Out singer Melissa Etheridge says
people coming out is behind increasing support for gay marriage.
In an interview with Larry King to
promote her latest studio album This
is M.E., Etheridge was asked whether she was surprised by the
relatively fast pace of “gay acceptance.”
“Were you surprised that the gay
thing, the gay acceptance, happened so quick as compared to the civil
rights movement?” King asked.
“Bush basically won his election
because he was against gay marriage to just boom, not even 15 years
later, we are talking, yes, we are seeing it roll out like this,”
Etheridge responded.
“People coming out, that's what
happened. People got the courage to come out. They became your
neighbors and the people that you worked with and teachers at school,
the people you love. You see these stories of people coming to the
rescue, people that have been fired because they are gay.”
King followed up by asking whether
Etheridge was surprised that many people decide to remain in the
closet about their sexuality.
“I mean, now you would think, 'Why
not?'” King said.
“Because it's still very much
ingrained into our society that man and woman is correct. This is
what we see on television, this is what we see in books, in
magazines. That's the right thing. So, when you do realize that
your preference of what you're made of might be different than that –
yeah, it's still a very deep, personal journey,” Etheridge
answered. (The video is embedded on this page. Visit
our video library for more videos.)