Final Word from Thursday, March 16, 2006
A doctored picture on the cover of Týden magazine showed Václav Klaus and Jiří Paroubek holding hands and looking like, well, flaming homosexuals. Pictures of Paroubek and Miloš Zeman holding hands at Zeman's cottage also elicited chuckles. No one suspects any of these politicians of being gay (well, okay, there were some rumors about Klaus, but his little dalliance with Klára put paid to that). What's happening instead is that being homosexual, whether in reality or in jest, is becoming politically correct. Klaus's veto of the gay-marriage law won't hurt him politically, because he explained his reason behind it. What's hard to understand is why ODS didn't detect the PC trend, grin and bear Paroubek's populism and dirigisme, and go along with the override. Other than a few traditionalists and homophobes, ODS was the only one to lose in the debate over same-sex partnerships. [Czech Republic political correctness homosexualilty]