:33 AM
    Hometown: Canton Ohio

    Comment:

    I didn't CHOOSE to be gay, but if I could have I WOULD HAVE!! What I did choose, was to marry a woman that knew I was gay, chose to have three biological children. I chose to raise them, feed them, clothe them, shelter them. I chose to put their lives before mine. I don't regret that. Twenty five years later, I CHOSE to divorce and be who I never chose to be. I am what I am. Amen Alleluiah. Thank you Jesus! See you in heaven.


  • Name: Anthony
    Date posted: 2008-10-01 9:59 AM
    Hometown: Chicago

    Comment:

    I'm a gay, once married man. Why would I choose to put myself, my wife, my children and family through HELL to come out. The only thing I chose was to be the real person I am and not what the church and society dictate. Why don't you go back to Alaska Palin and go shoot a moose!


  • Name: Ginelle
    Date posted: 2008-10-01 8:48 AM
    Hometown: British Columbia

    Comment:

    When are some people, some politicians included, going to wake up and accept the fact that being gay IS NOT A CHOICE just as being straight IS NOT A CHOICE. People may desparately try and control their feelings and attractions through unatural self control or the use of religious beliefs, but the fact remains you are who you are. Any attempt to suppress the realities of oneself only leads to a life of pain, heartache and loathing of one's natural being.


  • Name: Tupper
    Date posted: 2008-10-01 8:29 AM
    Hometown: Charleston

    Comment:

    I want to see an interview with Sarah Palin's gay friend to see her reaction to Palin's ridiculous statements. Just proves that religious extremism continues to unfold in this country in the name of all that is "straight". We also need to drop the "straight" monicker because of the implication of not being "straight" is bad.


  • Name: clynn
    Date posted: 2008-10-01 3:39 AM
    Hometown: Ireland

    Comment:

    So to be gay is a choice and Palin is not going to '"judge Americans and the decisions that they make in their adult personal lives.”' does this mean that she will support Gay rights if she is vice president? Or will she just ignore this 'choice' and continue leaving homosexual American Couples with less rights than heterosexual couples, who must have also made a conscious 'choice' to be straight. This is incredibly homophobic and ignorant. If I was Palin's best friend (who happens to be gay, out of choice of course) I would be disguisted first of all that I am being used as an example in a political campaign and also because my 'best friend' obviously doesn't understand me at all! disguisting.


  • Name: David Strand
    Date posted: 2008-10-01 2:24 AM
    Hometown: Minneapolis

    Comment:

    So just when did Sarah make the choice to be to be straight? Granted I find her husband actually quite a hunk. I think we should proclaim that she came out as a straight identified bisexual woman because after all if it is in reality a simple matter of "choice" for her then she clearly is bisexual because she has the capacity to choose to be with a woman! Of course I'm not quite sure she understands that. Though it would certainly be interesting to see her do a casual interview on something like Ellen and see just how much of a "choice" and how "unjudgemental" she really thinks it is. If it's simply a choice she can change! Certainly there's gotta be some women out there with the right stuff to take down Sarah's hair and bring her "around" for the cause(I mean if it's simply a choice for Sarah) though the tough partin finding that woman before the election is it would probably help if she could also dress a moose.


Back to top

Submit a comment for this story:

*Type your comment here (Required, 1000 characters max.):

*Name (Required): 

*Hometown (Required): 

*E-mail address: (Required, but will not be displayed)

Is this comment for publication? 
Yes   No

Daytime phone number: (Required for print publication only and will not be displayed)

Please enter the words you see in the box, in order and separated by a space. Doing so helps prevent automated programs from abusing this service.

  

If you would like to submit a comment for posting, please fill out the form above. 

All comments submitted via this form are subject to posting or publication. (To send a private letter to an Advocate editor or writer, please use the e-mail button at the top of the page, or use snail mail.) If you would like your comment considered for publication in The Advocate magazine, please include your full name, your city of residence, and a phone number where you can be reached during business hours so that we can confirm your identity. Your e-mail address and telephone number are strictly confidential and will not be shared or used for any purpose other than to contact you about your comment.

See the Contact page for sending comments for reasons other than responding to Advocate editorial and news stories.

