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09/13/2009
Tonight in Maine: A gust a' what went down
We knew from our recent conversation with Stand For Marriage Maine's Bob Emrich that tonight's anti-equality rally was going to be blacked out to anyone (including media) who was not standing lock-step with the "Yes on 1" campaign's rights-stripping cause. So that being the case, we're having to piece together the goings-on from whatever sources we can. As of now, that means relying on one lone twitter account (courtesy of Rockland, ME, realtor Steve Dyer) to give us some degree of insight into what sort of sentiment was stirred up tonight in the Augusta Civic Center:
@SteveDyer [Twitter]
Well it's good to hear that we gays and our marriages aren't the problem here. It's our father the Devil. That liberty-loving Lucifer who wants to put gold bands on our fingers? He's the one who the civil rights opponents are spending a wad of cash to hurt, not us. Doesn't that make you feel oh so much better?
[::writer roll eyes, shakes head, reminds self to call Satan and ask him for suggestions for a gay anniversary gift::]
Perhaps the "Yes" campaign's messaging was more complex and less "gays are hexed." But that's the thing about shutouts: The filtered information is often ten times dirtier than the clear window would've been!
Meanwhile, the gorgeous, lovely, equality-loving, thoroughly non-devilish "No on 1" campaign responded to the anti-gay side's shut out in the most peaceful and novel way possible: They spent their night in Augusta holding a fully-open, fully transparent "community conversation" (complete with their own running twitter feed), wherein any and everyone could come and rationally discuss this matter of CIVIL equality. Despite what Bob Emrich predicted to us in his emails, the "No on 1" campaign had no problem opening the doors and inviting their opposition into the proceedings -- they welcomed them.
So Mainers, the choice is yours. Closed-door events where folks quite unabashedly use faith to beat back Beelzebub, or secret-less meetings where viewpoint of diversity is actually encouraged. People who are brazen enough to use their personal religious beliefs to deny others civil equality, or people who think that minority civil rights are not to be up to the whims of a bare majority. A tragic civil wrong or a historic civil right. Please choose wisely.
*SEE ALSO: Local news coverage from WCSH6:
Your thoughts
"Closed-door events where folks quite unabashedly use faith to beat back Beelzebub..."
I would argue that the if the twitter feed is truly indicative of the thesis propounded in this closed door rally, that it bears no (zero) resemblance to "faith", and is every bit supremacist speech. The "we don't hate the fags, we just hate the fact that they think that they are equal to us," is supremacist-speak purely and simply. The "the fags aren't our enemy, they are just tools of the devil," is 100% pure supremacism. And, is nothing to do with faith, just the twisted "faith teachings" of lunatics.
Posted by: Dick Mills | Sep 14, 2009 12:10:01 AM
The anti-equality side is right on one thing: Everything depends on God. The question they should be pondering is how long will God allow radical, anti-gay activists to preach hatred and exclusion in His name? Even a child understands that "treat others as you want to be treated" does NOT mean "take away the civil rights from law-abiding, taxpaying, gay Americans."
Posted by: Michael | Sep 14, 2009 2:41:29 AM
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