Well, if you've been on the internet for one second tonight, you've probably seen the Facebook screenshots of Willow Palin responding to some (unpleasant) non-fans of her mom's show with various insults, including "faggot."
Huffington Post has the pics. Also see aaraujo's coverage of this story.
What happened here? In both an immediate "Doesn't Willow know any better?" and in a more long-term "What has happened that makes this teen think using this slur is o.k.?"
(cross-posted on Amplify)
In any case, Sarah Palin should address this. Especially given the anti-LGBT tragedies that we've seen these past few months, it would be insulting for such hateful language to be met with complete silence (or any kind of excuse) from Willow's mother.
Two years ago we earnestly told all and sundry that making Bristol Palin jokes or criticizing Bristol for her pregnancy was crass and mean. I still feel that way — sometimes accidents happen, among them, accidental pregnancy. People make mistakes. Etc.
This one is a little different, though, because calling someone a f*ggot ISN'T an accident. You have to be carefully taught, as the song goes and as other bloggers have observed. Kids are killing themselves over gay bullying, 86% of GLBTQ teens (and I am amazed it isn't more) have heard gay slurs in school, and the possible next president of the United States' kid is calling someone a f*ggot on Facebook. It's a situation, and not the one in this hot mess PSA.
Governor Palin: Denounce the behavior and send Willow to volunteer at a GLBTQ youth community center.