[caption id=”attachment_147918″ align=”aligncenter” width=”4800″](Darren Calabrese/The Canadian Press via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT
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Ellen Page sure showed Ted Cruz! At least, that’s the view her interview with the Daily Beast takes.
While at the Iowa State Fair, LGBT activist and actress Ellen Page confronted Ted Cruz on the issue of discrimination against gays. Cruz provided a thoughtful and comprehensive answer. Such a response, as well as the responses he has given before and since, are consistent with his views.
A lot of people, Page included, just chalk Cruz’s position on same-sex marriage and religious freedom of business owners to them being homophobic. Right or wrong though, it’s lazy. And it’s certainly the easy way out. Ironically though, Page referred to “the religious liberty justification for discrimination” as “an old argument.”
The Daily Beast pretty much gushed with Page over the Cruz encounter, and did not challenge her position, but rather helped it. The question about Cruz wasn’t even a question.
[Laughs] It was like something out of Kurt Vonnegut or some Orwellian situation. And then I just started to ask him questions out of genuine curiosity. Here’s the thing: I’ve seen multiple videos and read multiple quotes of Ted Cruz discussing gay issues, as well as Mike Huckabee, and it goes exactly as you’d expect. They don’t answer the question. They say you’re cutting them off when you try to ask the same question again because they’re not answering it, because the reality is that they might be homophobic people. To me, it seems like they’re homophobic people. We live in a culture where even the majority of young Republicans are in favor of same-sex marriage—and I mean Republican constituents, not the people running for president—and I don’t know what to say other than it went exactly as expected. It just goes to ISIS and Iran and who knows where.
Nobody is saying that Ellen Page should have to agree with Cruz. Civil discourse can be a beautiful thing in our society. It would help if Page actually took the time to listen to and understand her opponent though, rather than suggesting he is homophobic
The Daily Beast may fawn and praise Ellen Page all they wish. But taking the road she did is hardly a commendable way of “standing up” to Ted Cruz.
