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Loading ...Gay bans embolden conservative religious groups
11.08.2008 3:38pm EST
(Los Angeles, California) Energized by a comeback win, conservative activists want to apply the same formula they used to outlaw same-sex marriage in California to prevent other states from recognizing gay unions and President-elect Barack Obama from expanding the rights of gays and lesbians.
Leaders of the successful Proposition 8 campaign say an unusual coalition of evangelical Christians, Mormons and Roman Catholics built a majority at the polls Tuesday by harnessing the organizational muscle of churches to a mainstream message about what school children might be taught about gay relationships if the ban failed.Same-sex marriage bans also won in Arizona and Florida. But in putting together the California victory, the coalition overcame opposition from the state’s political establishment and assumptions about how voters in the famously tolerant state would respond to taking away the rights the state’s highest court granted this spring.
“Everyone told me it could not be done, people do not care about this enough, you will be overwhelmed and you will lose,” said Maggie Gallagher, executive director of the National Organization for Marriage, a New Jersey group that provided seed money early this year to qualify the measure for the ballot.
“This is an issue people care about when they understand what is at stake and we mount a vigorous and visible defense of marriage,” Gallagher said.
Same-sex couples are expected to start marrying next week in Connecticut, the third state after Massachusetts and California where courts have held it was unconstitutional to bar same-sex couples from marrying.
Unlike California, Connecticut does not have an initiative process that would allow voters to override the judicial decision there. So Gallagher said anti-gay marriage groups plan to focus next on New Jersey and New York, where the state legislatures are being lobbied to pass laws legalizing same-sex marriage.
The plan is to mobilize the same religious factions that joined forces in California to deter lawmakers from “taking on this divisive social issue while we are in the middle of a huge financial crisis,” Gallagher said.
Campaign operatives attribute their success to the churches, which served as voter registration centers, phone banks and volunteer recruitment hubs.
Religious institutions also gave Proposition 8’s sponsors an avenue to a range of ethnic voters, including many Democrats, said Mat Staver, who heads the Florida-based Christian legal group Liberty Counsel.
Catholic and evangelical Hispanics and African-American Baptists stood alongside conservative white evangelicals in arguing for traditional marriage. Exit polls showed 70 percent of blacks supported the ban, a far higher percentage than any other race.
“This is an issue that … transcends political ideology, religious affiliations, races and time and history,” said Staver. “It brings people together who ordinarily wouldn’t be sitting at the same table together.”
Gay-right activists attribute their loss in California in large part to overconfidence among Proposition 8 opponents. Although polls showed the measure far behind in mid-September, the Yes-on-8 campaign was raising far more money than its opponents.
“There was a lot of complacency. People didn’t believe it could have been this close, so we had to scramble to raise money.” said Yvette Martinez, political director for Equality for All, the coalition of gay, civil rights and liberal religious groups formed to fight the initiative.
Martinez also blamed a Yes-on-8 TV ad featuring a little girl telling her mother she had learned in school that she could grow up to marry a princess. Spanish-language ads were released on the same theme.
Proposition 8 says nothing about education, but gay-marriage opponents say allowing same-sex weddings would have affected what California public-school students are taught. Gay-rights groups disputed that, noting that the schools already are required to teach tolerance of gays and lesbians.
“Those lies penetrated,” said Martinez. “People believed that we were going to force gay marriage into the classroom, and there is no getting around people wanting to protect their children and to make decisions for their own family.”
Perhaps the most crucial faith-based ingredient of the California campaign was the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Mormon church was invited into the coalition by San Francisco’s Roman Catholic Archbishop George Neiderauer, who previously spent 11 years as bishop of the Catholic diocese of Utah.
Mormons make up less than 2 percent of the California population with a religious preference, but it is widely believed that church members around the country were responsible for a major share of the more than $36 million raised to pass the gay marriage ban.
