# Meet our towns new mayor, and his husband **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 9, 2010, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meet-our-towns-new-mayor-and-his-husband/560092 "2010-11-09T21:31:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2010, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meet-our-towns-new-mayor-and-his-husband/560092/21 "2010-11-10T15:17:09Z")
Balderdash. Religion and belief in a god are two totally separate items. You can believe in a god but not religion and vice versa. ---
**Author:** ![newcomer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e5b9ba/32.png) [@newcomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/newcomer)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2010, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meet-our-towns-new-mayor-and-his-husband/560092/22 "2010-11-10T15:40:29Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > Yup. My husband and I went to a volunteer meeting while he was campaigning, and one of the questions asked was if he was a Muslim (this was an extraordinary question, as we allow our public figures much more religious privacy here, but it was felt that it could become an issue, so volunteers should know the answer to the question), and the answer was yes. But he was in a bar! At least, that’s what I get from the quote you’re responding to. So, looks like you got yourself a takiya boy for a mayor there. Wait till he starts closing all those bars and ban public kissing. And issue a fatwa against putting up a Canadian flag. Or, he really is not Muslim. ---
**Author:** ![EvilTOJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee59a6/32.png) [@EvilTOJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilTOJ)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2010, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meet-our-towns-new-mayor-and-his-husband/560092/23 "2010-11-10T17:53:16Z")
Yawn. Portland’s had a [gay mayor](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Adams_%28Oregon_politician%29) for years. We’ve even had a sex scandal that no one cared about! He’s also got the same name as a beer, which is what Portland is also known for. So someone beat a gay, sex-scandalizing, beer mayor! ---
**Author:** ![Maastricht](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@Maastricht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maastricht)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2010, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meet-our-towns-new-mayor-and-his-husband/560092/24 "2010-11-10T18:20:33Z")
> [@EvilTOJ](#): > > Yawn. Portland’s had a [gay mayor](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Adams_%28Oregon_politician%29) for years. Yes, but is he in a high profile marriage so people who meet him in an official capacity cannot ignore the fact that he is gay, and instead have to make charming small talk with his husband? ---
**Author:** ![Critical\_Mass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@Critical\_Mass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Critical_Mass)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2010, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meet-our-towns-new-mayor-and-his-husband/560092/25 "2010-11-10T18:29:15Z")
We had a [gay Mayor](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glen_Murray_%28politician%29) before the turn of the millennium. He was an adequate mayor - not the worst, but far from the best. But he was gay. That counts for something doesn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2010, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meet-our-towns-new-mayor-and-his-husband/560092/26 "2010-11-10T18:33:26Z")
> [@newcomer](#): > > But he was in a bar! At least, that’s what I get from the quote you’re responding to. So, looks like you got yourself a takiya boy for a mayor there. Wait till he starts closing all those bars and ban public kissing. And issue a fatwa against putting up a Canadian flag. > > Or, he really is not Muslim. Was he drinking alcohol? It’s perfectly possible to be in a bar and not be drinking alcohol. Even that won’t really get you an answer…lots of Muslims here in Chicago drink, some of them quite openly, just as many Catholics use birth control and some Jewish people eat bacon. Their religious leaders may not be fond of the practice, but they’re rarely kicked out of the club for doing so. If he says he’s a Muslim, I’m happy to consider him a Muslim. If he’s a Muslim who drinks alcohol in public, other Muslims may say he’s a \*\*bad \*\* or sinning Muslim, but I doubt they’d say he’s not Muslim at all. ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2010, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meet-our-towns-new-mayor-and-his-husband/560092/27 "2010-11-10T19:54:45Z")
> [@newcomer](#): > > Or, he really is not Muslim. Next thing you’re going to tell me he was really born in Hawaii. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2010, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meet-our-towns-new-mayor-and-his-husband/560092/28 "2010-11-10T19:59:07Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > Even that won’t really get you an answer…lots of Muslims here in Chicago drink, some of them quite openly, just as many Catholics use birth control and some Jewish people eat bacon. Their religious leaders may not be fond of the practice, but they’re rarely kicked out of the club for doing so. > > If he says he’s a Muslim, I’m happy to consider him a Muslim. If he’s a Muslim who drinks alcohol in public, other Muslims may say he’s a \*\*bad \*\* or sinning Muslim, but I doubt they’d say he’s not Muslim at all. Don’t be silly. Everyone knows that one’s religious affiliation is not a personal decision of faith, but is decided by some chump on the internet. Duh. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2010, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meet-our-towns-new-mayor-and-his-husband/560092/29 "2010-11-10T20:07:53Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > Is Nenshi really Muslim? That article says he was in a bar: I know a Muslim who drinks booze occasionally. Just means she isn’t the best Muslim she can be, but she still considers herself Muslim. A bit like an otherwise observant Jew who doesn’t bother to keep kosher. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2010, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meet-our-towns-new-mayor-and-his-husband/560092/30 "2010-11-10T20:17:09Z")
