How to beat the Republicans on gay marriage

[Brian_Expat]

The Republicans are making this a hot-button issue, and frankly, the mealy-mouthed Dem leadership is making it easy for them to whip up a froth. Kerry's backhanding to the gay community was particularly galling.

But there's an easy way to smash the Republicans on this issue and go on the offensive, if Democrats have the backbone.

Bring back the ERA.

Update it, add in women, homosexuals, Arabs, Pagans, Wiccans, Quakers, Muslims, recent immigrants, and lots of other people and then take it to the vote. Challenge every single Republican supporting the "Federal Marriage Amendment" to vote for the ERA. Then, when they refuse, assault the Republicans for hating the principle of equality.

A strong majority of Americans support the ERA according to polling, yet the GOP isn't supporting it. A small minority support the FMA, yet they're pushing it hard. Repeat that point, over and over and over.

"President Bush wants to take away rights from American gays but won't guarantee the equality of all people, women, immigrants, conservatives, etc." Repeat that meme every debate. Slam them with it. Put them on the defensive explaining why they're opposed to granting equal rights to all Americans with a popular amendment, but backing a hateful amendment that a majority doesn't support.

Of course, this is too bold and tactically brilliant for the pink tutu crowd, which is why we need a smart renegade group of Democrats to do it and then lobby McAuliffe and Daschle and Pelosi to back it with the one or two vertebrae they have between all three of them.

[hlthe2b]

1. I agree... I brought this up a couple of days ago....

Unfortunately so many have forgotten that the failure to pass the ERA means that ALL women, are still legally relegated to second class status. While some improvements have come over time as the result of progressive policy in prior administrations and progressive court opinions, the fact remains...

I think it very important for the gay community to remember and to embrace this, since to be pushing for marriage rights without considering the plight of all women, diminishes the efort imho.

[Caution]

2. i like it

Edit: spelling

another is to have a national "Coming out" day where a challenge is issued to gay america to finally come out of the closet so that all of these people understand that they are taking away the rights of their daughters and sons, fathers and mothers, cousins, friends and co-workers.

[Sentath]

13. Oct 11th

Seems a little late in the year to me tho...

www.hrc.org/Content/NavigationMenu/Coming_Out/Get_Informed4/National_Coming_Out_Day/Index.htm

[beyurslf]

14. There is already a National COming Out Day in October.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

3. Of course, to right wingers

women and people who don't belong to their right-wing church aren't worthy of equal rights.

My counter to the gay marriage issue is this: how is allowing gays to marry going to change the divorce rate and out-of-wedlock birthrate among heterosexuals?

[fizzana]

4. Here's a response to the 5,000 years of tradition argument.

200 years ago you could have used the argument that slavery is a tradition that goes back 5,000 years so how can you argue against it. Back then. most people would have agreed that slavery was an inviolate tradition. 100 years ago most people would have agreed that 5,000 years of tradition says that a women's place is in the home, bearing & raising children and nothing else.

We finally recognized that slavery is wrong, we finally recognized that a woman's place is not in the home and we will finally recognize that marriage for a gay couple is a loving and logical way for gay's to consumate and recognize their relationships.

No matter what is being said now, I'll bet that in 20 years gay marriage will be the norm.

[HereSince1628]

7. marriage: 1 man, 1 woman; 5000 yrs unhampered by progress

[Skidmore]

5. I still have my ERA button in a place of honor and proudly

displayed on my desk right there with a photocopy of a button from an Omaha conference that reads "We are tired of dancing backwards." On the wall above is a framed poster with Sojourner Truth's "Ain't I a woman" on it.

Yeah, bring it back!!

[Az]

6. Recaste them as the AntiLove party nt

[nickinSTL]

8. ERA expansion

I'd add the transgendered to the list to include in the ERA

[Silverhair]

9. You will NEVER get a floor vote.

Republican control all the committees. It will die in committee.

[HereSince1628]

10. Cast in that way it may bring back the affirmative action issue.

Although I don't konw how to quantify it, I think that there is a down-side risk. I know that affirmative action was kind-of-sort-of upheld.

But, given a very conservative SCOTUS such an amendment, mightn't a very conservative interpretation of such an amendment lead to a ban on "reverse" discrimination?

The intial court challenges brought under such an amendment would have great weight in future interpretations wouldn't it?

[dback]

11. How about a commercial comparing a 9/11 widower with Britney Spears?

Show a picture of a gay or lesbian person who lost their partner in New York or D.C. (or any other disaster or unnatural circumstance). Say "these people were together for twenty plus years, through sickness and in health. Yet when one died, their partner was not allowed to file for survivor benefits, etc." Cut to a picture of Britney and her 48-hour groom and say "These people were married barely 48 hours, during which they were granted some 900 rights of marriage. They then promptly divorced." End with: "Ask yourself: which is the real threat to marriage?"

Or just make it a soundbite of "This is a state's-rights issue, and the states are handling it as they see fit, be it marriage, domestic partnership, or nothing. So why are conservatives pushing for a divisive, big-government solution to a problem that doesn't exist?"

As a gay guy who'd love to marry his partner, I'd love it if Kerry was for full marriage, but I appreciate that he suppports civil unions. And his voting against the Defense of Marriage act will be easily dismissed by most people, if he sticks to the above mantra.

[cally]

12. Good idea

I hope all DUers remember the absurd arguments used against the ERA. One was that men and women would have to share bathrooms. :eyes: Maybe women will vote for it for that reason. At least the lines are shorter.

[OldCurmudgeon]

15. this won't be killed with *reasonable* alternatives like the ERA

we're talking wingnuts, here. Remember that.

No, the way that the FMA can be killed is to push it just a bit further in the *unreasonable* direction: offer a "friendly" amendment to the FMA that reverses Lawrence v. Texas (making sodomy illegal).

And make sure that the vote on the anti-sodomy provision is a recorded roll-call vote. No voice-vote wimpouts allowed! So how many repugs are going to go on record voting for sodomy?

And if an FMA with an anti-sodomy clause makes it out of congress (unlikely), it will be the poison pill that kills the entire FMA,
and does a lot of damage to repugs. And still not be ratified.

My bet is that the repugs would quietly strangle the FMA in committee before allowing themselves to be put in position like that.

[Moderator]

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