2008 Schwarzenegger to Girly Men (and Other Gays): “Never Give Up”
posted by on November 11 at 10:45 AM
I don’t think this made it onto Slog yesterday, so, via a tipper in New York who sees it as yet another sign of the changed world we’re living in:
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Sunday expressed hope that the California Supreme Court would overturn Proposition 8, the ballot initiative that outlawed same-sex marriage. He also predicted that the 18,000 gay and lesbian couples who have already wed would not see their marriages nullified by the initiative.“It’s unfortunate, obviously, but it’s not the end,” Schwarzenegger said in an interview Sunday on CNN. “I think that we will again maybe undo that, if the court is willing to do that, and then move forward from there and again lead in that area.”
…With his favorable comments toward gay marriage, the governor’s thinking appears to have evolved on the issue…
On Sunday, he urged backers of gay marriage to follow the lesson he learned as a bodybuilder trying to lift weights that were too heavy for him at first. “I learned that you should never ever give up… . They should never give up. They should be on it and on it until they get it done.”
Like me, the Governator probably never imagined in a million years that Prop. 8 would actually pass. Now that it has, everyone (backward-thinkers excluded) has woken up.
While I wish many had spoken out prior to the approval of Prop. 8, at least they are not silent now.
His thinking didn't "evolve" as he has always supported equal rights across the range of sexuality.
Try and do some research before you insult a great man...
Bailo HOW can you say that when TWICE he vetoed civil equality for Gay citizens of California. How dare you suggest he's always been supportive of Civil Marriage Equality.
Schwarzenegger confuses me. He sends mixed messages. On one hand, he said he was opposed to Prop 8, and he made this strong statement after it passed. On the other hand, he vetoed gay marriage, twice. He was nonplussed working with gays in a long bodybuilding and Hollywood career, and yet calls us "girly men". WTF?
It's like his movies. In Terminator 1, he was the bad guy, but in Terminator 2, he was the good guy. And in Total Recall, he was both the bad guy and the good guy in one body.
I'm on it. Hell, I'm all over it.
@4,
Arnold's been pretty clear about this, actually. While he clearly supports marriage equality, he thinks it should not happen via legislative action, which he, and honestly, most others, D's & R's alike, don't see as a genuinely democratic (small D) way of making it happen. He thinks it should happen via the courts or a vote of the people. Since the latter has (for now) failed, it sounds like he'd like to see the courts of the state of CA move on this.
And he didn't call gay people "girly men", he called members of the CA legislature "girly men" for not having the nerve to cut the state budget. I suspect he knows as well as we do that most gay men have more guts than any straight man for the shit we have to put up with.
He's been trying to re-position himself further and further to the liberal side for the last 3 years or so. He was first elected by Republicans, but when nothing he tried in the first 2 years worked, worked, he hired a bunch of Democrats and ran for re-election as a centrist.
When he stood for re-election he was all about no new taxes, cut spending. Defeated the Democrat by painting him as a tax-raiser. Then it turned out there wasn't enough spending that could be cut. So now he wants to raise taxes. And he's run afoul of the Republicans in the legislature.
That's why he was nowhere to be seen at the Republican Convention. Official story: too busy with a fiscal crisis. More likely: too liberal to be allowed on stage.
The swastika doesn't fall far from the tree, folks. He'll do no one any favors, ever.
Isn't time for Arnold to just fucking switch political parties already? Damn, he is starting to make some actual Democrats look like Republicans.
Arnold: Come out of the political closet and embrase your inner Democrat. And think of how much happier your in-laws would be?
@5 now that clears this up for me. seriously.
Arnold didn't lift a finger to oppose Prop 8. He doesn't deserve our thanks for opening his pie-hole now.
What bobbo said. Besides which if Schwartzy hadn't vetoed the authorizing legislation two years in a row it would never have gone to the court in the first place. And when did the duly elected Legislature stop representing the will of the people, ferchrissakes? Only when they do something the opposing Executive branch doesn't like. Piss on Ahnold.
did none of you see him openly stumping for mccain late in the campaign? he wasn't too liberal to do that.