Gay-marriage opponents say the bipartisan, multiracial alliance that helped Proposition 8 pass could be instrumental in fighting any steps Obama takes as president to expand the rights of gays and lesbians.
“Those can be activated and pressure can be put on senators and congressional leaders who are not as left-leaning as Barack Obama to not follow his agenda,” Staver said.
During his campaign for the White House, Obama pledged to work for repeal of the 1996 federal Defense of Marriage Act, which prevents the federal government from affording Social Security and other benefits to same-sex couples. He also vowed to reverse the Defense Department policy that prevents openly gay people from serving in the military.
Kate Kendell, executive director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, said she isn’t worried the Proposition 8 campaign has produced a new political juggernaut, noting that the religious denominations that worked together in California have deep theological and spiritual differences.
Kendell, who was raised Mormon, said she was astonished to see black pastors working alongside members of a religion that did not allow blacks to serve as priests until she was in high school.
“Any time a coalition is formed for the expediency of one issue, it is very hard to hold it together,” Kendell said.
The Church of Latter Day Hate needs to go straight to HELL now.
Just remember 9/11, and realize that similar forces that talk about God exist in America.
The final battle for freedom will involve all people putting on their biggest set of testes, or ? for women, and ignoring these so called religious groups that promise the fairy tale of life after death if you follow their dictates, and the terrorism of hell if you don’t do as they say.
Their leaderships are narcissistic sociopaths or worse, for whom their reward is the pure rush of power, mixed with the fact that they are so corrupt, they see nothing when they look in the mirror.
Mankinds history has been filled with their kind, religious or not. Kings, dictators, hitler, stalin, Saddam Hussein in recent history. It is all the same.
But as someone else said somewhere here, if you want equality for gay people, and you didn’t vote, – what do I say.
Other then there has hardly been an election in this nation that couldn’t have been changed by the non-voters.
It is up to you to learn – it took me 5 years to get involved seriously at a low level, doing sign waving, phone banking, speaking with people I knew, as I got involved in politics.
And in an election where I now live in MD, a mostly unknown candidate – a states attorney – ran for US Congress against a right wing bigot republican doctor who believes eg that old people on social security are the new welfare class. This guy, supported by republican big money from out of state, also was a state senator. Guess what happened – by about 0.3% of the vote, the democrat – a good guy, moderately conservative, won against the a**hole who shouldn’t be allowed to do anything medical except be a proctologist for animals.
No Kidding. It can be done.
And who thought that with the deep south still the hotbed of republican support – a holdover from when Pr. Johnson passed the civil rights bill in 64, sending the bigots down there to the republican party, that a black man would be elected President. Other then winning WWII ( I was born in 1939), probably the most important event in my lifetime in America. Btw, I am white, str8, married 40 years to the same woman.
While all the bigots are getting divorced left and right, with 50% of marriages failing. Lots of them the same people who supported proposition 8, to “protect marriage”.
YOu all have a job to do. It should be obvious, but in 10 years, much of America can be like Western Europe, Canada, half of South America, Chech republic, Hungary, Israel, Rep of South Africa, New Zealand, and parts of Australia – where gay relationships are recognized legally one way or another, and the pope and the mormon heirarchy can s–k my dick. That would be a new experience for me – with a male, but probably not for the homophobes who run these churches, and the right wing protestant churches like that of Minister Ted Haggard, who got outed by his gay prostitute boyfriend.
And the truth about lots of the anti-gay leadership will come out for all to see. They are self hating homophobes who actually are gay or bi. And their church’s will be exposed as total hypocrites. And their power will be flushed down the sewer
And freedom and equality will ring.
If ALL of the gay folks, and their str8 supporters will get off their butts, and make politics a priority.
Let us just understand that we have a christian taliban in America, and the war on terrorism should also include those who would impose their religious beliefs on others. For gay marriage rights under civil law should have nothing to do with religion.
