Most of us are quite familiar with The View’s resident conservative commentator, Elisabeth Hasselbeck. We know her as progressives’ favorite punching bag, one-half of the Rosie O’Donnell vs. Hasselbeck smack-down, the possessor of many a frenemy, and even a mother of three. But a gay marriage supporter? Say what?
In a recent interview with Fancast, Hasselbeck shocks us all and reveals that she supports gay marriage. In part one of the interview, Hasselbeck elucidates, “I’m not ultra-ultra-conservative on every issue. I actually support gay marriage.”
Did hell just freeze over? It’s getting mighty chilly in here. I also think I just sprouted wings. But hold onto your seats because there’s even more: While Hasselbeck believes that life starts at conception, she thinks it’s wrong for the government to regulate women’s bodies. No need to grab your bifocal lens cleaner because you read it right: Elisabeth Hasselbeck just came out as a gay marriage and reproductive choice supporter. Well, it appears so, at least.
While her words are right there in print, her comments are hard to swallow. Does she mean full marriage equality or civil unions with benefits? If you’re not aware of her track record, let’s take a trip down memory lane, shall we? Back in December 2008, Melissa Etheridge told Elisabeth that she was “disappointed” in her views on Proposition 8 and gay marriage.
Then in December of 2009, Elisabeth dimly questioned Portia de Rossi (soon to be officially DeGeneres) on whether the word “marriage” was more important to the queer community than the rights themselves. Finally, flash forward to last month when Elisabeth reasoned that women magically become lesbians later in life because all the older men are chasing P.Y.T.s.
Though I’m reluctant to welcome her to the queer-loving family, if Elisabeth Hasselbeck has undergone a personal journey in which she saw the rainbow at the end of the tunnel and now supports every person’s right to love, then good for her. It’s always nice to have unexpected supporters for our team, right? I guess we’ll just have to see it on The View to believe it.
