I don't get it. What is The Onion trying to say with this article?

[Fire]

http://www.theonion.com/news/index.php?issue=4101&n=1

Year in Review: Gay Marriage Proponents Hope to Send Message to Religious Right before Election.

BOSTON (Aug. 11)—With the presidential election approaching, gay rights advocates are working in Massachusetts and across the nation to bring national attention to the issue of same-sex marriage.

"This election year, we want to make sure everybody hears us loud and clear: Marriage is a civil right owed to all couples—gay, straight, or otherwise," said Mary Kleibold of the Boston-based advocacy group The Future Belongs To Us. "This year, the nation's gays and lesbians will be sending a clear message to the religious right: You can no longer ignore us."

Proponents of gay marriage have reason to be optimistic. Earlier this year, state judges in Massachusetts and California ruled to permit same-sex unions, and President Bush's subsequent proposal for a constitutional ban on gay marriage was voted down by Congress.

[slackmaster]

1. Sometimes; no, quite often The Onion

Isn't very funny.

[Bertha Venation]

2. they're making fun of us, using the "you dumbasses, shut up, you're going

to cost us the election" angle.

[Brian_Expat]

3. They're making fun of both sides

The people who claim that gay marriage lobbying is "too loud" (obviously it's nowhere near as loud as this article's fictional group is making it), and the people who are focused on nothing but marriage equality.

[Tony_Illinois]

4. I see it as a very insightful (in retrospect) satire.

The best line is "The gay marriage issue might even show up on the ballots as a referendum in some states," Farmer said. "If so, we may influence voters in ways we never imagined."

This piece is slinging arrows in all directions, and you gotta say, they're pretty sharp.