Garrison Keillor, where have you gone?

By Diane Silver

The liberal blogosphere is exploding over a short essay Prairie Home Companion host Garrison Keillor posted at Salon.com. In the piece called "Stating the Obvious," Keillor appears to denigrate lesbian and gay families. In this essay, we are shown to not just be jokes, but to hurt our own children with our lifestyle.

Some bloggers are now saying they think it is a satire, and they do make a case for that being so. Many are appalled. The best collection of opinions and links are at Pam's House Blend and Americablog.

Put me in the appalled, surprised and -- if this is true -- in the mourning column. I sincerely hope this is a ham-handed satire gone bad. If not, I am truly upset.

I am disturbed that someone of Keillor's stature and influence would have such ill-informed opinions and then go ahead and disseminate them as if they are the "obvious" truth.

I am, frankly, surprised as all get out because Keillor never seemed to me to be this sort of person. I know people who have worked directly with him, and they've never reported anything like this.

And if this is what Keillor really thinks, then I am in mourning. I have always been a fan. I'll never be able to listen to Praire Home Companion again.

The only other thing I can say is that whether or not these are his opinions, they are the opinions of many people. I suppose that wouldn't matter, except that those uninformed opinions effect people's votes. Those votes have put into place a host of unfair and nasty laws that keep the children of lesbians and gays from health insurance and other legal rights and benefits they need.

The realities of our lives are far different than they are often painted. I explore some of that in two pieces.

Winning the lesbian parent marathon

Living with a target on your back

I've written directly to Keillor to verify what he intended with this piece and to tell him about my concerns. If I ever get a reply, I'll let you know.