I'm pretty sure Maggie Gallagher just called the National Org. For Marriage ineffective

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03/05/2015

by Jeremy Hooper

Maggie Gallagher, cofounder of the National Organization For Marriage and person most fully associated with the 21st century's fight against marriage equality, on her movement and its flaws:

Only Dr. Carson knows why he chose to apologize [ed. note: apology here; backstory here]. But this is a significant concession on his part substantively on marriage. But it is also true the Christian Right has not yet settled on a realistic legislative objective it wants candidates to support. Nor has it invested in building substantive political organizations to fight for these legislative objectives on marriage.

We are witnessing the results of years of failed models of orthodox Christians engaging in politics, as well as not a single Christian billionaire who is investing, as the Koch brothers have done, in building an intellectual/cultural powerhouse like the Cato Institute.

Artists, scholars, movie stars, storytellers, and genuine political institutions with legislative (not moral) objectives are needed.

This means a lot of work moving forward amid what for many will be numerous discouraging signs of collapse.
FULL: Carson Now Supports Gay Marriage? [Pulse 2016]

"Nor has it invested in building substantive political organizations..."? Wow, Maggie, did you go over to Brian Brown's house and literally pee in his corn flakes, too?

But of course if what Maggie says about her movement and its failings is true (and I think it is), much of the fault lies in her own failed efforts. She put herself out there in a *MAJOR* way for the larger part of this modern "culture war." She tried her damnedest to sell discrimination to the American public. She set up a couple of different organizations to make the case (NOM and IMAPP) and worked for a few others. She wrote books, led campaigns, tried to recruit big names, appeared all over the media, contracted with the Bush White House, gave speech after speech, and put her heart and soul into trying to turn NOM into a thing. She once gloated that "it's really fun to win." Now that she is losing, I understand that it's not nearly as fun. But much of it is, indeed, on her.

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