Several gay rights websites had condemned him in the past, because Franken actually joked about the murder of a gay man, which seems substantially more serious than supporting traditional marriage. The joke—which he found uproarious at the time—was delivered to a reporter at the Harvard Crimson:
He recalled writing a skit called “Seamen on Broadway” that was rejected from the Hasty Pudding show “by some preppie so they could take some other preppie’s skit.” Franken started to smile again, but his tone was serious, too serious. “It’s not preppies, cause I’m a preppie myself. I just don’t like homosexuals. If you ask me, they’re all homosexuals in the Pudding. Hey, I was glad when that Pudding homosexual got killed in Philadelphia.” The smile became so broad it pushed his eyes shut. He couldn’t stand it any longer. “Put that in, put that in,” Franken laughed, leaning over the desk. “I’d love to see that in The Crimson.”
So there you have it, then. If people like Franken want to launch witch hunts over people believing something that nearly everyone has believed for thousands of years—that marriage is between a man and a woman—then perhaps he should clean out his own closet, first. I’m sure he would say he was joking, but the reporter seems to have thought he was “too serious.” Now, I believe in traditional marriage, but I think saying you’re happy that a gay man got murdered is pretty off the charts. How about you, Senator Franken?