Right: or a Christian who offers the occasional blood sacrfice to Ba’al. Everyone has their little foibles. ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2010, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meet-our-towns-new-mayor-and-his-husband/560092/31 "2010-11-10T20:25:33Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > I know a Muslim who drinks booze occasionally. Just means she isn’t the best Muslim she can be, but she still considers herself Muslim. A bit like an otherwise observant Jew who doesn’t bother to keep kosher. Heh. Exactly. We were in Tunisia last summer, and asked a local how observant the populace was, after seeing a lovely mosque in Sidi Bou Said. He chuckled and said that if we saw how crowded the mosque was on the sabbath (or whichever word is used for sabbath in Islam, I can’t remember!), we’d think the whole country was highly devout. But if we saw how crowded the bars were on the weekends, we’d think there wasn’t a single observant Muslim within a hundred miles. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2010, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meet-our-towns-new-mayor-and-his-husband/560092/32 "2010-11-10T21:01:29Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > I know a Muslim who drinks booze occasionally. Just means she isn’t the best Muslim she can be, but she still considers herself Muslim. See also: the population of Turkey. Their beer is pretty good, but the spirits are purest firewater. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2010, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meet-our-towns-new-mayor-and-his-husband/560092/33 "2010-11-10T21:19:27Z")
> [@Baron\_Greenback](#): > > See also: the population of Turkey. Their beer is pretty good, but the spirits are purest firewater. Foulness, thy name is [raki](http://www.raki.com/raki.asp) ;). ---
**Author:** ![lindsaybluth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/90db22/32.png) [@lindsaybluth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lindsaybluth)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2010, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meet-our-towns-new-mayor-and-his-husband/560092/34 "2010-11-10T21:25:39Z")
> [@SanVito](#): > > It still constantly surprises me that being an atheist is such a political bomb in the US. It’s such an alien concept to this heathen Brit – we don’t give a stuff. Ugh, you have no idea. People recoil like crazy. My parents are different races and religions and they consider it _abhorrent_ that I’m agnostic. ---
**Author:** ![Apollo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/41988e/32.png) [@Apollo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apollo)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2010, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meet-our-towns-new-mayor-and-his-husband/560092/35 "2010-11-10T21:39:39Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > Is Nenshi really Muslim? That article says he was in a bar: No true… muslim? He’s brown and has a funny name, I would have thought that was all you yanks would require as proof. By the way, do you enjoy shellfish? ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2010, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meet-our-towns-new-mayor-and-his-husband/560092/36 "2010-11-11T01:46:27Z")
> [@Apollo](#): > > No true… muslim? > > He’s brown and has a funny name, I would have thought that was all you yanks > would require as proof.\ No kidding - I thought you were Muslim until proven otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![catastrophe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ec9cab/32.png) [@catastrophe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/catastrophe)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2010, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meet-our-towns-new-mayor-and-his-husband/560092/37 "2010-11-11T02:54:22Z")
> [@Cat\_Whisperer](#): > > Funnily enough, Calgary elected a visible minority Muslim mayor, and Toronto elected a redneck. How the times are changing. 🙂 Yeah just keep rubbing it in why don’t you. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2010, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meet-our-towns-new-mayor-and-his-husband/560092/38 "2010-11-11T06:13:36Z")
> [@catastrophe](#): > > Yeah just keep rubbing it in why don’t you. The irony of the people who have considered Albertans rednecks for so long electing a redneck mayor is just too delicious to ignore. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Gleena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b3f665/32.png) [@Gleena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gleena)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2010, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meet-our-towns-new-mayor-and-his-husband/560092/39 "2010-11-11T11:21:20Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > I’m still waiting for the government elected-office holder who is black, female, gay, and an atheist. Anyone got one of those? Two of three but throw in unmarried but co-habitating (we have a First Parter!) and childfree by choice. ---
**Author:** ![Gleena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b3f665/32.png) [@Gleena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gleena)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2010, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meet-our-towns-new-mayor-and-his-husband/560092/40 "2010-11-11T11:25:42Z")
> [@Giles](#): > > The Prime Minister of Australia has said that she is “not religious”, which does seem to me to be close to saying that she’s an atheist. She said that but also flat out said no, she doesn’t believe in God. She’s been pretty unequivocal on it, which is why I still love Julia even though I wince a lot… 😃 > [@The Sydney Morning Herald](#): > > If believers were in the dark about Gillard’s religious convictions, they needed only to tune in to the ABC’s Jon Faine program yesterday. > > FAINE: Do you believe in God? > > PM: No, I don’t Jon, I’m not a religious person. > > Amazingly, the radio station was not struck by lightning. > > Gillard hastened to add she was brought up a Baptist, attending the Mitcham Baptist Church. Why, she even won catechism prizes for remembering verses from the Bible. > > ‘‘But during my adult life I’ve, you know, found a different path,’’ she declared. ‘‘I’m, of course, a great respecter of religious beliefs but they’re not my beliefs.’’ [The full article.](http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/pm-tells-it-as-she-sees-it-on-the-god-issue-20100629-zjad.html) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meet-our-towns-new-mayor-and-his-husband/560092.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/meet-our-towns-new-mayor-and-his-husband/560092.md?page=3)