Carlson on Encore House

Like you, I thought my blog might be a Tucker Carlson-free zone, but alas, no longer. Last week I read a New York Magazine article about Rachel Maddow, a “feisty” lefty who the magazine says outshines Carlson on his show, The Situation. I tuned in last Friday, and unfortunately Maddow was not a guest that night, but still I watched for a little bit. One segment on Encore House, the gay and lesbian retirement home under development in Los Angeles, caught my interest.

However, the discussion was uninformed water-cooler talk; they didn’t even try to lay out the home’s justification before dismissing the very idea out of hand, at times being flippant and stereotypical. At one point Carlson says, “I’m not even sure what transgendered is.” Oh, please. I’m sure he does know, but his disingenuous quip conveniently distances himself from the topic. It’s like, “Transgender? That’s crazy talk!” Ugh. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. (Later he tries to step back from the edge, alluding to his journalism experience working in newsrooms with happily “integrated” gay people.)

Below is the exchange from the show, followed by an excerpt from an AP report about the retirement home.

From The Situation with Tucker Carlson (transcript), July 15, 2005, here with guests Charley Gasparino and Karen Hunter:

CARLSON: Next situation, senior housing for graying gays. “Encore House,” it’s a $20 million retirement community in Hollywood, will be the nation’s first nonprofit senior housing dedicated to gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender adults.

It’s due to open next year, and it’s being built with a combination of public and private funds. Officials claim it won’t discriminate against heterosexual seniors. Why is the city of Los Angeles paying for this?

GASPARINO: Are they actually paying for this? That’s insane.

(CROSSTALK)

HUNTER: So what’s the problem with the regular, straight, normal, holistic old folks’ home?

CARLSON: I don’t know. I mean, why do transgender…

HUNTER: No action there? They can’t get enough action?

CARLSON: I’m not know how many transgendered elderly people there are. I’m not even sure what transgendered is. But it’s not clear why they need their own retirement community.

HUNTER: Maybe it’s that they don’t get enough action? There’s not enough choice. No, I’m just curious.

GASPARINO: Not enough action?

HUNTER: Well, if the goal — I don’t know. Is the goal to be segregated or is the goal to be accepted? Because if the goal is to be accepted, then by having a separate old folks’ home, you’re setting up this…

GASPARINO: You know what I…

CARLSON: Well, that question is at the very heart of it. That’s exactly right. And if it were paid for solely by private funds, I believe, if you pay for it yourself, you could have whomever you want or whoever you don’t want. You should be able to decide. It’s yours.

GASPARINO: By the way, I think is an expansion of the affirmative action laws. I mean, that’s probably how they got this. You don’t think so?

HUNTER: Well, I think everybody wants to be a part of affirmative action laws.

GASPARINO: I do.

HUNTER: I know you do.

GASPARINO: I’m trying.

HUNTER: Wookies who…

GASPARINO: Wookies that…

CARLSON: No, but a wait a second. I mean, this…

GASPARINO: I know. But this is — how do they justify this? It had to be under some sort of set-aside agreement, which is a problem.

CARLSON: See, that’s the exactly the point that was made by critics of gay rights at the very beginning. Twenty years ago, they said, if you put these nondiscrimination laws into effect, you’re going to, in the end, wind up with preferential treatment for gay people.

And the gay lobby said, “That’s outrageous. That’s ridiculous. All we want are equal rights.”

GASPARINO: That’s exactly what’s happening.

CARLSON: Now, this is one example — and I confess, I don’t know of a lot of others — but this is one where it does seem like preferential treatment.

GASPARINO: You have segregated schools in New York.

CARLSON: Right.

GASPARINO: I mean, it is…

HUNTER: Well, is it by design? What do you mean, female-only schools?

GASPARINO: No, no. I mean, they have their schools for gays and lesbians.

HUNTER: That’s one school.

CARLSON: Yes, the Harvey Milk School. But let me jus ask this question. I mean, in my experience working in journalism where there are a lot of gay people which seems to me fully integrated in a happy way into newsrooms everywhere, it’s not clear why you would want to pay for a segregated facility for people who are gay, apart from people who are not.

GASPARINO: I would like to know the Los Angeles city charter. They may have explicitly put gays and lesbians in their sort of city code that says you can’t discriminate against them. And so that opens a door for all…

HUNTER: But not discriminating gets them in — giving them their own…

GASPARINO: It opens the door. It opens the legal…

HUNTER: …making you and I pay for them to have their own old folks’ home is a totally different…

GASPARINO: Not when it goes before the courts.

CARLSON: It does seem bizarre and kind of annoying, actually.

(CROSSTALK)

CARLSON: But I bet it won’t be challenged. And the new mayor of Los Angeles says it’s called “Encore House” for a reason. This is just the first among many. You’re going to see a whole colony.

HUNTER: I bet their happy hour’s real colorful.

(CROSSTALK)

CARLSON: No, it’s probably a fun place for people that live there.

HUNTER: Come on, y’all, YMCA, everyone!

CARLSON: It’s just I don’t think the rest of us should have to pay for it.

From an AP report, July 14, 2005:

Brian Neimark, founder and executive director of the nonprofit Gay and Lesbian Elder Housing, which is building the apartment complex, said the residence will allow gay seniors to live in a safe environment as they increasingly depend on outside care.

“What has had to happen for many older adults is that they’ve had to go back into the closet to get the care they need,” he said. “This would be an environment of tolerance and acceptance.”

Neimark said Encore House will not discriminate against heterosexuals.

“We will not turn someone away,” he said. “All that will happen is that we have a policy of tolerance, so at our dances you’re going to see same sex couples dancing together.”

Rent will be charged on a sliding scale. The residence will be built with a combination of public and private funds, including a grant from the Annenberg Foundation.

In San Francisco, the nonprofit Open House is looking to build a similar affordable housing project.

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa pledged to work for similar projects. He noted the meaning of the facilities name, Encore House.

“That means, ‘we want more,'” he said.