SAN FRANCISCO – After years of conjecture about Dear Abby’s casual references to “sexual orientation” and “respect,” the advice columnist is ready to say it flatly: She supports same-sex marriage.
“I believe if two people want to commit to each other, God bless ’em,” the syndicated advice columnist said. “That is the highest form of commitment, for heaven’s sake.”
What Jeanne Phillips, a.k.a. Abigail Van Buren, finds offensive and misguided are homophobic jokes, phrases like “That’s so gay,” and parents who reject or try to reform their children when they come out of the closet.
Her views are the reason she’s being honored this week by Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays. The original Abby, Phillips’ 89-year-old mother, Pauline, helped put PFLAG on the map in 1984 when she first referred a distraught parent to the organization.
