FIC Blog

Sen. Andrew McDonald (D-Stamford, Darien), one of the state legislature’s biggest proponents of same-sex unions, may have a pro-family opponent in this year’s elections according to the Stamford Advocate:

Rick Giordano is a supporter of the Family Institute of Connecticut, a group that lobbied hard against the civil union legislation passed last year, and Democrats expect him to make McDonald’s support for civil unions an issue in the campaign. McDonald, who is gay, shepherded the legislation through the legislature’s Judiciary Committee, which he co-chairs.

The author of the article claims that Rick “declined to talk” about the same-sex union issue with her. In fact, what he told her was that he doubts that Sen. McDonald would like to discuss his vote to allow 16-year-olds to engage in same-sex unions, something the bill approved by the Senate—but not the House—allowed for. The article also contains an unattributed reference to how Rick could run as an unaffiliated candidate, even though he has never expressed any interest in doing so.

Media bias against the pro-family cause and its supporters is nothing new. Neither are the distortions of our opponents. During last year’s same-sex unions debate Sen. McDonald accused opponents of being motivated by “hate and bigotry”—while Catholic lobbyist Marie Hilliard sat in the rafters, being guarded by plainclothes police because of a pro same-sex union death threat made against her.

During that same debate, Sen. McDonald argued that legislators would pay no electoral price at the polls by waving a pro-family sign from his previous opponent—without mentioning that those signs were stolen the night they were put up.

These tactics by the self-professed “tolerant” are nothing new. The important thing is that Sen. McDonald may have the opportunity to put his reassuring advice to his colleagues—that there’s no electoral price for voting for same-sex unions—to the test.