Andrew had linked to this great moment on Wheel of Fortune recently where the male contestant introduced his loved one before the bonus round as "my fiance, Chuck." Not a big deal for many of us (I used to, and my wife still works in Broadway theater, after all), but I'm sure many of the Wheel's viewers received quite a shock. Further, and unbeknownst to me, Wheel host Pat Sajak is a hardcore right-winger; the implication being he wouldn't be very comfortable with "the gay." Well, perhaps we assumed too soon. Take a look at Pat's teary-eyed remembrance of his dresser, Alan Mills, and Alan's "love of his life, Ivan," starting at 2:23 of the video below. Mr. Sajak, I apologize and stand corrected. R.I.P Alan Mills.
Update: A commenter made a very fair point: "Just because anti-gay beliefs are condoned and exploited by GOP leaders does not make anti-Gay attitudes conservative." I completely agree. I should have been more careful in my wording above. I was talking about the implications made by BuzzFeed that Pat, as a conservative, would be homophobic or whatever. As the commenter points out, I shouldn't have implied that conservative = anti-gay. I will try to be more careful in making blanket statements in the future.
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Hey Mike, linked to you through Andrew Sullivan and I like what I see. We seem to share common ground topic-wise and as lawyers "still trying to figure out where they're going". Keep up the good work and take a look at my site when you get a chance.
ReplyDeletehttp://chaosoutoforder.wordpress.com/
Just because anti-gay beliefs are condoned and exploited by GOP leaders does not make anti-Gay attitudes conservative. If anything, a true conservative would have no opinion one way or another about gay marriage, beyond believing that a civil contract involving property rights should not be confused with a religious practice.
ReplyDeletePat Sajak's conservatism has always been more of the old Northeast style -- I personally grew up around Republican Quakers whose views on abolition and separation of church and state don't have much room left in the modern GOP. Too bad.
Hey Chaos. Thanks for checking out the site. I like yours too, although, are you a Yankees fan? I couldn't tell. If so, we may get some going back and forth with about the Mets and Yanks. Anyway, thanks for visiting and please continue to do so.
ReplyDeleteAlso linked to you from Andrew Sullivan; good luck with your blog! Good work!
ReplyDeleteAs a sometimes anal copyeditor, I wanted to alert you to a spelling error in your About Me section ("entertianment").
Anonymous at 2:56, fair enough. I agree with you. I was more remarking on the implications previously made at Andrew's site and at BuzzFeed.
ReplyDeleteAnon at 2:59, thanks for the editing comment! Too much reliance on spell-check these days.
ReplyDeleteSadly, being anti-gay is a key piece of the Republican platform. They really aren't "conservative" in any sense of the word though.
ReplyDeleteThanks for 'setting the record straight' on Pat Sajak. It's a shame that anti-gay bigotry is being conflated with being conservative these days.
ReplyDeleteI may not agree with Mr. Sajak's politics, but his heartfelt tribute to Mr. Mills even got me teary-eyed. Pat seems like an OK person.
Oh, what the heck, I'll post too! Also found you via Sully.
ReplyDeleteI am one of those odd gay libertarian conservatives. I'm not surprised Sajak is not one of the radicals. Most anyone that works in Hollywood or other industries that have may gays employees will get to know who they are and have more respect for us. Yet we don't know how he feels about gay marriage, and I'm not sure if we should care. What ever he feel, he keeps it to himself. I'm happy with that.
PS. I'm not registered Republican. I left the party a few years ago when I realized they cared more about a veggie girl in Fla. than they did about fiscal responsibility and sane governance.
The "veggie girl" comment was not meant to disrespect Terry Schiavo or the pain her family endured, it is a reflection of just how stupid that whole abortion-fight proxy became.
I was so happy to read this column today. Pat Sajak is one of the most stand-up guys I know. He's also one of the smartest, funniest and most patient men I know. Alan Mills was an exemplary human being who ALWAYS had a smile on his face, he will be missed by everyone who even barely knew him.
ReplyDeleteSweet tribute on that clip.
ReplyDeleteBut Sajak has never seemed to think that women can do much on their own. When female contestants go on to the bonus round, he always leads them by the hand to their mark. Does he do that with men? No. And when a female contestant wins and is about to go to the bonus round, he hugs her—if she's attractive. If she's not that attractive, no hug. If the contestant is a man, no hug. Why not equal touch—or better yet, no touch—for the sexes, Pat?