Please note that comments sent by fax or snail mail are unlikely to be posted, although they will be considered for publication along with all letters received via e-mail or via this Web page. Comments that chiefly concern Advocate.com content will be considered for posting only on the Web site. The Advocate reserves the right to edit submitted comments for grammar, spelling, obscenities, or libel; we will, however, do our best to preserve the original comment's style and intent. Comments considered for publication in The Advocate magazine may also be edited for length.

More Exclusives
  • Letter From the Editor
    We’d like to unveil a big change: after nearly four decades as a biweekly magazine, we’re going monthly.
  • Parental Control
    San Francisco State researcher Caitlin Ryan explains the importance behind a study linking suicide and drug use among gay children to parental rejection.
  • Austerity Chic
    How novelist and performance artist Mike Albo gets by in lean times.
  • Hoping to "Wu" Michelle
    Dressing Michelle Obama in November was a game changer for designer Jason Wu. Now he has his sights set on the future first lady’s most high-profile event: Inauguration Day.
  • Boi From Troy Signs Off
    After five years of raising eyebrows on the Web, Boi From Troy blogger -- and gay Republican -- Scott Schmidt is signing off.
  • A Desert Journey
    The Mii Amo spa in Sedona, Ariz., is famous for packages designed to lead people through a spiritual as well as physical transformation. One writer relinquishes herself to the journey and recounts her days in one of the world's most beautiful destination resorts.
  • A List: Chris Evans
    Chris Evans is a serious actor but that doesn’t mean he wants you to stop objectifying him.
  • Great American Couple
    In an exclusive excerpt from his new book, Hollywood Bohemians: Transgressive Sexuality and the Selling of the Movieland Dream, Brett L. Abrams explores the relationship between Cary Grant and Randolph Scott, who led homosexual lives right under everyone's nose.
  • Mormons Gone Wild
    After one man undresses missionaries for his calendar, LDS Church–owned Brigham Young University strips him of his degree.
  • Constructive Impatience
    Stung by the Warren decision, GLAAD's former executive director Joan Garry offers the Obama transition team some sage advice.
  • Boxer Goes Trans for Eli Stone
    Often perceived as male by confused casting agents, boxer-body builder turned actor Dallas Malloy felt a deep connection to the trans minister she plays on Eli Stone.
  • Mamma Mia! Rises Again
    Meryl Streep and company managed to top Harry Potter and Titanic at the U.K. box office, and now Mamma Mia! is poised to break similar records on DVD. Director Phyllida Lloyd talked to Advocate.com about bringing one of the biggest musicals of all time to the big screen.
  • The Other White Meat
    As one of the subjects of the documentary about the drag pageant circuit, Pageant, opening in select theaters, and one of the contestants on RuPaul's Drag Race, premiering next month on Logo, Victoria "Porkchop" Parker may not look or act like your typical female impersonator, but make no mistake, she is one of the best.
  • The Religious Defense
    In an excerpt from her new book, Bulletproof Faith: A Spiritual Survival Guide for Gay and Lesbian Christians, author Candace Chellew-Hodge incorporates the wisdom of Xena: Warrior Princess to illustrate her theories as to how gay and lesbian people of faith can protect themselves from those who attack their views.
  • Photo Finish
    Did Prop. 8 backlash cause art censorship -- or its reversal -- at Brigham Young University? Could be, as BYU photography student J. Michael Wiltbank found when his contribution to a two-week-long art exhibition -- eight pairs of benign portraits, each depicting an LGBT-identified BYU student alongside a supportive friend -- had been removed.
  • The Divine Miss M.
    Since the death of performer Wayland Flowers in 1988, his over-the-top puppet creation Madame has been seen only sporadically. But with the launch of her new casino tour, Madame is back.
  • Whither NLGJA?
    The leading professional organization for LGBT journalists is facing a crisis that threatens its very survival. In a changing media landscape and a tough economy, how does a small nonprofit live up to its mission and retain members?
  • The Road to Equality
    Barbara Boxer, the U.S. senator from California, understands why her gay constituents are furious over Rick Warren's role in the inauguration -- it feels like Proposition 8 redux.