No, Fran Drescher, Kirk Cameron Is Not Un-American

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Late last week, former Growing Pains star Kirk Cameron appeared on Piers Morgan Tonight and called homosexuality “unnatural”. He further argued marriage shouldn’t be redefined to include same-sex relationships. As expected, his opinion prompted a deluge of complaints from gay rights groups and impassioned defenses of homosexuality from celebrities, writers and everyday people. The latest star to respond is Fran Drescher of the new comedy Happily Divorced.

As a long-time proponent of marriage equality and a woman whose former husband is now an open homosexual, the actress didn’t take very kindly to Cameron’s comments. Here’s what she had to say…

"(He needs) to reexamine what it is to be an American. I think that he is confusing our country, which is a country that separates church from state, with a religious dictatorship. To be an American is not to be a hater, not make a religion that you may practice to be an excuse for selecting a group of people and making them feel less good."

As someone who also believes in marriage equality and couldn’t care less what harmless activities people do in their own bedrooms, I want to vehemently support any comments defending GLBT causes, but I can’t get behind calling anyone un-American for having a different opinion, or as she calls it, being a “hater”. It’s stupid, and it doesn’t even make any sense.

Kirk Cameron is a good American precisely because he stood up and gave his opinion. He didn’t advocate violence or threaten anyone. He just gave voice to his own moral code. I might think his opinion is bullshit, but that’s what is great about America. He called bullshit on homosexuality, and then people called bullshit on him. That tried and true process has been going on since a bunch of hooligans dumped tea into the harbor. Every single one of us is a “hater”, and there’s nothing un-American about it.

If every one of us were always tolerant of the actions of others, or didn’t use our own value system to make another group “feel less good”, nothing would ever change. America would be completely stagnant because everything everyone says upsets some group. Is it un-American for people to say it’s not good policy for teenage girls to get pregnant in high school? Is it un-American for people to say assisted suicide is okay, or that assisted suicide is not okay? Of course it’s not.

Kirk Cameron is an American. I happen to think he has a bullshit opinion, but then again, I’m sure he thinks my opinion is bullshit too. Isn’t that the way it should be? Just two Americans, fundamentally disagreeing—regardless of what Fran Drescher might tell you.

Mack Rawden
Editor In Chief

Mack Rawden is the Editor-In-Chief of CinemaBlend. He first started working at the publication as a writer back in 2007 and has held various jobs at the site in the time since including Managing Editor, Pop Culture Editor and Staff Writer. He now splits his time between working on CinemaBlend’s user experience, helping to plan the site’s editorial direction and writing passionate articles about niche entertainment topics he’s into. He graduated from Indiana University with a degree in English (go Hoosiers!) and has been interviewed and quoted in a variety of publications including Digiday. Enthusiastic about Clue, case-of-the-week mysteries, a great wrestling promo and cookies at Disney World. Less enthusiastic about the pricing structure of cable, loud noises and Tuesdays.