Hypocrisy 101: Lead Charge Against Gay Marriage, But Divorce Your Own Spouse

categories: Election 2008, Gay Marriage, Marriage Equality, Proposition 8

Published August 13, 2009 @ 02:51PM PT

Stop h8

Talk about irony. Doug Manchester, one of the Proposition 8's biggest defenders and an advocate for traditional marriage, is doing a rather un-traditional thing by conservative standards: he's divorcing his spouse. Or make that, his wife is divorcing him, after 43 years of marriage.

Divorce happens of course. But is there something extremely hypocritical at play when an ardent opponent of gay marriage - one who gives substantial amounts of money to defeat gay marriage at the ballot box - argues against same-sex marriage while severing his own marriage?

Even more dubious are some of the charges made by Doug Manchester's wife. Among other things, Elizabeth Manchester accuses Doug of taking $100,000 out of their joint checking account, and also accuses him of stealing her mail. Does that sound like behavior that's becoming of someone so dedicated to "the sanctity" of marriage?

Hell no. Which means that Manchester now gets to join the club of people like Newt Gingrich, John McCain, and Rush Limbaugh who think that gays are the worst thing to happen to marriage, but who themselves have a history of divorce (and in the case of Gingrich and Limbaugh, at least, a history of divorce after divorce after divorce...). Is that hypocritical? Sure is.

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Doug Manchester is an intolerant conservative who has an incorrect view of LGBT rights. He taking out $100,000 out of his and his ex-wife's checking account to donate against the very important right of same-sex marriage is wrong. Stealing mail from his ex-wife is also wrong and shows that an already intolerant person against LGBT rights, does something wrong to further his other wrong, which was supporting the intolerant Proposition 8.

Posted by Edwin Bonilla on 08/13/2009 @ 03:04PM PT
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If they were paying more attention to their own " traditional marriages", rather than worrying about gays getting married, maybe the divorce rate in this country wouldn't be so high. Marrige should not be an area where the addage " if at first you don't succeed, try, try again"is the norm.

Posted by gilbert barrett on 08/13/2009 @ 05:12PM PT
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I cannot fathom why this is news to anyone. These types of religious nut jobs are not just hypocrites but self manifesting oxymorons. It too sad that they are catching on to, from us gays and scientist, (two groups of people they hate the most) healthy dietary habbits. See before we would just wait till they died off at age 50 from either a stroke or heart attack... Now we have to work at killing them. And by work I mean actually making sure the younger generations get off the asses and votes.

Posted by Chris Marshall on 08/14/2009 @ 08:30AM PT
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Maybe this will prove to be a turning point for him. Or at least a reason to for him to pause & give a second thought. For some people it takes a personal crisis to alter a habit of thinking.

Posted by Jeff S on 08/16/2009 @ 10:38PM PT
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True mr. S but unfortunatly...Hypocritical idiots like mr. manchester are fundementaly incapable of learning from their mistakes due, ironicly, to their having been fundementaly brainwashed by, again ironicly, brain dead bible thumpers.

Posted by Thomas McHugh on 09/25/2009 @ 01:49PM PT
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Michael is the Communications Director for the Human Rights Program at Harvard Law School, and previously was Communications Director for Pax Christi USA, a progressive Catholic human rights organization.