Interesting letter to the editor in today’s N&R, from Tom Brown of Summerfield.
Brown takes N&R religion writer Nancy McLaughlin to task over this article on Rpelacements Ltd. owner Bob Page’s recognition from the National Coalition for Community and Justice:
Referring to Page and his homosexual partner’s adoption of twins in 2000 and the reaction that followed, she writes, “(some reactions) were downright cruel — going as far as to say the couple’s idea of family would ruin the lives of their beloved children.” In another paragraph, McLaughlin writes about “the fight against bigotry.”
In all honesty, it is quite disturbing to me when those who believe the family unit consists of a father (male) and a mother (female) are referred to as “cruel and bigoted.”
Which brings us to U.S. Senate candidate Jim Neal, who, as everyone knows by now, has announced he’s gay. The N&R’s Mark Binker interviewed Neal and pressed him about his domestic arrangement:
Q. Your biography says you live at home with one of your children in Chapel Hill. Do you also live with a partner?
A. In response to that question, there is a firewall around my personal life. I think many people who are in elective office or running for elective office have done so. People who are close to me, my family, my children, my friends, whoever they may be, they’re not running for office. I am. Not everyone is going to be comfortable being in the spotlight, is going to be comfortable getting a knock on the door or a phone call from you or another reporter. So, I won’t respond to a lot of questions about my personal life.
In other words, Neal’s saying it’s nobody’s damn business. Unfortunately, Neal’s going to find out that over the course of a Senate campaign, especially one that’s shaping up to be very contentious, people will go out of their way to make it their business. Unless the media decides to go easy on Neal, that is.
The one question that wasn’t asked —- at least in the interview that appeared in yesterday’s print edition — is Neal’s stance on illegal immigration, an issue Dole has adopted as her own. You would think Neal will eventually take her head-on on that issue.
