Singer Carrie Underwood facing backlash for supporting same-sex marriage
Supporters of same-sex marriage may want to consider supporting country singer Carrie Underwood for declaring her position on the hot-button issue.
The former American Idol winner has been swept up in a media storm and has been facing an online backlash after—gasp!—daring to express her support for same-sex marriage in an interview. (What century is this again?)
When asked about gay marriage, Underwood (who was raised Baptist but now attends a non-denominational congregation) told the U.K. publication The Independent that she thinks everyone should have the right to marry.
"As a married person myself [she's married to hockey player Mike Fisher], I don't know what it's like to be told I can't marry somebody I love, and want to marry," she said. "I can't imagine how that must feel. I definitely think we should all have the right to love, and love publicly, the people that we want to love."
Underwood, who is releasing her first album in the U.K., later told the Associated Press that she normally tries to remain apolitical.
“I was asked a difficult question in the last five minutes of an interview and I answered it the best way I knew how, and after that I do what I do and I love making music and I generally try to stay out of any kind of controversy,” she was quoted as saying.
Well, hey, if Underwood decides to run with it and take a fighting stance, she could always cover the Dixie Chicks' 2006 "Not Ready to Make Nice". The feisty hit song was a response to the backlash that erupted after singer Natalie Maines made negative comments about U.S. president George W. Bush at a U.K. concert.
Only a handful of country singers are openly gay, including Chely Wright and Canadian singer Drake Jensen.
In January, Jensen came out of the closet by releasing a song, "On My Way to Finding You", dedicated to gay Ottawa teen Jamie Hubley who committed suicide in October 2011. (The video includes an appearance by Jensen's husband.)
Comments
6 Comments
Akvavit
Jun 22, 2012 at 9:22pm
Good on ya, Carrie. Not a country music fan, per se, but you've sure as hell got my vote.
bdubblut
Jun 23, 2012 at 7:22am
U go girl!
Opening my iTunes now and supporting you.
uknow
Jun 23, 2012 at 5:00pm
who cares what she thinks
Kathryn
Jul 12, 2012 at 7:37am
God is not for same sex marriage ! God has not changed its people who have ! Geez wake up !
upsetwithcarrie
Sep 7, 2012 at 11:54am
I was one of her biggest fans until now. I'm so disappointed. The Bible is clear about who should marry and it's not the same sex. It speaks over and over and over and over again. Why do you think Noah had to build an ark? God was so upset over sodom and gomorah and the sins of incest and same sex unions.
upset with upsetwithcarie
Jan 1, 2014 at 11:04pm
You've got to be kidding seriously ... the ark!
At least come up with some logical and justifiable reasons to support your opinion rather than hide behind religion and an ark!
Surely allowing EVERYONE to marry is a positive thing. It promotes equality, togetherness and a state of belonging.
People used the same senseless comments when gay people fought to repel laws that harassed & made them illegal. Where police would go to gay clubs to arrest and put them in prison JUST for being gay. In some countries gay people are still sentenced to death! Remember it's not just gay people who have had to fight for equality .. blacks, women .. the list goes on.
So what are the consequences of removing those laws. Personally I've noticed a major decline in gay clubs because young people are now confident enough to mix gay and straight & don't need the safe haven of a separate club. Surely this is what we want. A world where people are happy and well adjusted rather than segregated. Do you really think ghetto's make for a happier world? Yet that's what happens when you marginalise people with comments such as "No even though you love each other the same way a man and woman love each other, your love is not legitimate because [insert lame excuse here]!"
And what excuse can you possibly come up with to justify excluding two people loving one another?
Look at countries that have introduced gay marriage. Has their quality of life decreased. No!. Has there been a negative effect. Of course not. Once you get married the piece of paper sits in a dusty draw. It may not mean much as a piece of paper, but it means a LOT to be EQUAL.
Just because you don't feel comfortable with gay people and brainwashed by religion is no reason to deny people equality of love before the law. How would you feel if your country told you that you couldn't marry! I'd dare say I'd hesitate a guess.
I've just read a news article where a limo driver refused to take two people to their wedding because they are the same sex. Is that not wrong? These two people could hire the same car to go to a baseball game no problem ... but their wedding no. Is that not discrimination? Is refusing to allow two people who love each other enough to make a commitment to each other by marriage also not wrong.
Support equality ... for EVERYONE ... because quite frankly there's already too much hate & violence in the world