By Peter J. Smith
WASHINGTON, D.C., March 7, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards has asked supporters for $100,000 in “Coulter cash” to “fight back against the politics of bigotry” after the conservative commenter described Edwards’ as a “faggot.” However the Edwards campaign itself has perpetuated the politics of bigotry – namely against Catholics and ex-gays.
The brouhaha over the “homophobic slur” began when the provocative Ann Coulter made a joke about John Edwards at Friday’s Conservative Political Action Conference.
“I was going to have a few comments on the other Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards, but it turns out you have to go into rehab if you use the word ‘faggot,’ so I – so kind of an impasse, can’t really talk about Edwards” said the conservative commenter, making a reference to the decision by Isaiah Washington to check himself in rehab after calling another actor a “faggot.”
Republican candidates almost immediately responded to distance themselves from Ann Coulter after Democrats insisted they denounce her to show they were not anti-homosexual bigots.
“C’mon, it was a joke,” Coulter told the New York Times. “I would never insult gays by suggesting that they are like John Edwards. That would be mean.”
However, regardless of whether or not Coulter made a botched joke, Edwards’ campaign deliberately hired two staff members with a history of vitriolic hate-speech against Catholics and ex-gays: Melissa McEwan as Netroots Coordinator and Amanda Marcotte as Blogmaster,
“It is hypocritical of Sen. Edwards to criticize Ann Coulter for her remarks when he hired a campaign worker who used hate speech and foul language to describe ex-gays,” said Regina Griggs, executive director of Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays & Gays (PFOX). “Coulter’s use of language in a joke was over the top, but so was the conduct of Edwards’ staff member.”
Among her vulgar statements, Marcotte wrote on her Pandagon blogsite, “Q. What if Mary had taken Plan B after the Lord filled her with his hot, white, sticky Holy Spirit? A: You’d have to justify your misogyny with another ancient mythology.” McEwan described religious conservatives as President Bush’s ‘wingnut Christofascist base’ on her blog Shakespeare’s Sister and later addressed the Christian community by saying, “What don’t you lousy motherf***ers understand about keeping your noses out of our britches, our beds, and our families?”
While Marcotte resigned in February after pressure from the Catholic League, McEwan has still retained her job, and has attacked ex-gays, in particular Greg Quinlan of Ohio Pro-Family Network is openly ex-gay, calling Quinlan a ‘useless, self-loathing turd’ on her blog.
“No one should be subjected to hateful name calling, either gay or ex-gay,” said Griggs. “Unlike Coulter, McEwan’s statement was not made in jest or for humorous purposes.”
We are still waiting for the Edwards campaign to issue a statement in support of the ex-gay community,” said Griggs. “In response to Coulter’s comments, Edwards announced that he believes it is ‘our moral responsibility to speak out against that kind of bigotry and prejudice every time we encounter it,’ but we’re still waiting for him to do so.”
Unedited comments from Morcotte and McEwan as posted online (offensive content):
https://catholicleague.org/linked%20docs/blogger_comments.htm