Laura Bush Asks to Be Taken Out Of Pro-Gay Marriage Ad

First Ladies have been in the news this weekend: Michelle Obama presented the Oscar for Best Picture and Laura Bush was featured in an ad for supporting gay marriage. Of course, Laura Bush promptly asked the makers of the advertisement, an organization that promotes LGBT rights to Republicans, to take her out of the piece. Her rationale? That she “did not approve of her inclusion in this advertisement.”  If she supports gay marriage, then why not? 

Laura Bush’s objectionable statement, included in the piece is not particularly egregious: "When couples are committed to each other and love each other then they ought to have the same sort of rights that everyone has." 

What it is about such a claim that Laura Bush wants to disavow? Other notable Republicans are featured in the ad providing similar commentary: even Dick Cheney is shown saying “none of us would want to be told we can’t marry the person we love. That’s why a growing majority of Americans believe it’s time to allow marriage for gay and lesbian couples. Freedom means freedom for everyone.” 

In a time where a majority of Americans would tend to agree with her (at least when it comes to same sex marriage) Bush’s disapproval of her thoughts on the topic being aired in such an innocuous fashion seems positively outdated. 

If she truly believes that same-sex marriage is as inoffensive as she claimed in her original statement, she should not be afraid to vocalize such a sentiment, nor to have her name attached to such an important cause in a time where so much is at stake for LGBT people. 

Her unwillingness to stand behind her initial support of gay marriage says more about the politics of the Republican Party and her own disinterest in the prospect of true progress, than it does about the audacity of those producing the segment.