Michelle Bachmann
Everyone knows how Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann feels about LGBT people: She doesn’t like us, even though some people claim she is married to a gay man herself.
Michele Bachmann is very vocal about her support for a federal constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage. She and her husband Marcus owns — and he operates — a clinic where they purport to turn gay people straight. Michele Bachmann has said, according to the Human Rights Campaign, that, “If you’re involved in the gay and lesbian lifestyle, it’s bondage. It is personal bondage, personal despair and personal enslavement.” And her husband Marcus has said, in essence, that gays and lesbians are “barbarians that need to be educated.”
So you can bet that when an 8-year-old boy named Elijah approached Michele Bachmann at a recent meet-and-greet event in South Carolina to promote her new book, Core of Conviction: My Story, to let her know that his mom was a lesbian and didn’t need to be cured or converted, Michele was none too happy to be cornered that way.
Watch the video below, and you’ll see that all starts out friendly enough: Michele is seated behind a table as a woman and young boy approach. There are polite greetings and then the mom tells her son, “Don’t you have something you’d like to say?”
The youngster mumbles few his message, then Michele Bachmann tells him she’s sorry, but she couldn’t hear him. She pulls him closer and bends down with her ear near his mouth as he repeats: “Miss Bachmann, my mommy’s gay but she doesn’t need any fixing.”
The look of shock on Michele Bachmann’s face is priceless, but when she straightens up, the look she gives Elijah’s mom — well, let’s just say that if looks could kill, Elijah would be an orphan.
It’s sad that that child was used for that … let children be children before they have to deal with BS politics of life … I ask my 6yo to describe 2 boxers to describe everything to the best of his ability each fighter… And through out a long description including from height, color of shorts to the depths of eye sockets… but not once did I hear: “One is a black man and one is a white man” — it was beautiful, the color of the fighters skin was not even a factor. Children are too innocent to involve in discussions like these, and they just need educated about what is right and what is wrong, and let all other BS like what this certain politician says, fall to the wayside.
Actually if it wasn’t for artificial insemination or adoption that kid would not be here. His mommy has failed her #1 reason for her existence as a biological unit. It’s to reproduce. Last I heard you need a man & women to reproduce. So his mommy actually does have a defect and does need to be fixed. Nice try yet again all the gay haters.
@Ring Zer0: It would be wonderful if we could agree to “let children be children before they have to deal with BS politics of life..” except that figures like Michele Bachmann build their political careers attacking real families and real children like Elijah. They throw them as red meat to their bloodthirsty base of zealots who feel that stomping on people for being different somehow makes them righteous. If you don’t want children to have to “deal with BS politics of life” insist that politicians not make their families’ basic security a wedge issue. Why can’t you complain half as forcefully against that as you do against a mother and child having the nerve to stand up for themselves to this hate monger who uses them to accumulate political power for herself by pandering to hateful and ignorant prejudices against them?
Yeah, this doesn’t make the gay parent look very good.
Ring Zer0, I respectfully and very adamantly disagree. You have no way of knowing the experiences of that family. Children are all unique, and some are more precocious than others. It is not difficult to see how a soft-spoken, precocious child who’s seen Ms. Bachmann speaking on the news about how homosexuality is this terrible evil thing, would be upset and hurt by her words it if his mother is a lesbian. As a mother, and as a lesbian, I think this was a totally reasonable response to the situation. She gave her son the chance to stand up to a bully. I think that’s great parenting right there. For all you know, that family has already had to face the ugliness of discrimination. It creeps in subtly in many ways. For instance, my 8 year old son has already had to have a discussion with a classmate because his classmate said that it’s impossible to have 2 moms. How do you know that 6 year old hasn’t already had to deal with that sort of thing from his classmates? You don’t. Heterocentrism and discrimination are still very widespread in this society, especially in more conservative states. If my son heard Ms. Bachmann talking on the news and was upset by her words, I would probably do something similar out of love for my child and the desire to encourage him to overcome his fear and speak out in the name of love.
