Gay marriage advocates believe there isn't any difference between two men in a sexual union and a husband and wife, and those of us who see this difference are blinded by hatred and prejudice. They delegitimize opponents, brand us as haters, and then try to strip us of our rights. - Maggie Gallagher, The Core Civil Right to Vote for Marriage
The shtick of Maggie Gallagher, founder of the anti-gay National Organization for Marriage, is to play the victim.
She consistently whines that people like herself and her organization are being unfairly attacked and called "bigots" simply because they want to defend the supposedly "time-honored" belief that marriage is between a man and a woman.
Her constant complaints are really nothing more than a cynical ploy to divert attention away from the fact that in reality she has no logical arguments to oppose marriage equality.
And it reveals an ugly degree of selfishness indicative of many who oppose marriage equality. In Gallagher's world, it's not the lgbt couples being denied their rights that matter, but only herself and those like her who stand against marriage equality while claiming to be besieged and scandalized by "pushy, aggressive, radical homosexual activists."
However, if Gallagher wants to continue this charade, she really should address the company that she keeps and supports such as The Traditional Values Coalition, who is listed as an anti-gay hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
And bear in mind that this distinction isn't simply because the group believes that homosexuality is a sin. According to SPLC, anti-gay hate groups:
. . . have engaged in the crudest type of name-calling, describing homosexuals as "perverts" with "filthy habits" who seek to snatch the children of straight parents and "convert" them to gay sex. They have disseminated disparaging "facts" about gays that are simply untrue -- assertions that are remarkably reminiscent of the way white intellectuals and scientists once wrote about the "bestial" black man and his supposedly threatening sexuality.
When it comes to this description, TVC passes with flying colors. Among other things, the organization has:
- claimed that the passage of ENDA would lead to the sexual abuse of disabled veterans,
- continued to intentionally mix the term "sexual orientation" with "paraphilias" in another attempt to lie about ENDA,
- used bad research in YET another attempt to lie about ENDA, including distorting marketing statistics, and
- claimed that a repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell is a bad idea by asking, amongst other silly questions, how would the military " handle sodomy in battlefield situations,"
Yet this is the same group which Gallagher's group (NOM) freely cited as a credible source in regards to a recent Republican primary in California.
And now via Goodasyou.org and blogger Matt Algren comes news that NOM has been aligning itself with one Louis J. Marinelli III.
Marinelli identifies himself as a "NOM strategist" and will also be working on the organization's 2010 Summer for Marriage Tour.
He is also a man who has never met an anti-gay distortion he didn't like. According to Goodasyou.org, his past tweets have been very interesting:
there was a retweet that declared all gays to be single. There was the time that Mr. Marinelli said that Peter LaBarbera and his fringe "Americans For Truth" group merely "tell the truth about homosexuality." There was the determination that marriage equality is "a mockery and a hijacking of the civil rights movement." There were times when he flat-out called us an abomination, citing Leviticus. There was this one: "Deviance" describes actions or behaviours that violate cultural norms - homosexuality is far from a cultural norm. Therefore, it is deviant." And this: "Homosexuality and gay marriage are wrong and harmful to society." And this: "#iaintafraidtosay that there shouldn't be any recognition of homosexual relationships because that is saying that homosexuality is OK." There was this one, accompanied by a smile: "What they do is blantantly [sic] immoral. :)" There were times when Mr. Marinelli compared our unions to that which might exist between a sterile brother and sister. And other times when our very character was assaulted: "#nevertrust activists of the homosexual agenda - they are deceitful people who care only about themselves and not what's best for society."
And Marinelli also creates anti-gay videos including one in which he claims that:
. . . the homosexual agenda is really about the 3 Ps: prostitution, pedophilia, and polygamy.
Gallagher has no room to claim that the she is unfairly being called a bigot when she and her organization choose to associate with those who freely and unapologetically stigmatize the lgbt community.
It's the equivalent of beaning people with rocks and then hiding your hands when they come to investigate.
In their zeal to defend the "time-honored" definition of marriage, Gallagher and company seems to have forgotten the "time-honored" definitions of truth and integrity.
Big hat tip to Goodasyou.org and blogger Matt Algren.
UPDATE - Marinelli's video was public until earlier today when it was "suddenly" marked as private, which means only Marinelli's YouTube friends can view it.