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Hey gay couples! You're in terrible danger. Fortunately, we can help. Well, not we exactly -- SFist_Matt, to be specific, has taken a break from writing stern emails to Muni, and is now working on a really neat online video project to protect marriage equality.
Check out Stop8.org -- Matt's working on a series of 30-second documentary videos, explaining who California's gay spouses are, why the freedom to marry is so important to us all, and what everyone stands to lose if Prop 8 (the anti-marriage Constitutional amendment) passes in November. The Prop 8 people are going after gay marriage now -- they want is the power to control who can get married and who can't. Who knows what kind of "impure" unions they'll target next? This is an important showdown for all of us: gay, straight, and whatever.
If you're a gay couple and you'd like to help out, drop Matt a line at contact - at - stop8 - dot - org. He'd like to sit down and interview you for a half hour or so, This-American-Life-style.
And if you're not a gay couple, you can still be a part of it; create a 5-second video clip of yourself saying "I'm voting No On 8" and email it (in whatever format you like) to the same address, contact - at - stop8 - dot - org. Or take a photo of yourself with an "I'm Voting No On 8" sign and tag it noon8.
There's lots that you can do to help; so do something. Please. It's important.
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Two evenings ago the phone rang. Et voila! A woman asks if I'd participate in a two-minute survey regarding political issues. Two-minutes? Okay, I'm game.
First question: Will you vote yes on Prop 8 (to legalize spiritual and intellectual constipation) in November? . . .my answer....a stern "NO". Then she provided a multiple choice asking how rabid my "NO" vote was . . absolutely, maybe, or thinking about "no"
Each time I my answer was an emphatic "absolutely positively NO" the woman audibly gasped.
Then the question's were baited for a "yes" . . was I absolutely positively not going to vote yes?
Each time I my answer emphatic about the "NO" the woman gasped. The semantics of the questions being posed were typical "push poll" tactics.
As of late, during these "political surveys" I've been asking the caller "WHO IS FUNDING THIS SURVEY?" . . .the caller usually stutters then obfuscates . . .and no one has yet to answer. One of the recent callers couldn't sound out the vocabulary of her script so she'd spell the word(s) to me.
I've yet to receive a phone survey request that doesn't have devious semantics of which a deaf, dumb and blind monkey couldn't connect to the GOP.
Oh that's interesting. Next time ask them if you can record the call.
Can we try to argue against bigotry without using the slippery slope tactic of "who will they go after next?!?!" It's entirely irrational and tarnishes an otherwise straightforward ethical argument.
I'd like to think that most people have enough empathy in their hearts that if proposition 8 would NOT have a direct impact on their lives, they will still vote no.
There's a couple of reasons that I use that argument.
It's not irrational. These folks' efforts to control other peoples' lives extends way beyond gay marriage.
Everyone has empathy; but nobody has unlimited attention. To encourage participation, it's crucial to make people understand that Prop 8 is a huge disaster that affects everybody.
The Prop 8 people have never been above a slippery slope. Their argument, that gay marriage has anything in common with bestiality, is totally ludicrous and without any basis in fact; so I hope that even though I'm adopting their tactics, I'm still not stooping to their level.
"First they came for the bigots, but I didn't do anything because I wasn't a bigot..."
Or, do as I do and react to the Gray Davis shitshow by always voting no on propositions. The initiative process is dead to me. You hear me? DEAD!
The upshot being that voting no on 8 preseves my hope that someday I will be able to legally marry the love of my life, Mr. Smuckers.
I'm with MattyMatt. First they come for the gays, then they come for my birth control. Oh shit, wait, they've already done that. Bush is pushing for a federal law that allows pharamcists the right to refuse to dispense birth control on the grounds that birth control = abortion. WTF?
Next they'll be putting straights in jail for adultery. Don't laugh. There are some southern christian religions that actually advocate corporal punishment for women who get caught cheating on their husbands. It was written up in salon a while back because this religious group held a big seminar and many, MANY GOP senators appeared there, both live and via videoconference.
These people are the fucking american taliban, and that is no joke.
Whereas men who cheat on their wives are elected to governor of NY.
The sky will be darkened by my furious PFLAG.
Thank you MattyMatt! This is a great idea ... I'll pass the word along about your efforts.
Totally agree with Mattymatt and Bluecanary. It's not just about gay marriage with these people.
Bluecanary is absolutely right. These people are the American Taliban.
Hopefully, when Prop 8 fails, this will be the linchpin of their decline.
No Hate
No 8
@davitydave: I think I just found a poster for my window. Prop 8 seriously pisses me off.
Please, run with it. Anyone out there awesome at graphic design?
This Thursday, August 14th, from 5:30 p.m - 8:30 p.m. at 2020 Main Street, Irvine, California:
ACTION ALERT: Tell the Right-Wing Consultants NO to Prop 8!
It is criminal how LGBT familes, with and without children, have to "wait patiently" for the SAME legal protections that are handed out LIKE CANDY to heterosexuals. For many in the LGBT community, we have lost all patience with both voters and politicians when it comes to JUSTICE and COMMON DECENCY concerning our families, so we are doing what we CAN do - withholding tax until we are treated EQUALLY. Those interested in joining this fight can GOOGLE "Gay Tax Protest" to find out about my own protest, and find links to others.