Garrison Keillor, former radio show host and storyteller, made a post on Facebook earlier this week where he opined on the effort put into the "culture wars" in light of the seemingly inevitable confirmation of Judge Amy Coney Barrett.
Keillor posted how Roe v. Wade—the landmark decision that protected a pregnant person's access to medical choices without excessive government restriction—has "torn the country asunder" and should be abandoned. In fact, he argued other positions should be abandoned as well.
This included letting states criminalize the lives of LGBTQ people.
Keillor—best known for the radio show A Prairie Home Companion—tried to clarify his position, explaining Hillary Clinton lost in 2016 and we don't need to worry since accesd to reproductive healthcare would be determined by the states.
He claimed "abortion will be legal most places" despite the fact most states do not currently have legal protections for it on the books.
His comments about Roe v. Wade and LGBTQ equality infuriated many.
The meager protections currently in place for LGBTQ people still offer inequal protection of basic human rights in a majority of states. Abandoning them could bring back prior discriminating legislation.
Likewise, the overturning of Roe v. Wade would find less than half the states in the nation with any laws protecting access to reproductive choice.
Keillor suggests letting these go to focus on "the economy and tax policy and environment."
This was sadly not the first time Keillor made inflammatory comments like this. In 2007, he wrote a column stereotyping and criticizing gay parents.
He claimed they were:
"Sardonic fellows with fussy hair who live in over-decorated apartments with a striped sofa and a small weird dog and who worship campy performers."
Keillor was forced to apologize for the column after public outcry.
More infamously, Keillor was terminated from his relationship with Minnesota Public Radio over sexual harassment allegations.
Keillor is not the first person to suggest the Democratic party needs to focus on the concerns most important to heteronormative cisgender White males and abandon the fight for equality and protections for marginalized groups.
The literal life or death issues facing marginalized groups are labeled "identity politics" or "culture wars" by those who share Keillor's view that the DNC needs to be more "centrist."
After the push back, Keillor deleted his initial post and tried to laugh away his suggestion to let states criminalize LGBTQ people.
He said:
"My Facebook page has been hacked by some fool expressing his ignorance of political issues and using my name. I am not responsible."
"My wife Jenny is in charge of politics in this household and she strongly dislikes Judge Barrett and so that is my opinion too. I shall now go back to writing my novel."
If the response to his Facebook post are anything to go by, that's the best thing Keillor can do.
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