People should quit toting this video around as if its some trophy. It backfires because this mom used the kid and made the kid do it. It’s child abuse if anything.
Makes you and the parent look worst than it does Michele Bachman.
I see no evidence that the kid was coerced into saying that. It puzzles me as to why this is the conclusion so many are jumping to. All I can figure is that the people that jump to that conclusion don’t have kids, and don’t know how very perceptive kids can be.
Even though I don’t agree with what the Mother did I do agree that people like Bachmann constantly need to be reminded of their warped idealogical agenda. The Mother used this event just like Bachmann and other Tea Party followers use the media and social network to get their warped message across. What’s the difference?
Chris, it is entirely possible to have a child from a previous heterosexual relationship.
I just feel I should add, I am the son of a gay man, and I probably would have said something similar if I had had the chance to confront an anti-gay politician when I was Elijah’s age. At eight years old, I was keenly aware of “the BS politics of life” that Ring Zer0 suggests gay parents somehow protect their children from (when I couldn’t get added to my stepdad’s health insurance plan because we weren’t a “real” family, I don’t see what my father could have done to protect me from it. Good thing I didn’t have any serious illnesses then.) At Elijah’s age, I almost got tossed from Catholic school for the loud way I defended my family from the constant drumbeat of contempt that sanctimonious teachers, parents, and clergy thought was appropriate to hurl at a child. My father wasn’t “coercing” me when I was alone at school, but it is only natural for a child to stand up and defend their home and family when it is attacked.
Michael, I agree with you. I probably wouldn’t have chosen to publicize the video like this, but I would totally let my kid speak out.
Nick, Kudos for being that kid and standing up for your family. No kid deserves that kind of contempt and hatefulness. It really stinks that some people think it’s ok to project their hatred of the parent at the kid.
First off, we don’t know if this was fixed or not. This 8 year old could be intelligent for all we know. And even if it was, lets think about this. This is a woman who goes on national television and say that gay and lesbians need fixing, they are barbarians, basically I think if she could she’d kill them all. Its not like Michelle didn’t deserve this. We don’t know the circumstances of this situation, stop jumping to conclusions here, lets face it, she deserved what she got. Not all 8 year olds are idiots you know, there is a high possibility he saw here on TV calling his mother a monster.
Why do gays always want to sexualize children? At 8, I didn’t even think about sex.
Do a search on kevin jennings, obama’s safety school czar, and his recommended reading for children. Straight (oxymoron) gay porn.
Shawn, that makes no sense. Gays don’t want to sexualize children, if anything she does. And not all 8 year olds are you.
Not sure how many 8-yr olds keep up with what politicians are saying unless mommy forces them to pay attention – or just sets them up for this ‘confrontation’. I’d say there IS evidence of this being a set-up: Mommy tapping him on the back while saying “Don’t you have something you want to say…”
This is not the video to be using as a tool to point out homophobia. But it is a tool to point out exploitation of children. Nice work.
cwize, it still doesn’t change the fact that this was deserving. And actually, 8 year olds are more informed then you may think. Correct me if I’m wrong, but do you have a child?
Wow, what a pathetic moment. Agenda-breathing, approval obsessed lesbian drags the kid up there and forces him to parrot her agenda? Real spontaneous. I wish Michelle would have replied “sorry kid, but your Mo
mmy needed to be “fixed” in order for you to be born, now run along and ask your father what HE thinks.”
I thought Michele was very gracious and just let him have his mother’s say and walk away. No need to respond to a child who cannot understand the political, economic, and social effects that issues like gay marriage, global warming/freezing, welfare programs and planned parenthood/abortion have.
I also suggest the writer of this tid bit learn how to spell her first and last name.
It’s funny how the conservatards cry “let the children be children” yet that doesn’t seem to apply when they are dragged to churches and brainwashed into believing the words of bronze age ignorants are God-breathed moral guidelines for humanity. Or when, in the same churches they are indoctrinated with hatespeach and bigotry against gays (and blacks not too long ago in our history).
