Majority Of Texans Are Gay – So Says Texas Republican Party. Grammar Check?

Here at Instinct, we post our own blogs and stories and that means we count on ourselves to fix errors before clicking on the almighty SAVE button.  We get flack from people sometimes for missing a letter or using a homonym, but we realize those critics are perfect in every way.

But if we were, let's say the Texas Republican Party, we may need to invest in a copy editor. 

Everyone needs a copy editor. (Thank you, Susan and Amy and Pam.)  Today, the Texas Republican Party is probably wishing it had one, too. Check out this sentence from the just-adopted 2016 party platform: (click on images for larger view).

As Texas Monthly rightly points out, the sentence actually says that homosexual behavior "has been ordained by God in the Bible, recognized by our nations founders, and shared by the majority of Texans."

That's probably not what Texas Republicans meant.

The august magazine blames that Oxford comma there at the end for the confusion, but we asked our aforementioned (and heroic) copy editors where the real problem was and they zeroed in on the verb "has." It's singular so the rest of sentence ends up referring to the noun "behavior" instead of "truths."

Susan Vavrick, NPR's copy chief, took out her pen and suggested three quick corrections:

  

 

The Texas GOP did not immediately return our request for comment.  – npr.com

That is why I love to visit Austin.  Most Texans are GAY!!! 

This error reminds me of the saying, " When you point a finger at someone, there are three more pointing back at you."

Thanks to NPR.com for giving us a chuckle at someone else's expense.