I will have to admit I did not send money to the people in Maine as I thought it was wrong for outsider’s to give money as it is clearly the people who live in the state to make up their own minds on issues like this. On the other hand the right wing has got us in a corner. If we go for a national law then they will tie it up in the congress for years. The other option our leaders said was to do it local. Well we are doing it but are losing as they really do not play by the rules (they do not care in their mind) and we are doomed to loose many more of these. State legislatures are the old buddy system and it will take over 100 years to break them even that is highly unlikely.
I think the right wing has essentially won this (yes I know keep trying) but it will take a few hundred years to do this.
I think its time for a new idea from our leaders as to how we can get this some momentum.

Members of the anti-gay right are an especially motivated force. These people would walk 50 miles up a hill to get to a polling station and cast a vote against gay marriage. They would even crawl over broken glass to get to that same polling station. With that being said, I am willing to bet that every able bodied gay marriage opponent made it to the ballot box in both California and Maine. On the other hand, heterosexual individuals with no grievances towards gay marriage lacked the anti-gay right’s ambition to come on out and vote in droves. That’s because regardless of the outcome of such referendums, the lives of our straight supporters do not change either way. As a result, the absence of straight supporters at the poll booths pulled the plug on gay marriage in California first and now Maine.

However, these straight supporters cannot be blamed for their own absence at polling stations. This group was not targeted by television ads or print media. Simply put, ads should have aired that reached out to heterosexual supporters of gay marriage directly. These individuals needed to be informed that their votes would have been the deciding factor. Instead, defensive ads that attempted to counter those produced by groups like the National Organization for Marriage (NOM) were aired. This approach was unnecessary because the reasonable individuals we needed to come out and vote on our behalf were plenty intelligent enough to overlook the malicious, false ads produced by anti-gay groups such as the NOM. Similarly, members of the opposition were too misguided to be swayed by our 30-60 second sound bite rebuttals.

On another note, gay rights organizations should have orchestrated frequent, large scale town hall meetings to address the opposition face to face. More than anything, these people need to see that gay and lesbian individuals are brothers, sisters, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, sons, and daughters. They need to see that we are loved by our friends and families. These individuals also need to meet heterosexual children raised by gay parents so they can see first hand that gay marriage (and gay people for that matter) will not influence the sexuality of their children. Our opponents also need to meet with religious leaders from states where gay marriage is legal so they can learn first hand that no state has compelled a preacher, reverend, rabbi, etc. from presiding over a same-sex wedding, thus addressing one of their biggest concerns. They also need to see that we are doctors, nurses, paramedics, police officers, firefighters engineers, teachers, etc. and may have touched their lives for the better. Finally, the opposition needs to see that we also love this country. With such an approach, we may actually be able to produce results that have yet to be accomplished by a sound bite.

You know, sometimes I have to wonder if some people within the gay community habitually delude themselves. Please, tell me where and when Obama promised to support gay marriage? I have seen and heard several speeches where he says he is personally opposed to gay marriage. I have seen and heard several speeches where he said he would support the right of each State to decide for itself whether or not to allow same-sex marriage, civil unions, or nothing at all. I have seen and heard nothing from Obama to suggest that he would be a vocal proponent of gay marriage, only that he would not stand in its way.

So how exactly is he breaking promises? He isn’t. The only promises he’s breaking are the ones you have deluded yourself into believing he has made.

In fact, Obama kept his promise to the gay community in Maine. He let the State decide for itself, and he didn’t voice his personal opposition to the idea of gay marriage. There is no more you should ask of him on this issue.

I’m all for calling him to keep his promises, but let’s stick to the ones he actually made rather than these delusional fictions you’ve concocted and this idiotic idea that he somehow professed to be an advocate for and savior of the gay community.

Obama is not to blame for Maine. The people of Maine are to blame for Maine. The decision was theirs. If they elected to be seduced by hateful propaganda or allowed their own prejudice to guide their hand, the blame should rest with them and them alone. It was a fair vote. It was a free vote. It is, therefore, the voters who are responsible for this decision. Consider why they voted the way they did by all means, but don’t lose sight of the fact that the decision was ultimately theirs.

As for the idiots advocating violence, grow up. That’s all I’ll say on the subject. Grow the hell up.

Thank You for your remarks about Mr. Withers. He does seem to be a bit on the wuss side about getting anything done. I say we declare WAR on these people hurting us. Wouldn’t it be a nice string of wonderful news stories if all these anti-gay religious nutjobs started going to be with thier JEBUS by force. WAR ! !