[Maru]

Sadly, have to agree with those who see the homophobia sort of rearing it's ugly head here. Of course, even as an Ann supporter I know that her views are rooted in her Catholic background. You can't be Catholic and divorce those very specific values from your faith simply because they are inconvenient or controversial. If she stands for her faith, then that's where she stands on the issue(s) and I think kinda naive to try to give her a pass on that simply because of her other more virtuous (if not pious) qualities...

I don't know that Ann even sees the harm in what she has said. She may very well have been joking or referring to something more indifferent, but then there's the something to be said about there being a grain of truth in every joke or having a Freudian slip.

She has been quite open about her controversial beliefs about these issues, so I think rather than trying to craft a protective barrier around what she may or may not actually have meant (which I don't know that any of us really know), ask yourself if it is even possible she may not even care how it is interpreted... she doesn't seem to shy away from discourse/controversy on any subject, even if it offends others, so I think instead of trying to make out what she said, maybe consider she is not all that concerned about whether it sends a more negative tone about homosexuality...

I hope she is interviewed on it when she is out, because I'm curious how she deals with the cognitive dissonance that her beliefs no doubt create in this type of atmosphere (with Andrew/Courtney). Especially with her relationship with Amanda. But I think also really unfair to judge any one person entirely based on their opinions on a single issue... unless of course that goes against something you are rather (non-literally) religiously against.. but then you know, we are in a world where we are surrounded by conflicting belief systems... it's fine to pick and choose with strangers on the internet, but much more difficult out in real life to discriminate and screen barriers in a similar manner.. but I guess we live in a society now where that sort of discrimination really is actually the new normal, that we are all being "screened" for perceived slights or incompatible thought systems... Ann didn't grow up in that kind of world. She grew up in a society where we were encouraged to get on regardless in what was considered quite tolerant for those times, even while believing most others were terrible sinners. So other people's moral fixations on the particular words or verbiage she uses is probably all quite ambivalent and alien to her (in retrospect)

Anyway, just some mild rambling at no one in particular.