This isn’t even about being gay, it’s about abusing a child. They just took a family’s 3 children away because they named 2 of them A dolf Hi tler and Ar yn Nation. I’m pretty sure those parents were going to be teaching those children hate, but IDK if they should have been taken away based on that. Because if that’s true then they should be taking this child away. I’m pretty sure this mom is teacher her son hate. I’m pretty sure she hates Michelle bachman and tells her son he should hate her as well just because she doesn’t agree with her lifestyle. I am fine personally with this woman’s lifestyle, but it seems like they are always the most intolerant of other people. This woman hates Ms Bachman and I’m pretty sure she is teacher her son to hate all Christian conservatives. Should this child be taken away from his mom because she is teaching him to hate people that don’t agree with her? I would NEVER teach my child to hate anyone that is not like him, or just because they disagree with him. This woman went out of her way to embarass her 8 yr old son and videotape it purely for her own agenda. SHe didn’t give a cr*p of his feelings. All she cared about was using him to bash Bachman. She hates anyone that doesn’t agree with her lifestyle and will be teaching her children to hate them as well. She is a disgrace as a mother. Like Ms. Bachman or not, this woman is out of line making a child confront a grown up.
Isaih … The woman taping this is the woman’s friend. SHe already gave a statement saying that she was thier with that mother to tape it. The mother is heard right on the video saying “don’t u have something u want to say’ The child is 8, no one is saying he is not intelligent, but no 8 yr old knows that Ms Bachman is anti gay on his own. His mother told him that Ms Bachman hates her and gay people. Dont be a fool, do you really think this 8 yr old watches the news and looked up Ms. Bachmans views on his own? Yes, maybe he is a very intelligent child but this mother is wrong 100percent for pushing a child to “CONFRONT a grown woman” that is scary to a child. She tells him this woman is evil and hates his mother and then she makes him walk up to her and confront her. Don’t be an idiot, of course that would scare any child. If I told my 8 yr old that the man next door is evil and hates us and wants to change us etc and then one day he’s outside washing his car and I tell my son to walk up to him and say why do you hate us …he’s gonna be terrified because I ALREADY TOLD HIM that the man hates us. Think about it.
Elijah was not forced to say that. He was speaking up for his mother, and his family as a whole unit. His family is his family, no matter the sex of the people making it up. He and other children from same sex couples have been speaking up more and more, and I am sure if Elijah was older, he could have done it without his mother by his side, but the kid is eight, give him and his mother a break. He needed her there to help him. Watch this video from an Iowa legislature session last year of a young man with two mothers. It is powerful and incredibly true. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FSQQK2Vuf9Q.
Put me down for parental set up. First, it seems out of the ordinary that the 8 year old’s party would be attending an opposing party’s gathering. Secondly, the camera was ready. Most boys think their moms are perfect and I am left wondering if the father’s absence was because he needed fixing.
If only fertile couples can get married, then what about the infertile, but straight ones?
8-year-olds know about politics. I remember my parents giving me a PG version of what then-President Clinton was being impeached for when I was about that age. And don’t be so sure that the child was coerced. He may have wanted to say something, but been shy and needed a little prompting.
And he’s not being “sexualized.” When I was young I knew my parents loved each other, without know about sex. No reason why this boy needs to know about sex to know that his mother loves women rather than men.
Shawn, that’s just idiotic. Being gay isn’t strictly about sex anymore than being straight is strictly about sex. I and most other gays could give a shit less about how good or bad other people feel about who I’m f*cking. It’s not about f*cking. There are no laws about what gender of person I can have sex with. I can have s*x with anyone I want, and no politician can do a thing about it. We’re not fighting for the right to have s*x. We’re not preaching for the right to have s*x. If s*x is all that your marriage and/or romantic relationships are about, boy do I feel sorry for you.
Also, this comment is not spam, fuck you.
why do people assume children are coached. Sounds like he lloves his Mom. Why cannon you freedom seekers stay out of other peoples lives?