The Mormons seem to have forgotten that they moved to Utah to be away from persecution. This should be an example of how totally these people are hypocrites.
The Catholic church, in conjuction with Rome, murdered tens of millions of muslims in the crusades, while giving the world a thousand years of zero social and economic progress. It’s whole goal had nothing to do with God, and all to do with allying itself with those in the seat of power. It’s hatred of the Jews was the lever that gave hitler total power, to give the world 50 – 70 million deaths and WWII. Nice gang, run by a man who said Sieg Heil in his youth, and ran the church’s KGB group – something about insuring the preservation of the doctrine and purity of the faith, before being elevated to being pope. A church, whose power is based on the fairy tail of life after death if you do what they say, a promise of eternity in hell if you don’t do as they say, and of course they set themselves up as God with the power to absolve you of your “sin”s. What A monstrosity given only to its own power, but experts on the psychology of promises of paradise or hell to terrorize you into beliefs.
And the right wing protestants seem to have forgotten that their original struggle was against the monstrosity called the catholic church.
It is so thrilling that most of the youngsters I know – I work part time retail as a retiree – simply ignore conservative religion, it has no place in their life. Sometime in the future, mankind will talk about the age of religion, and come to understand much of it was as evil, and yes a major part of, mankinds worst creations, war and poverty.
As someone once said, religion can be a force for great good, or it can be a force for great evil. As it again has been. Hardly different then what gave us 9/11.
And we should remember the words of the French writer Voltaire, whose works helped foment the french revolution, to free the people from the extreme poverty enforced by the king, in conjunction with the church . He said, so correctly, “that mankind will be free only when the last king is strangled with the guts of the last priest”.
It does appear that there were more priests then kings, doesn’t it.
But I will challenge every gay person in california, and elsewhere, along with every str8 person who believes in the dignity of gay people. Did you vote in this election? It only would have taken 4+% of the CA populace to have killed proposition 8. And I’ll bet that 20-30% of the population didn’t vote. You could have won, gay citizens you could have won.
I hope you will vow that never again will even one of you fail to vote.
And by that you will have validated my belief in you, that was shown by over $30,000 contributed to no on 8, to try to help defeat these people whose minds are poisoned by religion. Hardly different then those who gave us 9/11.
And I will leave my own liberal religion, which supports gay equality but doesn’t actively campaign for it, to join a church which does both.
The mormons smell blood in the water now. Mark my words, they will go after Domstic Partnerships in California next. They will not stop until they have eliminated ALL of our rights!
Go to http://www.mormonsstoleourrights.com to sign the petition and download the pre-filled form to send to the IRA. At least this will draw attention to the fact the LDS chruch overstepped it’s bounds.
WHATS NEXT? TATOOS FOR US AND CONCENTRATION CAMPS?!!!!IS THE GOVERNMENT LISTENING TO THESE RELIGIOUS GROUPS?HOW IS THIS HAPPENING IN THIS DAY AND AGE?
Frankly, Frankly, you are WORDSMITH of hte highedst degree. I agree with you to the utmost.
Can we find someone to take this to court in Florida, and then to the USSC?
In the event someone tries to take away my partner beneftis, which I most desparately must keep, I will go there in an instant.
Thank you for your insight.
Is it possible that the same sex marriage ban in Florida has kind of backfired?
The new amendment reads:
Inasmuch as marriage is the legal union of only one man and only one woman as husband and wife, no other legal union that is treated as marriage or the substantial equivalent shall be valid or recognized.
Now, I don’t think it is a good idea to put the word you are defining inside your amendment twice when you are supposedly defining it. The reason is because one should be able to substitute the definition for the word to understand the meaning. So, if we do that:
Inasmuch as marriage is the legal union of only one man and only one woman as husband and wife, no other legal union that is treated as the legal union of only one man and only one woman as husband and wife or the substantial equivalent shall be valid or recognized.
Does that not say that legal unions that are between heterosexual partners except marriage are not recognized?
