SUBSCRIBE NOW WELCOME BACK. Do you want to continue reading where you left off? New Republic subscribers can pick up where they left off no matter which device they were previously using. SUBSCRIBE NOW

Go Home When Did Sarah Palin "choose" To Be Heterosexual?

THE PLANK OCTOBER 2, 2008

When Did Sarah Palin "choose" To Be Heterosexual?

BY JAMES KIRCHICK

In the latest installment of her interview with Katie Couric, Sarah Palin said the following about her much-sought after, but still not yet found, gay friend:

One of my absolute best friends for the past 30 years happens to be gay ... I love her dearly. She is not my gay friend -- she is one of my best friends. She happens to have made a choice that isn’t a choice that I would have made.

A charitable (very, very charitable) interpretation of this remark could be similar to the one offered by Bill Richardson in a debate last year when he was asked by Melissa Etheridge if he thought homosexuality was a "choice." "It's a choice!" he blurted, before rambling on that,"I'm not a scientist. It's -- you know, I don't see this as an issue of science or definition. I see gays and lesbians as people as a matter of human decency." Richardson later corrected himself, saying that he had "flown all night from New Hampshire," and what he really meant was that gay people should have the "choice" of living openly.

While it's nice to hear, once again, that Palin doesn't want to "judge' gay people, I think her answer to Couric was far too explicit to assume that she meant the same thing as Richardson. So I'm curious. When did Sarah Palin decide that she wasn't gay and made the "choice" to be a heterosexual? Was it a particular movie she saw with a hunky male star? Some bad experience on the Wasilla High School girls basketball team?

--James Kirchick

SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS

Show all 35 comments

You must be a subscriber to post comments. Subscribe today.

35 comments

Wow!   This is the first article you have written that I read in its entirety.

- TLaBorn

October 2, 2008 at 12:52pm

You must be a subscriber to post comments. Subscribe today.

"One of my absolute best friends for the past 30 years happens to be a Jew ... I love him dearly. He is not my Jewish friend -- he is one of my best friends. He happens to have made a choice that isn’t a choice that I would have made."

"One of my absolute best friends for the past 30 years happens to be Black ... I love him dearly. He is not my Black friend -- he is one of my best friends. He happens to have made a choice that isn’t a choice that I would have made."

Oh, the possibilities this offers ...

- icarusr

October 2, 2008 at 12:56pm

You must be a subscriber to post comments. Subscribe today.

Wow, too!  I never expected Gov. Palin to be the subject of a Kirchick broadside.

- kyoung

October 2, 2008 at 12:58pm

You must be a subscriber to post comments. Subscribe today.

The Wasilla softball team, more likely.  Have you ever seen lesbians play softball?  It's like the storming of the Bastille, but dustier.

- drdannyu

October 2, 2008 at 1:18pm

You must be a subscriber to post comments. Subscribe today.

Stop picking on her, she can't help it that she was born Republican.

- ratnerstar

October 2, 2008 at 1:20pm

You must be a subscriber to post comments. Subscribe today.

When did Palin choose to be straight? Immediately after watching "Red Dawn," obviously. Go Wolverines! Personally, I was totally on the fence until I saw Jennifer Connelly in "The Rocketeer." Then I was all like, "boys, I'm joining the team that plays in that league."

Kidding aside, the thoughtful Evangelical stance on the issue is that, whatever the origin of one's homosexual desires, one can always choose one's behavior. All people suffer from sinful urges; it's not having the urge that's the sin, it's acting on it. And whatever one's take on that theology of sin, it is beyond debate that acting on one's homosexual preferences is as much a choice as, say, the choice to commit to a monogamous relationship despite one's occasional urges to pursue a new mate, or an alcoholic's choice to eschew the bottle.

When most people talk about homosexual "choice" these days, that's what they mean. It's a quickly shrinking minority who believes that gay people get up every morning and say to themselves, "Should I kiss boys or girls today?"

Which I don't say to defend the moral value of this point of view, but I do believe it's worth understanding the nuance at play here in order to better win the debate.

