After
the
Wednesday
night
session
of
the
Republican
National
Convention,
the
Blade
caught
up
with
Illinois
Senate
candidate
Alan
Keyes
on
his
way
out
of
the
building.
Keyes
kicked
up
quite
a
bit
of
dust
on
Monday
when,
during
an
interview
on
Sirius
Out
Q
satellite
radio,
he
said
that
the
vice
president's
lesbian
daughter,
Mary
Cheney,
qualifies
as
a
"selfish
hedonist."
"If
we
embrace
homosexuality
as
a
proper
basis
for
marriage,
we
are
saying
that
it's
possible
to
have
a
marriage
state
that
in
principle
excludes
procreation
and
is
based
simply
on
the
premise
of
selfish
hedonism,"
Keyes
said
then.
The
interviewer
responded,
"I
don't
think
Dick
Cheney
would
like
to
hear
that
about
his
daughter."
Replied
Keyes:
"Dick
Cheney
may
or
may
not
like
to
hear
the
truth,
but
it
can
be
spoken."
Since
the
comments
reached
wider
release,
the
Bush/Cheney
campaign
and
the
head
of
the
Illinois
Republican
Party,
among
others,
have
called
Keyes'
remarks
"inappropriate."
When
CNN
anchor
Bill
Hemmer
asked
Lynne
Cheney,
the
vice
president's
wife,
and
Liz
Cheney,
Mary's
sister,
for
reaction,
the
latter
visibly
bristled
in
response.
"I'm
surprised,
frankly,
that
you
would
even
repeat
the
quote,
and
I'm
not
going
to
dignify
it
with
a
comment,"
Liz
Cheney
said.
The
Log
Cabin
Republicans
quickly
fired
off
a
press
release
blasting
Keyes'
comments,
but
the
pithiest
response
came
from
Rick
Garcia,
who
heads
up
Equality
Illinois,
a
statewide
gay
rights
group.
"Selfish
hedonism?
Has
anyone
seen
Dr.
Keyes
look
at
a
microphone
or
a
television
camera?
That's
hedonism,"
quipped
Garcia.
Former
Illinois
governor,
Jim
Thompson,
a
fellow
Republican,
was
more
blunt
in
condemning
the
remarks.
"I
think
those
views
are
not
only
extreme
but
offensive,"
said
Thompson.
"I
think
the
people
of
Illinois
will
find
those
remarks
offensive,
and
I
think
it's
an
offense
to
the
political
process
that
we
have
to
suffer
a
candidate
on
our
ticket
who
says
things
like
that."
But
on
Wednesday
night,
Keyes
stubbornly
defended
his
comments,
and
blamed
the
media
for
the
subsequent
firestorm.
"What
happened
is
that
I
gave
an
exposition,
which
is
quite
accurate,
as
to
the
justification
for
the
Republican
[platform]
plank
that
opposes
gay
marriage,"
Keyes
told
the
Blade,
"because
gay
sexual
relations
are
about
the
self-gratification
of
the
parties
involved
who
are
using
the
organs
intended
for
procreation
for
pleasure.
That
is
to
say,
selfish
hedonism.
That's
a
description,
not
a
pejorative.
"And
that
kind
of
a
foundation,
that
kind
of
understanding
of
sexual
relations
is
incompatible
with
marriage
which,
in
heterosexual
relations
is
pointed
toward
childbearing,
child-rearing
and
family.
And
that
involves
not
just
pleasure
and
self-gratification,
but
sacrifice,
pain--a
life-long
commitment...
"Then...the
journalists
—
so
called
—
who
were
asking
me
the
questions,
they
mentioned
Mary
Cheney,
and
they
asked
if
that
would
apply
to
her,"
Keyes
continued.
"Of
course,
since
I
was
giving
a
definition
of
homosexual
relations,
then
homosexual
relations
would
apply
to
her.
I
don't
think
we
can
exempt
our
own
people
—
children,
friends
—
from
the
logic
that
supports
the
party's
platform.
And
to
do
so
would
be
claiming
special
privileges
for
ourselves
that
are
not
justified.
So
it's
really
very
simple.
And
it
was
not
a
pejorative;
it
was
simply
a
description.
But,
of
course,
the
way
the
media
operates
today
—
you
know
what
happens."
We
certainly
do.
Posted
by
Adele
M.
Stan,
freelance
columnist
for
the
Washington
Blade,
Sep.
2
at
12:55
p.m.
The
Louisiana
Supreme
Court
is
sending
out
decidedly
mixed
signals
on
a
pending
gay
marriage
case.
There
are
three
appeals
asking
the
court
to
stop
a
ballot
measure
that
would
add
a
state
constitutional
ban
to
gay
marriage.
Late
Wednesday,
reports
said
the
court
had
decided
not
to
hear
the
appeals,
which
would
mean
the
measure
would
go
before
voters.
However,
this
morning
the
clerk
of
the
court
said
those
reports
were
wrong
and
the
court
still
hasn't
decided
if
it
will
hear
the
case
or
not.
Stay
tuned.
Also
late
Wednesday,
the
North
Dakota
Secretary
of
State's
office
certified
supports
of
a
ballot
initiative
to
place
a
ban
on
gay
marriage
in
that
state's
constitution
had
collected
enough
signatures
and
the
measure
will
go
before
voters.
Each
state
is
different,
but
don't
be
surprised
if
there's
a
lawsuit
filed
in
the
next
week
to
stop
that
vote
as
well.
Posted
by
Ken
Sain,
Washington
Blade
News
Editor,
Sep.
2
at
12:30
p.m.
First,
CNN
refused
to
run
an
30-second
television
spot
by
the
Log
Cabin
Republicans
because
of
the
ad's
final
image:
a
still
photo
of
anti-gay
activist
Fred
Phelps
standing
next
to
his
trademark
giant
"God
Hates
Fags"
sign.
Too
controversial
said
CNN
spokesman
Matt
Furman.
Now
MSNBC
has
passed
on
taking
the
Log
Cabins'
ad
dollars,
but
for
a
completely
different
reason.
While
the
ad's
voice-over
asks,
"[W]ill
we
divide
the
American
family
with
the
politics
of
intolerance
and
fear
that
only
lead
to
hate?"
an
image
of
MSNBC
commentator
Pat
Buchanan
flashes
on
the
screen.
Buchanan
is
shown
addressing
the
1992
Republican
National
Convention,
with
his
famous
anti-gay
"culture
war"
speech.
"We
declined
to
run
it
because
...
