Hmmmm. It's really just another in the endless train of diversionary publicity stunts and for that reason I'm hesitant to play into it, but these incidents do always present the opportunity to listen to the "other side" and try to get a handle on where they're coming from. Are there people whose opinions don't jibe with mine? Sure, that's why I generally don't hang with them socially but am nonetheless happier to have heard their unscripted views, than to live in a bubble and be shocked every four years to realize that half or more of the country thinks places like ours with its "live and let live" attitude are .... bizarre, and not in a good way. Let's face it: western Mass/southern VT *is* weird, but I'm sure *we* all agree in a good way, a way that works for all of us in different respects. For instance, if Junkman or Mark2 had the opportunity to relocate South, I can guarantee they wouldn't enjoy the unrelenting evangelism they'd encounter, even if they'd likely prefer the pedestal the 2nd Amendment enjoys. As "foreign" as a places like Oklahoma or Alabama seem to us, the sentiment goes both ways. The less one is exposed to on a social level, the less one is challenged intellectually ... that goes for all of us, not just people who've never left their hometown or been to college. It's entirely possible to have traveled the world over, read plenty of books, tried to understand things from a distance, and because of a lack of honest dialogue, remain oblivious to the point that in practice, the US is essentially a right-wing country, certainly economically and geopolitically and socially to a lesser extent. Down South, people cling to tradition even as social behaviors they superficially decry outpace the rest of the country's (divorce rates, single parenting, pornography viewing, etc). Ultimately, who cares? That brand of hypocrisy and internal confusion is not our problem. We can feel badly for the gays and lesbians living in the midst of such beliefs, but we can't fight their battles in the most direct and necessary ways. No change occurs without struggle and New England activists waged and continue to wage battles on the state level and the sky has not fallen. We can be proud of that and be certain that Southern activists will carry the torch. At the end of the day, we've all chosen to live here, not there. Comments like these simply reinforce our choice, and for that reason alone, we should be happy that this guy voiced them.