Ronald Reagan failed to succsfully bat the AIDS crisis, but do that make him antigay?
Contents:
- PATTI DAVIS, DGHTER OF NANCY REAGAN, SAYS HER MOTHER SUPPORTS GAY MARRIAGE
- OP-ED: THE GAY TTH ABOUT RONALD REAGAN
- REAGAN’S DGHTER SAYS HE’D HAVE BACKED GAY MARRIAGE
PATTI DAVIS, DGHTER OF NANCY REAGAN, SAYS HER MOTHER SUPPORTS GAY MARRIAGE
“She do, ” Davis said when asked if the former first lady supports gay marriage, addg that her mother “is not fortable gog out the public eye and gettg the firg le of anythg, ” and also notg wh a chuckle that “if she had disagreed wh what I said publicly about my father, she would have said somethg publicly.
” (Scroll down to listen to the full terview) Davis also addrsed ments by her adopted half-brother, rad talk talk show host Michael Reagan, who’d wrten an op-ed piece a day before her ments about Print Reagan and gay marriage which he attacked same-sex marriage and said uld lead to acceptance of btialy, polygamy and even murr. Michael Reagan later also sharply disagreed wh Davis’ ntentn that their father would have supported gay marriage.
OP-ED: THE GAY TTH ABOUT RONALD REAGAN
“That op-ed, that wrten thg equatg gay people wh murrers and people who engage btialy or whatever, ’s all such ugly stuff and if Michael were the only person sayg that, you n say, ‘OK, whatever. ’ But there are other people who feel this way and who lump gay people wh people who have sex wh donkeys and farm animals. ”Davis noted that Michael Reagan lived wh her and her parents while gay iends and fay members were prent and were accepted by the former print and first lady, and th she believ her brother knows that her father privately supported gay people.
”Nohels, Ronald Reagan has been sharply cricized by LGBT and AIDS activists for bowg to relig nservativ the Republin Party, holdg back gay rights, and tastrophilly failg rpondg to the AIDS epimic early on, not mentng the word AIDS until the late 80s, well after thoands had been fected wh HIV and died. “Part of the reason I thought was important to say that about my father, ” Davis said regardg her belief that he would support gay marriage, “is that he was late addrsg the AIDS issue. There were people around him that did not want him to al wh any issue that had to al wh gay people.
REAGAN’S DGHTER SAYS HE’D HAVE BACKED GAY MARRIAGE
”Regardg her mother’s posn on gay marriage, Davis, who was tranged om her mother for many years but renciled wh her shortly after Print Reagan was diagnosed wh Alzheimer’s Disease 1994, said Nancy Reagan supports marriage equaly but is reluctant to say so publicly. ”Listen to the terview wh Patti Davis here: Before You GoGay Marriage In The Uned Stat.
Davis, who ed to date Bernie Leadon om The Eagl, famoly held liberal views, which often clash wh her nservative father cludg opposn to nuclear weapons, beg pro-choice and supportg gay rights.
This narrative was further rerced recently the HBO film The Normal Heart, which Reagan is basilly held personally acuntable for the lack of progrs fightg the disease durg his picture that people like to pat of Reagan the LGBT muny is that he was a ferocly antigay zealot who believed that AIDS was a punishment brought down by God upon the gay muny. Now, don't get me wrong: I am not by any means argug that Reagan was perfect when me to gay rights. I know I'm gog to be torn apart by many of the rears of this article, nsirg that I am a young gay progrsive Democrat who wouldn't ordarily e to the fense of a nservative Republin, but ultimately the ntext matters.