Why Gay People are Still the Big Losers
November 8th was a monumental event and big changes came to America especially for minority groups. One glaring exception was gay people who were shocked to see state amendments against gay marriage pass in three states most surprisingly liberal California.
California was shocking because recently the state supreme court okayed gay marriage but now that decision is in question. It wasn’t as if the pro-equality side didn’t have enough money to run a campaign. They raised almost twice as much as their opposition. Polling suggested that people were favoring the pro-equality side but when the time came to vote it was apparent that many people were not honest with how they really felt about the issue.
One of the biggest factors in the gay marriage ban passing were African American voters who voted for the amendment 69% to 31%. African American voters turned out in record numbers for the election which ended up hurting the equality cause. Polling showed black voters were more likely to attend church and be less comfortable with equality for gay people. It is interesting that black people who have dealt with so much discrimination and prejudice are still prejudiced against gay people. I don’t know if it has more to do with being more involved with the church are the un-acceptance of gays in the black community.
One of the stories that was influencial a Mormon family of 5 who gave $50,000 of their savings to the support of the issue. When asked about their decision the wife said, “Was it an easy decision? No. But it was a clear decision, one that had so much potential to benefit our children and their children.” It’s amazing how afraid people are still of gays. I’m not sure exactly what would happen to her or anyone else children for that matter but apparently it would be so catastrophic the family felt like throwing their savings at the problem in hope to stop it. I would say how stupid these people are but they already wasted $50,000 dollars on something that does not affect them either way. The most notable thing is the reason they give being to protect their children. George Orwell wrote a lot on this topic of people using language and words to hide their real significance and to slander others while trying to seem that they have other more noble intentions. When the family says it is trying to benefit their children and other what they are really saying is that they don’t like gay people are afraid of them and want them to go away and not be around them. Gay people are apparently dangerous and want to harm their children, by promoting pedophelia or making them gay themselves. Of course no one will come out and say that so they use other language.
Pro-equality supporters did not do a good job of campaigning against the issue. They thought that they were right and that would be sufficient to defeat the amendment. If anything has been learned in the last eight years it is that just because something is the right thing to do does not mean that it will automatically be supported. Politics has become much more sophisticated with computerization and if you want your issue to win you need to play the game correctly. The initial polling they did that showed that they had a majority of the public’s support was obviously not representative of voters on election day. Clearly black voters were not adequately accounted for and their views. The campaign should have made a concerted effort to target them and pursuade of their cause. If you don’t understand the rules of the game of politics expect to lose. One of the reasons Obama one was the Democratic party was organized this time and made sure that their campaign was well run and left nothing to chance. Others need to follow their example and not rely on past successes.
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