Christine O'Donnell's Lesbian Sister Turns "Family Values" Into Bitter Pill

Christine O'Donnell has become quite the conservative hero, thanks to her astonishing win in Delaware's Senatorial primary earlier this week. And, like a good right-winger, O'Donnell has built her platform on "family values," values she will no doubt tout during the Family Research Council's "Values Voters Summit" this weekend.

Conservatives have long used "family values" to shore up votes. Abortion, gays and other nasty social "trends" are a threat to the United States, they claim, and therefore must be policed, no matter what.

O'Donnell's no different: in addition to crusading against masturbation, she and her allies at the Savior's Alliance for Lifting the Truth, which she founded in 1996, have consistently blasted homosexuality as a "perversion."

News that O'Donnell has a lesbian sister, however, calls the conservative set's entire "family friendly" ideology into question, and makes O'Donnell's clearly contradictory politics a hard pill to swallow.

It's not unusual for right wing leaders to put politics ahead of their flesh and blood. Dick Cheney fought against gay marriage, even though his daughter, Mary, is a lesbian in a committed relationship. Perpetual presidential candidate Alan Keyes, meanwhile, went so far as to disown his daughter after she came out.

Though O'Donnell says she supports her sister, Jennie, the Tea Party-backed candidate still claims that people living with AIDS brought the disease on themselves and has equated gay people with pedophiles.

Considering O'Donnell's, and other conservatives with gay family members, attacks on gay rights, one has to wonder how these people can claim to support "family values" and still keep a straight face.

O'Donnell's sister insists the candidate isn't homophobic. "Thank you for your love, prayers, good humor and support of my sister, no matter what lies were made up about her," she wrote on her Facebook page. "PS, have you heard the latest? She's homophobic … Gotta laugh." Really? I'm not laughing. I'm far too confused.

There's no shortage of pandering and opportunism in politics: that's simply the nature of the beast. But it's absolutely astounding, not to mention insulting, that politicians would claim to be for "family values" while simultaneously working against equal rights for their relatives.

If O'Donnell, Cheney and the rest of the right wing gang truly cared about the state of America's families, they would be using their platforms and policies to integrate gay and lesbian family members into the mainstream American fold, rather than pushing an ideology that tramples Constitutional ideals like equality.

Sadly, voters who support such candidates don't see the inherent inconsistencies in such politics, and that ignorance proves to be the right wing's greatest asset.

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