A Perfectly Cromulent Blog

"Hey, that's a pretty catchy chant, where'd you hear it?"
"Oh, I heard it at that moustache parade they have every year."

Those strange bedfellows can be a bitch:

Backers of a constitutional amendment on the Nov. 8 ballot that would bar same-sex marriage quickly distanced themselves Wednesday from an upcoming "anti-homosexual marriage rally" sponsored by the Ku Klux Klan.

The city of Austin confirms that it has granted a pre-election reservation to the American White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, which requested space on the City Hall south plaza for two speakers, two microphones, flags, banners and signs.

The group plans to rally Nov. 5 in favor of Proposition 2, the constitutional amendment defining marriage as between one man and one woman. Texas statutes already ban recognition of gay marriage in Texas.

"I think it is most unfortunate. I certainly think it doesn't help any issue to have the Ku Klux Klan associated with it," said Laurence White, pastor of Our Savior Lutheran Church in Houston and head of the Texas Restoration Project, which is encouraging Christian conservatives to vote in the election.

"I have absolutely nothing to do with it," said state Rep. Warren Chisum, R-Pampa, author of the proposed amendment. "I didn't ask them to come and do this, and they're doing it on their own — not with my approval."

One might think finding yourself on the same side of an issue as the KKK would cause you to...oh I don't know, reexamine your position. Espcially with regard to a proposed Constitutional amendment that is completely pointless in the first place (gay marriage is already illegal in Texas).

Then again, the movement behind Proposition 2 stems from the same hate-filled ideology the Klan supports. Couching your intolerance and homophobia in so-called "Christian" dogma doesn't make it any less deplorable. The Klan describes itself as a Christian organization as well, after all.

Jessica Edwards, state secretary of the Texas arm of the American White Knights of the KKK, described the event as a "Pro Family Values Rally" in her request, but the group's Web site bills it as an "anti-homosexual marriage rally."

Edwards wrote that the group is a "peaceful organization" but that "obviously" security will be an issue. "Our speech will not be inflammatory, but we all know the reputation of the name of the KKK, so we expect anti-Klan demonstrators to be there who may become violent," she wrote.

Yeah, they'd just hate it if their organization - which only became "peaceful" when it ceased being socially acceptable to hang black people from trees - incited any violent reaction. They couldn't throw this thing together fast enough after word about the Toledo riots got out.

Where - curiously enough - the Klan has a rally scheduled in March.

Glen Maxey, who heads anti-proposition group No Nonsense in November, said it would be unfair to assume those who support the proposition also support the Klan.

"It just ticks me off that people like this purport to speak for anyone, including people on the other side of the debate," said Maxey, an Austin Democrat who served several years in the Legislature as its only openly gay member.

I see Maxey's point, and it might be understandable if the Klan was coming out in favor of something they weren't normally associated with, like toll road issues, or crop subsidies, but anti-homosexual rhetoric has been part of the KKK's menu for decades.

"It's certainly not helpful," he added. "As a political consultant, I'd be drinking a stiff one right now if I had to deal with these people articulating my message."

Uh, moving on...

Steven Edwards, of the American White Knights in Texas, said the group rallying in Austin isn't a "typical" Klan group. "We do not wear our robes and hoods in public, and we do not shout racial obscenities," he wrote in an e-mail.

So you're cowards. Thanks for clearing that up.