Knuuttila supporter: "Gays can't produce children, so what's the point."

Senate candidate Brian Knuuttila can't be too happy about a letter of support printed in today's Sentinel and Enterprise. The letter takes opponent Jen Flanagan to task for her opposition of the constitutional amendment that would have banned gay marriage. That's not the problem. The problem is that it's a gay-baiting tour de force:

Ms. Flanagan must be very proud of herself getting the endorsement from Matthew McTighe, whoever he is, and his Mass Equality for the gay, lesbian, and bisexual community. How wonderful and you must be so happy.

"Excuse me for being sarcastic" but we (the voters) never got the chance to vote on gay marriage, thanks to the governor and the one party Legislature.

Shame on all of you. Had we voted you all would have lost. There are more of us straights than gays.

They can't produce children, so what's the point. It's not a civil-rights issue at all. You use civil rights for anything that comes down the pike. That's what Liberals do.

I've never understood the hate and vitriol some people have for the LGBT community. It's OK to have a difference of opinion on this or other issues, but the "there are more of us straights than gays" mindset and the argument that "they can't produce children" boggles my mind. (Should all marriages be dissolved when one or the other spouse is no longer able to produce children? Is the decision to have a vasectomy or the onset of menopause or impotence akin to divorce?)

I don't imagine Knuuttila would choose to be aligned with this sort of thinking. While he has been an opponent of gay marriage and would have voted to put the issue on the ballot in 2008, I haven't seen any indication that he holds the same outrageous view as this public supporter. I wonder if these sort of endorsements hurt more than they help.

To be fair, at least one of Flanagan's supporters is also into name-calling on this issue. Last month, an editorial in Bay Windows magazine quoted the head of MassEquality:

"It’s an open Senate seat [and] it’s a reasonably conservative district," explained MassEquality Executive Director Marc Solomon. And while most Democrats running in primaries these days are solidly pro-LGBT, said Solomon, the race between Knuuttila and Flanagan "is a classic race of a Neanderthal former rep running against someone who has been with us every step of the way."

Thankfully, the candidates haven't resorted to this sort of name-calling.

Tags: Massachusetts Election 2008 State Senate Flanagan Knuuttila Gay Marriage