“but no 8 yr old knows that Ms Bachman is anti gay on his own.”
are you being serious right now Diana? 8 year olds are not all focused on the generic TV Shows and crap, he could absolutely know who Michelle was without his mothers help. And again that is not the point. The point is HER views are affecting families like his. Don’t tell me not to be an idiot, its obvious you don’t know that an 8 year old like him could EASILY know about politics. Come on now lets be a little intelligent.
“His mother told him that Ms Bachman hates her and gay people.”
Which she does! Come on this is affecting everyone even him. You’ve got to look at both this situation, and Michelle’s full views on gay marriage. She deserved this. Completely. Kudos to the kid for letting woman know what’s up.
It’s sad this creep decided to use her child as a pawn in voicing her beliefs. Leave your children out of your agenda. You’re not proving that you can be a good parent here.
How disgusting that this person would send their child up there to say that…this poor kid was obviously uncomfortable..deplorable and distasteful. Wish I could rescue him.
Just a note to all you righteous people disparaging this mother for “abusing” her son and “forcing” him to participate in pushing her agenda: Get real. When my son was 8, he came home from school telling us that he hated George W. Bush, and why. It wasn’t something we told him to say or even talked to him about. He also told us that when he was president, he would make a law making it illegal to hate gay people – something else we never told him to say or think. At dinner with his grandparents, who are Republican, he once debated his grandfather on George W. Bush, and won the debate. And arguing with his grandfather about politics is something the rest of us avoid like the plague. So no, you can’t sit there and tell me that this child was forced to say what he said to Michele Bachmann.
As far as “abusing” the boy by forcing him to participate in some agenda, you need to get real about that, too. Considering how many times I have seen right-wing protesters take their children to protests in front of medical clinics or gay pride parades, forced them to stand in the summer heat or the cold of winter and carry horrifying signs of aborted fetuses or stick figures of two men having sex or whatever, there is no way in hell I would consider what Elijah’s mom to be abusive or coercive in any way.
Remember what Christ said about removing the beam from your own eye before you try to take the speck out of someone else’s eye? Obviously you don’t.
My observations – that boy was put up to it by his pushy mother-unit. He did not want to repeat the memorized words loud enough for anyone to hear, but he had to say them or he was going to get in trouble. He was afraid to get close to Michele Bachmann, probably because he was told such bad things about her. And did you see the contempt that the woman displayed at Michele when she went to shake her hand? That poor little boy – this is nothing less than child abuse.
I agree with Rebecca.
There is alot of angst there that Elijah should not have to endure. Michele was very gracious.
Disgusted, I agree. I have seen abortion protesters standing outside in below freezing weather with kids under the age of 12 waving signs with dead fetuses on them. The hyper-conservative have no room to criticize in this matter. I also firmly stick to the opinion that a 6 to 8 year old CAN have political opinions! This was not child abuse. Whatever it was, that kid needed to say that and Michelle Bachman clearly needed to hear it. She hurts millions every time she spews hatred for homosexuals and their families.
I think its really funny that some of you can even begin to say that this woman was “abusing” her son for having him do this (if in fact she did make him do it). Kids are kids and in this day and age they are very impressionable and somehow manage to see and hear everything, even the things we try and keep away from them. Think about all the times that you have jokingly told your child something and asked them to run across the house and tell daddy he’s silly, or tell mommy she cant drive, even though it’s not political you are techinically stil,l “pushing your agenda.” This child does not need to be rescued, and the mother should be praised for teaching her child to speak his mind in a polite way!! I am a lesbian and me and my partner have raised 3 beautifu lchildren together and have another one on the way… I have taught each and everyone one of them that love is love and we will love them no matter what and they love us the same way!! I child does not always need to be told what to say, contrary to your beliefs they have their own minds and they tend to use them. Honestly I cant imagine how shelterd and uneducated half of your children are if this is shocking to you!!
After seeing the whole video it is clear that this child’s body language shows discomfort. You can clearly hear his mother insisting he go up and speak to Bachmann. Whether gay or straight no patent should use their child as a pawn. This mom is wrong.
Also…Bachmann did just as she should hsve. She said goodbye. Engaging in a debate over sexuality with a child is not her business. This mom should be able to deal with her lifr herself.