- rhubarbs

October 2, 2008 at 1:21pm

You must be a subscriber to post comments. Subscribe today.

I remember Mary Ann Proctor in the first grade.  I used to gaze at her with affection in my eyes.  i wanted so badly for her to at least talk to me.  She never even acknowledged my existence.

I don't remember ever asking myself the question "Mary Ann Proctor or  Jimmy Valdez, who do I find more attractive?"

- desertdog

October 2, 2008 at 1:21pm

You must be a subscriber to post comments. Subscribe today.

Touche, Kirchick! I think you may have found your niche.

- GSpinks

October 2, 2008 at 1:21pm

You must be a subscriber to post comments. Subscribe today.

I was actually surprised that this passage got so little attention. It seemed pretty significant. Then again, Palin's interviews have been a veritable schmorgasbord of gaffetizers that it probably was easy to overlook.

- BHLnyc

October 2, 2008 at 1:25pm

You must be a subscriber to post comments. Subscribe today.

yeah, a thoroughly non Kirchikian Kirchick post.

A fair warning though to one and all. www.charlierose.com/.../a-conversation-with-governors-janet-napolitano-sarah-palin

If they slip a few ludes into her drink and she is relaxed she will far outpace expectations.

- blackton

October 2, 2008 at 1:26pm

You must be a subscriber to post comments. Subscribe today.

Rhubarbs, I once considered the upside of getting married to a woman, what with it being the right "choice."  But something about a sexless, joyless marriage that fooled precisely no-one (except for whichever girl I found naive enough to take my lack of sexual interest for gallantry) seemed unappealing.  I'm pretty sure my youth minister growing up would consider that the "right" choice, regardless.

- drdannyu

October 2, 2008 at 1:32pm

You must be a subscriber to post comments. Subscribe today.

Thank you Mr Kirchick.  You are much more enjoyable to read when you "choose" to restrict your inner snark.  Does wonders for my temperament not be able to guess the byline after the opening sentence.

- Nari224

October 2, 2008 at 1:34pm

You must be a subscriber to post comments. Subscribe today.

Gee, a fundamentalist Republican with ignorant views on homosexuality, whoda thunk?

Andrew was on this a long time ago - the 30 year friendship is yet another fallacy of Palin's insta-lie ad water mentality.  No one in Wasilla had ever heard of this "friend" before that interview or knew who she was talking about.  Kinda tough to imagine in a town that small.

- Wandreycer1

October 2, 2008 at 1:39pm

You must be a subscriber to post comments. Subscribe today.

Where is tep?  Sequestered in a corner administering injections of oxycontin?  Teeeeepppp.... ohh Teeeeppppp.... there's a CULTURE discussion at The Plank.  Teeepppp....

- dylanposer

October 2, 2008 at 1:44pm

You must be a subscriber to post comments. Subscribe today.

Rhubarbs gets it right. This is another trap liberals are liable to walk into thinking any reasoning person would naturally agree with them. This is how we keep winning arguments and losing elections. Dismiss the irrational right at your peril.

- Wasatcher

October 2, 2008 at 1:47pm

You must be a subscriber to post comments. Subscribe today.

Almost lost my beer (guffawing) with the line at the end of the post regarding the 'experience with the basketball team'.  Funny.

- jet

October 2, 2008 at 1:57pm

You must be a subscriber to post comments. Subscribe today.

Like most women, it was when she first heard Joe Biden speak, which as I understand it was, for her, in second grade.

- miceelf

October 2, 2008 at 2:03pm

You must be a subscriber to post comments. Subscribe today.

ratnerstar said:

Stop picking on her, she can't help it that she was born Republican.

______

My husband I are frequently asked why we haven't yet had children.  My latest response?  "Well, we're afraid that it might turn out to be a Republican."

- Lyn39

October 2, 2008 at 2:22pm

You must be a subscriber to post comments. Subscribe today.

