The anti-gay National Organization for Marriage (NOM) has been asking presidential hopefuls to sign a pledge stating, among other things, that they would:
The NOM pledge is striking both for its discriminatory intent, as well as for being tone-deaf to rapidly evolving public opinion in this area. Amending the Constitution to bar recognition of the marriages of gay and lesbian couples would be only the second time in our nation's history — and the first outside of the Prohibition Amendment — that the founding document would be amended to limit individual rights. In this case, the amendment would relegate an entire class of people to second-class citizen status.
As for tone-deafness, a May 2011 Gallup poll found that a majority of Americans (53 percent) favored legalizing marriage for gay and lesbian couples. This poll is consistent with other recent national polls, including a March poll by the Washington Post and ABC News, which found majority support for gay and lesbian couples gaining the freedom to marry. The trends on this issue are striking, unmistakable and entirely inconsistent with the NOM marriage pledge.
My favorite aspect of the NOM pledge, however, is the commitment to appoint a presidential commission to "investigate harassment of traditional marriage supporters." I mean, it's not like the country is facing anything more serious, right?
What NOM seeks is a free hand to attack the legitimacy of gay and lesbian couples and their relationships through the spread of fear and disinformation while remaining free from public scrutiny, accountability, or even active, organized opposition. While organizations like NOM would like to have people believe that their supporters face systematic harassment and intimidation because of their anti-gay views, the reality is quite different. Any incidents of actual harassment or political violence employed as part of a political campaign is entirely unacceptable, but (as a coalition of LGBT legal and advocacy organizations wrote in a Supreme Court amicus brief last year) this is not the same thing as constitutionally protected (if heated) disagreement, criticism, and advocacy.
At a time when LGBT people are achieving important progress at the national, state and local level, this pledge is a throwback to an intolerant, discriminatory past wholly out of step with the majority of the American people.
James Peron: What's Love Got to Do with It? Marriage, Tradition and Gays
James Peron: Gay Marriage Poll Touted by Mormons Seems Dubious
Scott Rose: How Many Have to Die Before NOM Is Stopped?
Ian Thompson: New Federal Rule Underscores Importance of DOMA Repeal
I predict that as the real primaries approach in the spring, all the candidates will move towards the middle, so as not to appear too extreme to the broad base of more moderate voters. Their speeches will shift away from social issues and focus more on the economy (because that's what most real voters care the most about).
Its a sad fact that the most extreme elements tend to be pandered to in the early stages of primaries (and this goes for the Democrats as well).
Two more examples of this slander that spring immediately to mind:
The American Family Association, sponsors of Gov. Perry's recent prayer rally, has declared for years now that gay men were especially recruited and promoted to the highest positions in Nazi Germany because of their "well-known savagery" - and this despite the fact that thousands of gay men were exterminated because of their sexuality by the Nazis.
The defendants of Prop 8 rushing to the Supreme Court to keep the California court proceedings from being video-taped and aired on Youtube (lest millions see for themselves that they had no rational arguments against same-sex marriage) on the pretext that their side would be vulnerable to possible violence from gays if their faces were shown - and, unfortunately, they prevailed.
NOM and their allies' actions are ultimately going to be responsible for creating the protected class of citizens that you so fear.
It's fascinating when the anti-gay folks say outrageously offensive things to and about gay people, then gay people respond in anger, and the anti-gay folks complain about being harassed and hated by hateful people.
In general, their thinking is elementary and beyond dangerously narcissistic.
Their playing the victim in this scenario is annoying and frustrating, not to mention truly pathetic.
And we see this a lot here at HP.
I was away for quite some time, came back, and was floored by how many trolls were invading the site, obviously here just to instigate, provoke, and weaken, for instance Obama's support/base.
Disrupt.
That's their MO. You're absolutely correct.
Right now, in the conservative Christian movement, they are instructing their sheep to simply say "It's a choice," in response to gay people claiming they did not choose to be gay.
This is an issue not up for debate. One side knows the truth, the other doesn't. We're the gay ones, they aren't. We win, they lose. It's as simple as that.
Well, these folks perfectly demonstrate this phenomenon.
This is very telling. The GOP doesn't want to spend Government money on education, infrastructure or healthcare. What they want to spend tax dollars on is creating a commission to investigate harassment of heterosexual marriages. Because tax dollars shouldn't go towards the true problems, instead, they are only a tool to serve the right wing agenda.
The Republicans have gone pledge crazy.. I wonder what the next pledge will be trying to prevent or overturn..