‘Dear Abby’ Supports Gay Marriage

By Anastacia Mott Austin

Regular readers of the ‘Dear Abby’ column probably won’t be surprised to hear her views on gay marriage.

For years Jeanne Phillips, the voice behind ‘Dear Abby,’ has advocated that family members accept their gay relatives with open arms, and stood behind scientists’ claim that sexuality is genetically determined, not chosen.

"I'm trying to tell kids if they are gay, it’s okay to be gay," Phillips told the press this week. "I’ve tried to tell families if they have a gay family member to accept them and love them as they always have."

And now, with national gay rights organization PFLAG honoring Phillips at their convention this month, ‘Dear Abby’ has come out and said she supports gay marriage.

"I believe if two people want to commit to each other, God bless ‘em," said Phillips to reporters. "That is the highest form of commitment, for heaven's sake."

She adds that granting civil unions to gay couples rather than full marriage benefits isn’t good enough, and that anything less than full legal marriage rights creates a second-class citizen mentality.

Phillips took over the advice column five years ago when the original ‘Abby’, Phillips’ mother Pauline Phillips, became ill with Alzheimer’s. But the first ‘Dear Abby’ also voiced her opinion that being gay was "okay" by referring readers to PFLAG in the 1980s.

PFLAG, or Parents, Families, and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, states that its mission is to celebrate diversity and to "enlighten an ill-informed public" about the issues facing the gay and lesbian population today.

Gay rights advocates are understandably happy with Phillips’ views, though others are not. Members of TheParentsGroup.com, a Christian organization that might be considered the opposite of PFLAG, expressed their disappointment in Phillips’ statements.

TheParentsGroup.com’s mission is to support "…all of our members [who are] are dealing directly or indirectly with the same very difficult, painful issue: homosexuality." Stephen Bennett, the group’s founder, offered his opinion of Phillips’ stand to reporters: "’Dear Abby’s’ ignorant advice will only cause more harm and pain to a confused society, and not only to the homosexual individual, but to every family member and friend involved."

But ‘Abby’ isn’t too worried about responses like Bennett’s, and says that acceptance of gay marriage in this country is simply overdue.

"Accepting the status quo is not always the best thing to do," she wrote in a column last year. "Women were once considered chattel, and slavery was regarded as sanctioned in the Bible. However, western society grew to recognize that neither was just. Canada, Belgium, the Netherlands and Spain have recognized gay marriage, and one day, perhaps, our country will, too."