White House says Condi 'showing due deference'

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice assists newly sworn-in Ambassador Mark Dybul as he signs appointment documents Oct. 10 at the State Department (White House photo)

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was "showing due deference" when she recognized as "mother-in-law" the mother of one of two "gay" partners at a recent Washington ceremony.

It happened recently when Rice and first lady Laura Bush spoke for the administration at an Oct. 10 swearing-in at the State Department for Mark Dybul. He was accompanied by his male partner, Jason Claire.

Rice's comments included a reference to the presence of Claire's mother and recognized her as Dybul's "mother-in-law."

According to the State Department transcript, Rice said:

Thank you. Thank you very much. I am truly honored and delighted to have the opportunity to swear in Mark Dybul as our next Global AIDS Coordinator. I am pleased to do that in the presence of Mark's parents, Claire and Richard; his partner, Jason; and his mother-in-law, Marilyn. You have wonderful family to support you, Mark, and I know that's always important to us. Welcome.

Family advocates immediately responded with criticism, noting that's part of the "identity crisis" in the Republican Party.

The White House on Friday offered no detailed explanation when asked by Les Kinsolving, WND's correspondent, about "how does this adhere to the president's belief in policy that marriage is between one man and one woman?"

"The Secretary said what she said, and she was showing due deference to the people involved," was the response from Tony Snow, Bush's spokesman.

While the party wants the support of "values voters," it also is courting homosexuals and seems willing to appease the movement's radical agenda, USA Today said.

Snow also declined to elaborate on a statement from the Wall Street Jouirnal that a Johns Hopkins report of 655,000 Iraqi war dead is bogus.

"Number one, I'm not going to give you an estimate, and number two, the same organization has used the same methodology to almost universal criticism," Snow said.

The use of the "mother-in-law" term normally reserved for legally married heterosexual families rankled Peter Sprigg, vice president for policy at the Family Research Council, who called Rice's comments "profoundly offensive," according to Agape Press.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice swears in Ambassador Mark Dybul (White House photo)

The secretary's remarks, he said, fly in the face of the Bush administration's endorsement of a federal marriage protection amendment.

"We have to face the fact that putting a homosexual in charge of AIDS policy is a bit like putting the fox in charge of the henhouse," said Sprigg. "But even beyond that, the deferential treatment that was given not only to him but his partner and his partner's family by the Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is very distressing."

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