If it's not an entry in the "how to know you're being a bigot" handbook, it should be: "If you find yourself defending a position you're taking by saying 'I have a lot of [gay/black/Asian] friends,'" you're definitely being a bigot. So congratulations, Alabama Chief Justice Roy Moore. If your instruction to your state's probate judges not to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples despite a federal judge's decision instituting marriage equality in Alabama didn't provide proof positive, you've just
eliminated the last shred of doubt:
"I've had many friends who are homosexual," Moore said during an interview with John Heilemann and Mark Halperin of Bloomberg Politics. "I've treated people just like other people. This is not about how I treat people, or how I go to a wedding or a marriage or anything. It's about the constitution of Alabama and the Constitution of the United States."
"I've had many friends who are [word that conveys my squeamishness]. I'm totally proud of my ability to treat them close enough to how I treat other people that I can fool myself it's the same. But this is not about me, it's about the constitution of Alabama and the Constitution of the United States, which takes precedence of the constitution of Alabama and over which I have no say."
If you're trying to stop people from getting married despite a legal authority greater than yours saying they should be able to marry, you are not treating them just like other people. By definition, Roy. And if you respond to a follow-up question asking if you personally would attend a same-sex marriage by saying "I would not go to a same-sex wedding," then you're pretty clearly not just treating people differently under the law, you're lying about all those friends you supposedly treat just like other people. Of course, we're talking about a guy who also said this:
... Cuomo asked Moore what he would do if the Supreme Court holds that the Constitution guarantees marriage equality in all 50 states. Moore responded that he will “do what courts should have done under Dred Scott. If it’s an unlawful mandate, you don’t have to recognize it, you can recuse from the case. You can dissent. You can dissent to the United States Supreme Court just like you can dissent to anything else.”
If you're going to play the role of George Wallace, just play the role of George Wallace. Don't try to lie to us about what's going on here. And don't insult our intelligence by bringing the Constitution of the United States up as if it supports your position when you're saying that as a judge you're going to refuse to recognize a Supreme Court decision if you happen to disagree with it.