Of course Sarah has gay friends; everyone knows if you don't have at least one gay friend you're a homophobe! I bet it's her pastor. ;)

- GSpinks

October 2, 2008 at 2:26pm

You must be a subscriber to post comments. Subscribe today.

"Well, we're afraid that it might turn out to be a Republican."

Thanks for the laugh, Lyn. I'm lucky I set my drink down before i read that. I've been needing a new excuse; do you mind if I plagiarize?

- GSpinks

October 2, 2008 at 2:29pm

You must be a subscriber to post comments. Subscribe today.

I must agree that watching the Senate pass the bailout bill was like watching lesbians make sausage: when all was said and done, none of them wanted to be seen holding the erect fleshy tubes.

Since Palin chose to be straight, will that help her choose to discuss the multi-million-dollar dollop of pork that the bailout is sending Alaska? Think the goo from Exxon Valdez has stopped spreading? Think again.

Palin's running mate--older fellow; war hero; what's his name?...give me a second--has promised to veto earmarks such as the one Senators Stevens and Murkowski got added to the bailout (far be it from our legislators to vote for something for such prosaic purposes as preventing the economy from tanking). Does the Veep wannabe agree with Pop Gun? Would she also keep Alaska kosher and ban such pork?

[cue "Final Jeopardy" music...]

- williamyard

October 2, 2008 at 2:32pm

You must be a subscriber to post comments. Subscribe today.

I have mixed feelings about gayness entering the political debate at this point.  We have been successful so far at keeping the campaign focused on issues like war, the economy, and health care and we've managed to keep needlessly divisive issues like god, gays, and guns off the table.  

- stgla

October 2, 2008 at 2:38pm

You must be a subscriber to post comments. Subscribe today.

Rhubs, disagree.  This would imply that Palin is a Dyke and chooses to reject that side of her to remain unfaithful to Todd, so that she could have brood.  

Alternatively, it could mean that, "had I been inclined to like women, I would still have decided to forego my attraction, sleep with Todd and be impregnated by him, even though I would have found penetration by a man immensely distasteful and couldn't have stood all that hair and muscle and the farting and the seat up and ...."

Alternatively, it could mean that she had another lying brain-fart moment, that she does not and never has had a Lesian friend of whom no one has heard, that she has no idea how physical attraction works, except that her teenage daughter is taken to the barn by an avowed fucking redneck, sired and impregnated, and that is just about the level of "choice" involved in the matter.

- icarusr

October 2, 2008 at 2:49pm

You must be a subscriber to post comments. Subscribe today.

GSpinks:  I have once or twice plagiarized you.  So feel free!

- Lyn39

October 2, 2008 at 2:50pm

You must be a subscriber to post comments. Subscribe today.

stgla: this should not and will not become a campaign issue; it's just fun to make fun of the Palin's latest brain-fart moment.  And, for once, to see a coherent Kirchick post.

- icarusr

October 2, 2008 at 3:00pm

You must be a subscriber to post comments. Subscribe today.

GSpinks: It may be her pastor, but I doubt it. He made a choice. He was born Jewish and was converted to an Evangelical minister by Jews for Jesus. So much for choice! Reminds me of the democratic "choice" in Palestine: Hamas!

- sabatia

October 2, 2008 at 3:06pm

You must be a subscriber to post comments. Subscribe today.

icarusr, you're not quite getting it. The "choice" in the worldview I describe (one I encounter with some frequency; I'm writing to describe it, not defend it) is not some sort of tabula rosa decision between being gay and being straight. The "choice" at play is, "I'm attracted to members of my own gender, not the opposite sex. Should I embrace this particular appetite and pursue sexual intimacy with members of my own gender?" Seen thusly, what Palin would be saying amounts to, "Had I found myself attracted to women as my friend did, I would not have chosen to act on that preference."

This really is what most righty or fundy Christians mean when they describe homosexuality as a "choice." They're not contesting the predisposition, any more than they would contest an alcoholic's involuntary predisposition to drink. They're asserting that a person can choose to act against his own sinful predispositions. As, in fact, he can.

