"A pre-mortem for gay marriage in California" and probably Arizona too


The wrong approach
I was glad to see this article, even if it got buried a bit in my stacks.

Throughout this campaign, we have once again hid the face of same-sex couples and given a free pass to those in the middle of the electorate who are uncomfortable with gay relationships. Instead of challenging that atavistic premise, we have nodded our collective heads and said something on the order of “Hey, we understand that gay couples make you a little queasy, but for God’s sake don’t write us out of the constitution.”

You know what that message actually means? It means that it’s just fine to feel queasy. It implies that we ourselves feel queasy in a way. We can see your point! It’s a losing strategy and it has lost us every same-sex marriage election, save one (Arizona 2004) that we’ve ever fought.

I read that when newsman Rex Wockner challenged this approach, our campaign leaders told him that the ads weren’t directed at our community, they were directed at the swing voters. Focus groups showed that these fence sitters were indeed swayed by the namby pampy style.

Well, of course we want to direct our message to the middle. But you know what? There’s another way to sway those voters. There’s a positive message to be sent about what kind of state you want to live in, what kind of person you want to be, and what kind of assumptions you’re bringing to the ballot box. . . . Who are you, swing voter? Look in the mirror and make a decision. And while you’re at it, take a look at a few gay couples who have not brought civilization to its knees by getting married. Look at their kids, their lives, their happiness, their futures. Were these messages ever tested in the focus groups? How many approaches were considered before we fell back on the tried and failed defensive political postures of the past?

I've said it before and I will say it again. There are no gay rights. There are no black rights. There are no women's rights.

There are only human rights.

Demand your rights BECAUSE you are human, not because you belong to a group.

If your rights are based on the pity of the majority, then you have lost and you will never have anything that truly belongs to you. You'll always be dependent on what the majority chooses to give you.

You ARE NOT a minority. You are human.

That's the only reason you have rights. And it's the only reason why I will fight to defend those rights.

— NeoWayland

Posted: Wed - October 22, 2008 at 02:26 PM  Tag


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Pagan Vigil "Because LIBERTY demands more than just black or white"
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