Dobson Says the Darndest Things

Last night I had the pleasure of meeting blogger Max Blumenthal at the DemsTV taping. As we were chatting afterwards, Max mentioned something to me about James Dobson (yes, that James Dobson) saying that he thinks gay people should have equal rights. I thought for sure Max was talking about the similarly outrageous statement made by Jerry Falwell, which I blogged about back in August.

It turns out I was wrong. Max emailed me this morning with a link to his post about Dobson’s statement, which was made in reference to the Miers Supreme Court nomination.

The noted Christian broadcaster answered several of the charges that have been raised against Miers, including one involving her position on gay rights.

In 1989, she answered “Yes” to a poll question by a gay rights organization that asked, “Do you believe that gay men and lesbians should have the same civil rights as non-gay men and women?”

“You know what? I do,” Dobson said, affirming her response. “I don’t believe that homosexuals should be denied a job. I don’t believe that they should not be able to buy a house. I don’t believe that they should not have the same rights everybody else does. I just don’t believe that there should be special rights given to homosexuals that are not given to everybody else.” (emphasis added)

Heh. Interesting. Coming from a guy who just recently suggested that showering with your son is a sure-fire way to keep him from turning queer, this almost sounds like something vaguely resembling sanity. Of course, not so sane that Dobson could resist tossing “special rights” into the mix. Must be a reflex. See the email Max references from activist Jerry Sloan for more on the “special rights” bit, and what Dobson’s logical progression should be (but probably won’t be) after his epiphany.

It’s easy to be cynical and sarcastic about hearing the above from a Dobson or a Falwell. I can do it without managing to break a sweat. Still, Dobson statement has me wondering, coming as close as it does on the heels of Falwell’s. Why are these guys saying this now, when gay-bashing has been their bread and butter for…well…ever? LIke Falwell’s statement, it seems to ride the razor’s edge of what their support base — the folks who loyally send in their checks — will tolerate.

Or is it? Is it possible that homo-hating isnt’ selling as well as it used to, and that it’s just not as profitable for these guys as it used to be? With same-sex marriage a reality in Massachusetts (without the sky falling), the advent of civil unions in Vermont and Connecticut, and the California legislature passing same-sex marriage legislation (though the Girly-Man Governator vetoed it), is it possible that FalWell and Dobson are seeing the writing on the wall and realizing that they are losing the gay marriage fight?

“We are losing the gay marriage fight, and, in fact, have lost it already, though not all of us know it yet. When the acceptance of civil-unions protections for gay couples is the conservative position, then we have been defeated.”

– Rod Dreher, writing on “Pink Campaign,” in the September issue of Touchstone

It’s possible, but leopards don’t change their spots overnight. It remains to be seen whether this is truly a change in direction for the leadership of the religious right (who’s next? Pat Robertson?) or whether they’re just faking left for reasons known only to them.

However, both statements were made in support of Supreme Court nominations that haven’t exactly thrilled the foot soldiers of the right. (Max has some interesting ideas about Dobson’s motivation, by the way.) I have feeling that once the Miers nomination is resolved one way or the other, Dobson and the rest of his cronies on the religious right will backslide in to gay-bashing again, quicker than you can say “amen.”

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