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Archives – May, 2011
The faces of Prop8TrialTracker and equality
By Adam Bink
We have had the very same photo at the top of the screen here on Prop8TrialTracker for a very, very long time. Some folks suggested rotating photos, so we can show the faces of the families who make up Prop8TrialTracker and who support equality. It’s something we weren’t able to do with our old system, but now that we’ve migrated to a system with more flexible custom content, we can!
So, send in your photo to our Courageous Families project if you’d like to be featured. It can be you, or you and your significant other, or you and your family, or whatever you like. We’ll be rotating photos as the pages rotate so that whenever you load a new page, you’ll see a new face. We already have lots of photos and I want to make sure we have yours.
You can upload your photo with details on this page by clicking here.
6 Comments May 20, 2011
Two new national polls show majorities for marriage equality
By Adam Bink
A new Gallup Poll released this morning finds that this month 53% of Americans say same-sex marriage should be recognized in law as equally valid with traditional male-female marriages.
The spurt in support of 9% in the past 12 months was the largest registered since Gallup first tracked the topic in 1996. Back then, only 27% supported same-sex marriage and two-thirds opposed.
Support for same-sex marriages had hovered in the low 40′s since about 2004, until the latest figures, showing 59% of independents and 69% of Democrats now support the idea, while 28% of Republicans do. The GOP figure was unchanged from 2010.
The new statistics also show a predictable generational cleavage, with support for gay marriage highest among the youngest (70% among those 18 to 34), declining to 53% among those 35 to 54 years old and weakest among those over 55 (39%) — although even that segment’s support increased six points in the past 12 months.
And the Public Religion Research Institute:
A poll released by the Public Religion Research Institute on Thursday confirmed what several other national pollsters have found: A majority of Americans now support marriage rights for same-sex couples. The poll found that 51 percent of Americans supported legalizing gay marriage compared to 43 who opposed legalization.
The poll also showed that the level of “strong” support for gay marriage is equal to the level of “strong” opposition. Twenty-four percent said they strongly felt that gay marriage should be legal while 25 percent said they strongly opposed the idea.
The poll also found that there wasn’t much difference in age groups. Respondents who were between 18 and 34 years old favored gay marriage at 61 percent, while among 35 to 49 year olds, that support was 57 percent.
In addition to gay marriage, the poll found that 56 percent of Americans support the right of same-sex couples to adopt children. Only 36 percent opposed the idea.
Following polls from CNN in April and The Washington Post in March.
I keep coming back to Nate Silver’s graph:
fvethirtyeight-0420-ssm2011-blog480
30 Comments May 20, 2011
NOM and “Bullying”: Pot, meet kettle
By Adam Bink
I see NOM is complaining over our effort to ask LGBT friend and travel company Orbitz to stop advertising on anti-gay Fox News. They call it “bullying.” Their headline:
Gay Leaders Try Bullying Orbitz to Drop FoxNews
Of course, leaving aside that NOM would never speak out when, say, the American Family Association boycotts Ford over Ford’s decision to advertise in magazines that cater to the LGBT community, NOM doesn’t exactly have a clean track record when it comes to what is “bullying” and what is not. Let’s turn it over to Equality Matters:
As anybody who has had the displeasure of following NOM’s work over the past several months knows, the group clearly has a habit of tossing around accusations of “bullying” any time pro-LGBT groups attempt to pressure politicians or organizations to support equal rights.
How NOM actually defines bullying, however, is a little less clear.
Let’s review.
Bullying: Pressuring King & Spalding To Stop Defending DOMA
NOM criticized groups like the Human Rights Campaign for contacting King & Spalding’s clients and informing them that the firm’s decision to take up the Defense of Marriage Act’s (DOMA) defense in federal court was in conflict with its stated commitment to diversity.
NOM called the effort a “jihad” meant to “intimidat[e]” supporters of traditional marriage and praised Paul Clement’s decision to leave the firm as a “story of courage.”
