In a week that
has seen everyone from Ellen DeGeneres to Drew Barrymore
speak out against California's passing of Prop. 8 --
the ban on same-sex marriage -- MSNBC anchor Keith
Olbermann issued a passionate commentary on the
passing of Prop. 8, asking supporters, "Why does this
matter to you?"
Olbermann
promised last week that he would be issuing a "special
comment" on the passing of Prop. 8. Staying true to his
word, on his show last night, he prefaced his report
by saying that he has no personal stake in the issue
of same-sex marriage. He said he was even hard-pressed
to find one family member who is gay.
"To me,
this vote is horrible...horrible," Olbermann
said. "Because this isn't about yelling
and this isn't about politics. This is about the
human heart, and if that sounds corny, so be it."
Later in his
report, Olbermann pointed to the many times throughout
history in which America has had to redefine marriage in
accordance with achieving civil rights.
"I keep
hearing this term 'redefining marriage.' If
this country hadn't redefined marriage, black
people still couldn't marry white people.
Sixteen states had laws on the books which made that illegal
in 1967... 1967. The parents of the
president-elect of the United States could not have
married in nearly one third of the states in the
country their son grew up to lead."
Since Prop. 8
passed by a narrow majority last Tuesday, rallies have been
held around the state protesting the voters'
decision. On Saturday some 12,500 people marched
through Los Angeles's Silver Lake
district protesting the same-sex marriage ban. (The
Advocate)
