Bill "Falafel" O'Reilly: "I Think Everybody's Got to Relax On All This Gay Stuff"

Posted by Steve Benen at 5:32 AM on August 18, 2007.

This post, written by Steve Benen, originally appeared on The Carpetbagger Report

About a month ago, Bill O'Reilly went on one of histirades against gays, in this instance because the San Diego Padres baseball team hosted a gay-pride night and a children's hat giveaway promotion during the same game. The notion of kids and gay people in a stadium at the same time caused O'Reilly to go berserk.

He called it "insane" to "cluster" gay men and lesbians during a "hat giveaway for any kid under 12." O'Reilly reported that "thousands of gay adults showed up and commingled with straight families," and stated, "[C]lear-thinking people understand it is completely out of context and inappropriate." When San Diego Pride executive director Ron deHarte said that it "was no different than any other game," O'Reilly responded, "But you are focusing in and putting more homosexuals into an area. OK? See, that's the problem," adding: "You're putting it in a kid's face at a baseball game." O'Reilly later asserted, "This is social engineering by the Padres."

That was then. Now, a newly-enlightened O'Reilly wants his audience to stop worrying about homosexuality. From Wednesday's episode:

O'REILLY: [Viewer], Ridge Crest, California: "Bill, you said Bill Richardson looked bad by saying he believed homosexuality was a choice. So you're saying politicians need to avoid speaking the truth if their opinions aren't PC?"

I think everybody's got to relax on all this gay stuff.

O'Reilly's clearly confused, which is a shame. He's gone out of his way to convince his audience that gays are bad people, sometimes dangerous, oftentimes violent, and a hazard for children to avoid. This has had a predictable effect: O'Reilly's sizable audience is convinced that they're not supposed to "relax" about "all this gay stuff." On the contrary, O'Reilly has taught them that "relaxing" only makes the threat worse.

Think I'm exaggerating? Here's a list from Media Matters:

* Referring to the ruling by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court striking down state restrictions on the right of same-sex couples to marry, he claimed that, in "10 years, this is gonna be a totally different country than it is right now." He added: "Laws that you think are in stone -- they're gonna evaporate, man. You'll be able to marry a goat -- you mark my words!" (Westwood One's The Radio Factor with Bill O'Reilly; 03/29/05)

* While discussing the case of two male Massachusetts prison inmates who requested prison officials' permission to marry, O'Reilly asserted that "this crazy gay marriage insanity -- is gonna lead to all kinds of things like this" like "somebody[]" coming "in and say[ing], 'I wanna marry the goat.' " (Radio Factor; 04/13/05)

* He has claimed that the secular progressive movement "would like to have marriage abolished ... because it is not diverse enough." He explained: "That's what this gay marriage thing is all about." O'Reilly then warned of the possibility of "poly-amorphous" [sic] marriage, in which "you can marry 18 people, you can marry a duck." (Radio Factor; 09/14/05)

* O'Reilly has argued that legalizing same-sex marriage will lead to nuptials between humans and other species, saying that "[o]ne of the arguments against gay marriage ... is that if it becomes law, all other alternative marital visions will be allowed." He then related the story of a British woman, Sharon Tendler, who "married" a dolphin in Israel. (O'Reilly Factor; 01/04/06)

* While discussing New York City Councilwoman Christine Quinn's decision to boycott Manhattan's St. Patrick's Day parade over the decision by the Ancient Order of Hibernians to ban the Irish Lesbian and Gay Organization (ILGO) from marching, O'Reilly attacked Quinn, calling ILGO's potential participation in the parade "inappropriate." O'Reilly asked, "Why doesn't Ms. Quinn and others who support her wise up?" and stated: "You have your Gay Day parade. You have your Stonewall celebration. You have your Halloween deal, OK? You don't need this."

* O'Reilly has dismissed scientific research on same-sex parenting to assert that "[n]ature dictates that a dad and a mom is the optimum" form of child-rearing. O'Reilly asked "why," if children suffer no psychosocial deficit from being raised by same-sex parents, "wouldn't nature then make it that anybody could get pregnant by eating a cupcake?" O'Reilly declared that by arguing in favor of same-sex couples' right to raise children, "you're taking Mother Nature and you're throwing it right out the window, and I just think it's crazy." (O'Reilly Factor; 12/13/06)

How can anyone be expected to "relax" about "all this gay stuff"?

Tagged as: o'reilly, gay rights, fox news, homosexuality, homophobia, richardson

Steve Benen is a freelance writer/researcher and creator of The Carpetbagger Report. In addition, he is the lead editor of Salon.com's Blog Report, and has been a contributor to Talking Points Memo, Washington Monthly, Crooks & Liars, The American Prospect, and the Guardian.