Not Bullying: Launching A Targeted Ad Campaign Against King & Spalding For Not Defending DOMA
In response to King & Spalding’s decision to drop its defense of DOMA, NOM launched a “nationwide web campaign” designed to allow “average Americans to express their views directly to King & Spalding’s leadership.” The campaign’s website, “We’re There Until You Need Us,” includes a petition condemning the firm’s “cowardice” and “abandonment of professional ethics,” as well as a Facebook page.
It makes no mention of recent evidence that reveals the firm was legally entitled to withdraw from its contract due to improper vetting.
Bullying: Tim Gill Pledging Millions To Elect Pro-Equality Candidates In Colorado
NOM criticized gay philanthropist Tim Gill for “threat[ening]” to donate millions of dollars in order to elect pro-equality candidates to the Colorado statehouse after it rejected a civil unions bill in March. In a blog post titled “Tim Gill Says: Vote My Way Or I’ll Dump $2 Million Against Your Party In Colorado,” NOM hinted that Gill’s efforts would shut down the voice of the people:
[W]hat remains to be seen is whether or not politicians who conscientiously reflect the views of Colorado voters on marriage will be able to continue representing those views in office, if Tim Gill and his mega-millionaire friends have anything to say about it.
Not Bullying: Dumping Millions Of Dollars In Maryland And New York To Target Pro-Equality Republicans
NOM pledged to spend $1 million to “hold Maryland legislators accountable” and target any Republicans who considered voting in favor of marriage equality earlier this year. In New York, the organization has already pledged another $1 million to “vigorously oppose in their primaries any Republicans who support gay marriage”:
NOM has defeated every pro-gay marriage Republican we’ve ever targeted, and we’re quite confident we will do so in New York, should that become necessary.
NOM has also pushed an ad by the Conservative Party warning Republican politicians that there will be “tears” if they vote in favor of marriage equality:
Bullying: Governor Cuomo Lobbying On-The-Fence Legislators To Support Marriage Equality
NOM has criticized New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo for encouraging legislators to support the state’s upcoming marriage equality bill. NOM promoted a column that described Cuomo’s efforts as “bullying” and “beating up” on the legislature. NOM also criticized him for trying to win “media accolades while alienating voters with his priorities.”
Not Bullying: Spending Half A Million Dollars To Oust Supreme Court Justices For Supporting Marriage Equality
NOM spent $650,000 in a campaign to oust three Iowa Supreme Court justices in response to their 2009 decision to allow same-sex couples to marry. The removal was unprecedented, marking the first time a state Supreme Court justice had not been retained since 1962, when the retention system for judges was created. When criticized for politicizing Iowa’s judiciary during a 2011 House hearing, Maggie Gallagher, NOM’s chairwoman, explained, “Well, I think there’s an argument about whether judicial elections are a good idea, and I have not expressed — I don’t actually have an informed opinion on that.”
Does that clear things up?
It’s only “bullying” when LGBT groups refuse to sit down and accept discrimination without putting up a fight.
When NOM spends millions of dollars pressuring lawmakers, ousting judges, and targeting law firms in order to deny countless LGBT Americans equal rights, they’re just doing what’s right.
Exactly right. If you want to call us bullies, NOM, you better find a better messenger. But we’re not going to take discrimination lying down. History has shown that fire must be fought with fire.
22 Comments May 19, 2011
Is it time to unfriend Orbitz?
By Adam Bink
The other day Andy wrote about our joint campaign with Equality Matters, GLAAD, and Media Matters’ DropFox campaign to urge Orbitz to stop advertising on Fox News, which has a long history of anti-gay rhetoric by both anchors and guests. The campaign has been covered by the LA Times, The Advocate, The Huffington Post, Passport Magazine, and other media.
In less than 72 hours, over 32,000 people have signed our joint petition. And you ain’t seen nothing yet… some more friends will be joining us very soon.
Today, we’re taking the campaign to the next level. Every day, ordinary customers go to Orbitz’s Facebook page to write about travel problems, participate in special offers and sales, compliment Orbitz on service, and more. That’s why we’re asking those who joined the campaign to write on Orbitz’s wall. As of this post, 582 customers have posted on Orbitz’s wall, pledging not to use Orbitz until they end their support on Fox News.