His comments about Baldwin and Rob Reiner didn't peck of partisanship but rather logic. The gay issue is a vote drive, just like abortion rights, welfare and taxing the rich. 50% of the country is not stupid.
ReplyDeleteI'll be devil's advocate for a sec here. The conflation of conservative (in the USA) with anti-gay is not a stretch. Until more conservatives stand up and reject this particularly insidious brand of hatred it is a perfectly legitimate way of thinking of the right-wing of political thought.
ReplyDeleteStanding by while others are persecuted by your fellows does not make you a stand-up guy. It makes you, at best, a witness, and at worst, complicit.
Great catch on Mr. Sajak, Mike. I suspect like many of the other Hollywood Republicans, he is gay-friendly: Tom Selleck, Doris Day, Bruce Willis, Robert Wuhl, Arnold Governator, etc.
ReplyDeleteAs a lawyer-blogger, it would be interesting to hear your take on the new Jones Day v. Blockshopper - or maybe you published elsewhere and I missed it?
-PatricktheRogue
Hello Anonymous .. there are several flaws in your statement that "standing by while others are persecuted by your fellows ... makes you a witness, and at worst, complicit."
ReplyDeleteThe main one is your assumption that bigots who call themselves 'conservatives' are "my fellows". I am as rightwing as is probably humanly possible and it would not even cross my mind that I have an obligation to defend or correct an anti-gay bigot because he 'is one of my own'. I tend to associate bigots and anyone else who tries to impose their standards on the general populace with the Left. And its not only me - you also will not find Rush Limbaugh disparaging gays (though he is quick to disparage gay movement 'Leaders' along with leaders of all movements who try to impose speech or idea codes.) By the way, I was the best man at my sister-in-laws lesbian wedding, and she has been a Republican since about two years after starting her own business - so stop with the broad brush strokes already.
Robert in Alabama
Patrick,
ReplyDeleteDone and Done. Check my Blog for my thoughts on Jones Day v. BlockShopper.
Wait a second - this isn't a case where Pat Sajak is being labeled anti-gay because he has conservative beliefs. I SAW the press conference where Pat Sajak spoke out against gays in the military - during the Clinton Era Debate.
ReplyDeleteNo one made him tell his opinion publicly. No one forced him to speak at a press conferece. He did it himself. (Just like no one forced the Mormon church to get involved in Prop 8)
So he had a good gay friend and you've seen him at a gay party? What does that prove? Ronald Reagan had many gay friends in Hollywood. (Like silent film star/decorator Billy Haines) This didn't cause him to be better on gay rights or care when gay people were dying.
It's just as easy for someone to take away your rights with a smile instead of an angry red face. Give me a break!
MikeNJD...is that a reference to something (I have scrubs in mind)? Anyway...good job catchin a link up from Sullivan, how'd you pull that off? Anyway, I think it's good for little newbie blogs to stick together...perhaps with your newfound fame you could help a fellow legal eagle and we could blogroll eachother? I am a law student, very interested in IP. I am also a Met fan. I even post on the Mets, however I rarely if ever post on legal stuff, especially since I don't really have expertise yet. I'm mostly politics.
ReplyDeleteHuh? Conservatives fully hitched their waggon to homophobia, cashed in politically, and now they have the nerve to whine when we make the direct connection they themselves cultivated? Conservative = anti-gay bigotry and we should never let them rewrite history just because it is no longer winning them political capital.
ReplyDeleteTo me, the fact that Pat Sajak has gay people in his life that he cares for deeply while he simultaneously opposes equality for those same people, just makes his bigotry more insidious. The "I'm not a bigot, some of my best friends are gay" argument is erroneous.
ReplyDeleteI do feel a bit sorry for the true conservatives left in our country who are not Christian fundamentalist bigots, but only a bit. If you vote Republicans into office, then you are co-signing the Republican platform. Currently, the RNC platform is full of small-minded fundamentalist bigotry, so, if you vote republican, you should not be surprised if people associate you with that bigoted platform. Sadly, I think many socially liberal Republicans care more about hanging on to a fraction more of their wealth than standing up for the impoverished and the oppressed.