Proposition 8 Protest Reaches Wilmington

What is new is your demand to "marry." Yes, I am aware that there are a few historical references to same sex couples marrying. You will find far more evidence that it was exceedingly rare and resoundingly condemned in most cultures. This statement you wrote makes no sense whatsoever: "...no one is trying to change religious beliefs, that's just where the battle is." I assume you meant to say, "Religious beliefs are the source of the problem?" (The purpose of a battle is to force your opponent to yield to your desires, and you'll be wasting your time battling the churches, synagogues, and mosques.) Please take the time to read the post below entitled "Stop redefining words." You folks are going to win your rights far sooner if you stop your sporadic efforts and concentrate 100% on the Constitution. You have everything you need in the Fourteenth Amendment. My money says that the strict Constitutionalists, Justices Scalia and Thomas would even agree that you deserve full, equal rights. Unfortunately, the current gay rights movement in this country is in shambles because of your own amateurish tactics and this crazy demand that you be allowed to "marry." I mentioned the big guy in the wedding gown and the other weirdo in the leggings. Let me tell you another issue that is hurting you far more than it is helping you: Pictures of same-sex couples being married by a minister, in a church, being flashed all over the world by AP and Reuters. You may THINK that you are subtly conditioning the masses into accepting gay marriage as normal, but what you are actually doing is firing up the Christian Taliban, orthodox Jews, and conservative Muslims to oppose you that much more. Like it or not, that's a LOT of forces arrayed against you. Just as they think "freak" when they see the guy in that wedding gown, they think, "Satan's forces have now made it inside some churches and some of his false prophets are actually marrying them! I must fight harder!" I have a co-worker who packs her bags for the Rapture and more importantly to you, doubles her tithing every time she sees one of those pictures. That's more money available to defeat you. Let me tell you something about churches. They have a hard time modifying their basic underlying beliefs. If they announce that homosexuality is no longer a grievous sin, the faithful immediately wonder, "Gee, what else were you guys wrong about. Is adultery okay? Stealing?" The Episcopal church is ripping apart at the seams because of their acceptance of homosexuality as a sin that God really doesn't care about, or some such nonsense. You are directing a frontal assault on a numerically superior force instead of using maneuver warfare to get AROUND the religious obstacles. Your movement has no open, public national organization, no national leadership, and you have millions of folks who are doing little beside yelling and carrying signs....with a few fruitcakes embarrassing you along the way. Now compare your current efforts to the civil rights movement and the tactics that were employed there by Doctor King and the other leaders. Compare Ghandi's efforts to win civil rights in South Africa and Indian independence. Do you see the difference? Less glam and more substance. Less weeping hissy fits and more professionalism....more action. Whoever is doing your PR work needs to be fired. You need to drop the word marriage entirely, shoot for absolute 100% equality under law, and accept that if you want to "walk down the aisle," you may have to do it at a Unitarian Universalist church or seek out one some renegade minister or rabbi who thinks the Bible and Torah are simply suggestions. Jeez, I'm straight, don't really give a hoot about the gay equality movement, but could organize and lead a national effort that would hand you victory in ten years, tops. Maybe that's what you need - a cantankerous, old, straight, combat vet who isn't emotionally attached to the issue and simply wants to see you treated the same as I am. Get back to me if you can pay me $350k a year and hand me an operating budget of a five million a year....and I'm NOT hiring that idiot in the wedding gown.