Here’s a simple message you can leave:
I will not book my travel through Orbitz until you stop advertising on Fox News and supporting their anti-gay message. Orbitz, it’s time to drop Fox! http://www.couragecampaign.org/OrbitzDropFox
An example of messages left (click to enlarge):
Screen shot 2011-05-19 at 1.12.12 PM
We can both put this in front of Orbitz and make sure other customers are made aware that Orbitz is funding anti-gay messages on a major cable network.
Below the fold, you can find the email that just went out to those who signed up for our campaign. If you haven’t signed up yet, you can do so here.
(more…)
13 Comments May 19, 2011
What it takes to reframe Gallagher, Perkins et al in the media
By Adam Bink
Jeremy Hooper at Good As You makes a very fine point about the media, a point that has been bugging me since Tony Perkins had an op-ed published in the Washington Post, commenting on the rash of gay teen suicides last year. Here’s Jeremy:
When they say they want to ‘change’/'save’ us…
….believe them!
If I had to track the biggest frustration I see with our modern “culture war” conversation, I’d probably hone in on the mainstream media and larger public’s tendency to ignore the larger rhetoric that the “protect marriage” community has put on the public record. No matter how hard those of us see this stuff up close try to connect the dots for those who don’t fine-too-comb this debate, there tends to a massive mental block that exalts blinders at the expense of reality.
In Maine, the co-head of the campaign to “protect marriage” in the state posted all kinds of really extreme “ex-gay” videos to his YouTube channel. I tried so hard to get that message out there. To make the local media see how far beyond marriage Bob Emrich wants to take his mission. To make the public see how willing the same-sex marriage opponents are to overlook science. To connect the overreaching dots. It didn’t take.
[The other day] in North Carolina, there was a massive “protect marriage” rally. I dug up eleven videos of that rally’s organizer, Rev. Ron Baity, preaching against homosexuality itself in every crude way imaginable. The endgame, once again: To “save” (i.e. “convert”) the nauseating (his word) gays. I’ve contacted local media, and had a few bites. But so far, the local coverage continues to make this a two-sided, equally-merited, “agree to disagree” conversation that begins and ends at marriage. When it doesn’t end there, at least not for our organized opponents.
Or what about Maggie Gallagher herself? She gets to testify before Congress, write a syndicated column, pundit her way onto cable news, and retain the title of a conservative “marriage warrior.” But in fact, Maggie has told gays that they “can always control their behavior” — “behavior” she
admits she considers “unfortunate.” She once suggested of President Bush, via her nationally syndicated column, that “ex-gay” therapy deserves more research dollars. She admitted that she considers homosexuality to be “at a minimum, a sexual dysfunction much as impotence or infertility,” and “like infertility…a sexual disability preventing certain individuals from participating in the normal reproductive patterns of the human species.” And while speaking to her base on Catholic radio, she said that both gays and their straight supporters are “
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” THAT GOES WAY BEYOND THE CIVIL MARRIAGE CONVERSATION!
Media outlets like the Post and Roll Call always believe they need to have an “opposite view”, even though on some issues, like gay kids killing themselves, it makes one scratch the head to wonder what the opposite “view” is, exactly. It’s not the printing of divergent views that is what is the problem, it’s giving a giant microphone to people with agendas that go way beyond what they claim to be talking about. Many people objected to Rev. Rick Warren giving the invocation at Obama’s inauguration not because they were opposed to invocations at government events but because Warren probably sold another zillion books on Amazon that week, Obama fans started appreciating his work because their favorite President does, and so forth. That’s the problem with giving microphones to people like Perkins and Warren. Another example is when ABC invited Andrew Breitbart, a proven liar and con artist who destroyed Shirley Sherrod’s life, to be an election analyst for a digital town hall (a decision they eventually regretted as they dropped him). Does it matter that Breitbart is a proven liar, Perkins tells lies that, in the words of Joe Solmonese, are life-threatening, and Warren vocally supported Prop 8 and refused to condemn the Ugandan anti-gay legislation? It should.
And for the sake of making people aware that Maggie isn’t just for “protecting marriage”, it’s important to make the media, and those who watch/listen/read it, aware of those points.
8 Comments May 19, 2011
