Many are probably familiar with the NoH8 campaign created in opposition to California's Proposition 8, which was passed by CA voters in 2008 and overturned California's marriage equality law. Well, Cindy McCain - wife of Republican Senator and former Presidential candidate John McCain, and mother of Republican and gay marriage advocate Meghan McCain - has joined the cause.
From NoH8's website:
In the year since we've started the NOH8 Campaign, we've often been surprised at some of the different individuals who have approached us showing their support. Few, though, have surprised us more than Cindy McCain - the wife of Senator John McCain and mother to vocal marriage equality advocate Meghan McCain. The McCains are one of the most well-known Republican families in recent history, and for Mrs. McCain to have reached out to us to offer her support truly means a lot.I think it's terrific that two well-known Republicans are coming out in support of a civil right that is being denied to a minority group. Of course, the GW College Republicans have a slightly different take on the matter: Meghan McCain was invited to GW to speak at National Equality Week, and the CR's are up in arms because, well, she's theirs. From The Hatchet:
Aligning yourself with the platform of gay marriage as a Republican still tends to be very stigmatic, but Cindy McCain wanted to participate in the campaign to show people that party doesn't matter - marriage equality isn't a Republican issue any more than it is a Democratic issue. It's about human rights, and everybody being treated equally in the eyes of the law that runs and protects this country.
"Our executive board was told that Meghan McCain's primary focus would be her opinion on what it means to be a Republican," Rob Noel, CR public relations director, said. "We later discovered through her Twitter and subsequent conversations with the SA and [the Graduate School of Political Management] that she would be giving the keynote address for Marriage Equality Week."Apparently there was some misunderstanding as to why she was speaking at GW, and the CR's felt misled by Allied-in-Pride President Michael Komo. But here's what concerns me a whole lot more: it seems as though, according to the CR's, being a Republican and supporting marriage equality are two mutually-exclusive, irreconcilable things. But the rest of us know better: I know a lot of Republicans who openly and proudly support marriage equality. A lot of them go to GW. Two of them are my parents.
And as for what Ms. McCain thinks of all this:
Yes, I am the keynote speaker at George Washington University's "Marriage Equality Week" next month. Can't wait, very honored to be asked!And we're very honored to have you.