(And again, please keep in mind, I write merely to describe this point of view, the better for people who join me in disagreeing with it to understand and counter it.)

- rhubarbs

October 2, 2008 at 3:09pm

You must be a subscriber to post comments. Subscribe today.

I made the decision to be a heterosexual around the fourth grade, and ever since then women have been signing a petition urging me to reconsider.

- adaglas

October 2, 2008 at 3:11pm

You must be a subscriber to post comments. Subscribe today.

"Seen thusly, what Palin would be saying amounts to, "Had I found myself attracted to women as my friend did, I would not have chosen to act on that preference.""

Rhubs, I agree that that is how *some* fundys think (that is not how many fundys thing in Iran; a lot of my Iranian gay friends have already gone through years of conversion psychotherapy, at the end of which they get four choices: have a sex change operation paid for by the state; remain gay and get flogged/hanged; leave; marry a good woman and make her miserable).  

In any event, I don't see how your scenario differs, aside from the graphics, from my second point, so I am not sure what it is that I am not getting.  

The choice you are referring to is the Reverend Ted Methhead-Buggerme's choice, right?  I mean, before the suppression of the natural instinct gave way to extreme, dangerous and self-destructive (and potentially other-destructive) behaviour.

Any way, I think she's lying; she can't possibly have a dyke friend for thirty years and say that, "Had I found myself attracted to women as my friend did, I would not have chosen to act on that preference."  Assuming the hypothetical makes any sense, of course.

- icarusr

October 2, 2008 at 3:45pm

You must be a subscriber to post comments. Subscribe today.

Lyn39 and adaglas get my vote for the best ant-homophobe humor I've heard in six months.  I think my work mates suspect I'm bi-polar.

High fives to you two.  

Still LMAO!!!!

- desertdog

October 2, 2008 at 4:22pm

You must be a subscriber to post comments. Subscribe today.

Actually, best humor I've heard in six months, period!

- desertdog

October 2, 2008 at 4:23pm

You must be a subscriber to post comments. Subscribe today.

Honorable mention goes to the "on the fence until I saw Jennifer McConnell in The Rocketeer" comment.

Another gem.

The defining heterosexual-choice moment in adulthood (after Mary Ann Proctor in first grade) came when I saw Ellen Barkin in Sea of Love.

- desertdog

October 2, 2008 at 4:40pm

You must be a subscriber to post comments. Subscribe today.

Lyn, thanks! :D

sabatia: He would be neither the first gay jew, christian, nor pastor I've known. Nor would he be the first pastor guiilty of violating his vow to remain chaste (if he indeed took such a vow). Of course, the absurdity of Palin accepting a gay pastor while standing against homosexuality is all but sublime; even the Anglicans can barely pull off that stunt. I offered the guess in jest, largely because I detest fundamentalism and the pastors who peddle it.

I actually sincerely doubt Palin actually has any gay friends. For starters, she is no hag. In fact, she does not strike me as the type of person who would care to involve herself to any unnecessary degree with a professed homosexual. My honest guess is that Palin has inflated the real story in order to make herself appear "tolerant" so as to not scare away any gay voters who don't want to vote for Obama. This would be fitting with the pattern of pandering McCain has established.

- GSpinks

October 2, 2008 at 4:49pm

You must be a subscriber to post comments. Subscribe today.

As a woman trapped inside a man's body, I must hereby admit that I am a proud lesbian. Maybe the first Dude is one too and Sarah is supportive of him, after all shouldn't her husband be her best friend?

- blackton

October 2, 2008 at 6:02pm

You must be a subscriber to post comments. Subscribe today.

oh and adaglas, those people urging you to reconsider are all trannies. A real woman wouldn't be caught dead near you.

- blackton

October 2, 2008 at 6:03pm

You must be a subscriber to post comments. Subscribe today.

SHARE HIGHLIGHT

0 CHARACTERS SELECTED

TWEET THIS

POST TO TUMBLR

SHARE ON FACEBOOK

Close