Since it does not say anything about gay partners, does that mean they are recognizable?
Inasmuch means according to Merriam Webster: To the extent that…
Substantial means essential.
Equivalent means corresponding or virtually identical especially in effect or function.
As long as marriage is the legal union of only one man and one woman as husband and wife, then no other hetero unions are recognized.
But a homo marriage is not addressed. We can argue that two men or two women are not identical in effect or function because it would not be husband and wife but husband and husban or wife and wife. The essential composition being different than Hetero.
It’s just a thought.
“The Mormon church was invited into the coalition by San Francisco’s Roman Catholic Archbishop George Neiderauer, who previously spent 11 years as bishop of the Catholic diocese of Utah.”
That helps to explain why LA’s Cardinal Roger Mahoney came to the defense of the Mormon Church during the recent protest marches in LA.
See: http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/11/08/same.sex.protests/index.html – Gay marriage supporters take to California streets
“‘Proposition 8 is not against any group in our society,’ Mahoney said in a written statement.”
its time to fight fire with fire. The LDS church meddled with politics, so it must pay the price. They must loose their tax exemption status at the very least. Maybe a few ad-campaigns digging up dirt on the ones in that church responsible for the campaign would be in order. You know, they are a disgrace to humanity, them and all other proposition 8 and other anti-gay ammendment perpetrators and supporters.
“Kate Kendell, executive director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, said she isn’t worried the Proposition 8 campaign has produced a new political juggernaut…”
Bad assumption! That’s how gays become complacent and end up losing, as we did with Prop 8. Assume, instead, exactly the reverse, and assume that the coalition will try to intimidate Obama and the new Democratic Congress. Gays should organize now in anticipation of a fierce battle with a formidable enemy.
WE THE PEOPLE, need to read the constitutions of the states in which we live and of the nation in which we live. This time try it with some thought and understanding and not just word calling skills. Some people need to figure out that ALL CITIZENS does not mean just those that think like I do, and worship like I do, and look like I do. The next time someone recites the Pledge, stop and think what the last six words really mean. If they would change it back to a Pledge instead of a prayer, we might be more successful in understanding what it was really all about.
With admissions such as this to being involved in political activity, how can these religious groups retain their tax free status. How unchristian to spend millions of dollars on a political campaign to deny other citizens their rights while thousands of people on the Gulf Coast of the United States are still trying to rebuild their lives from the ravages of several storms. How much good instead of evil could that money have done? How unchristian to spend millions of dollars on a political campaign to deny some citizens their rights while thousands of homeless citizens roam the streets seeking shelter from the coming winter. How much good instead of evil could that money have done?
How unchristian to spend millions of dollars on a political campaign to deny some citizens their rights while thousand of children are roaming the streets, having to sell their bodies for food and shelter because they were thrown out by their parents because they are gay. How much good instead of evil could that money have done?
Do you suppose that when those nasty people get to the Pearly Gates, St.Peter and Jesus will have any unanswerable questions for them?
Maybe it is about time to start taking some of these religions to task for their spreading and inciting hate towards the gay community. How in God’s name can they even sleep at night for the amount of pain and anger that they are maliciously creating. How can they even in all honestly call themselves Christian. I would not doubt that they are behind the delay in passage of hate crime bills in the United States, because they would surely be inundated with lawsuits over lawsuits over the way they have treated not ownly African Americans but other minorities including the Gay Community.
It’s sad to here the LDS Church deny they had any substantial influence on
passing Prop. 8. However, they were tracking donations from their members to
support Prop. 8. By their own records of donations over $1,000 the Mormons
donated nearly $15 million to support passage of Prop. 8.
http://spreadsheets.google.com/pub?key=pe2023SzWXxE8wYX5qWeoIw
And the Mormons are baffled why No on 8 supporters are angry with them?
How would they be reacting if California passed a constitutional amendment to
prohibit their religion?