George Will tells LGBT people not to be "sore winners"

The Fox News contributor and Washington Post columnist says LGBT advocating for their rights are being mean

Published March 3, 2014 9:25PM (EST)

 George Will         (<a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/03/george-will-sore-winners_n_4889908.html?utm_hp_ref=politics&ir=Politics">screen shot, Fox News</a>)
George Will (screen shot, Fox News)

Taking stock after the momentous events in Arizona last week, Fox News and Washington Post pundit George Will tried to have his cake and eat it too (sorry) when it came to the debate over anti-gay Jim Crow laws by arguing that stores should not be allowed to refuse service to LGBT people while, at the same time, calling any LGBT person who'd want to do business in an anti-gay establishment a "sore winner."

"It's a clash of rights," Will said to Fox News host Chris Wallace. "Fifty years ago this year," Will continued, "in one surely the great legislative achievements in American history, we passed the public accommodations section of the Civil Rights Act, saying, 'If you open your doors to business in the United States, you open it to everybody.' That's a settled issue."

But Will wasn't done. "That said," he went on, "this too needs to be said:  It's a funny kind of sore winner in the gay rights movement that would say, 'A photographer doesn't want to photograph my wedding. I've got lots of other photographers I could go to, but I'm going to use the hammer of government to force them to do this.' It's not neighborly and it's not nice."

"The gay rights movement is winning," Will said. "They should be, as I said, not sore winners."

Wallace responded that he understood Will's point, but nevertheless tried to get Will to state clearly which side he was on. "You do say that if a gay couple wants to go into a bakery and have a wedding cake, the bakery should have to make the cake."

"Bake the cake," Will declared in response.

You can watch the exchange below, via The Huffington Post:


By Elias Isquith

Elias Isquith is a former Salon staff writer.

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Arizona Sb 1062 Chris Wallace Civil Rights Act Fox News George Will Lgbt Lgbt Rights The Washington Post Video