I support the activities of Fred Karger and Californian’s Against Hate who are working to overturn the impact of the passage of Prop 8 here in California. But their success reminds me of the dog chasing the car and thinking of what he is going to do when he actually catches it.
The LGBT community has proven that it can be successful in identifying and publicizing individuals and organizations that are acting against our best interests. But we do not always think about the overall process in which these people can be brought over to our side.
In the fight over Prop 8 here in California – which passed with a slim majority defining marriage as only between a man and a woman – an unbelievable amount of money was spent on both sides. One of the largest contributors supporting Prop 8 was Doug Manchester who gave $125,000. Manchester owns hotels in San Diego which have been the focus of boycotts by the LGBT community. The boycotts seem to have been successful and Manchester is now crying "Uncle" and has hired Howard Bragman – a gay PR expert – to mend his image. More details can be found in the Bay Area Reporter and the Gay and Lesbian Times.
Bragman has been taking a lot of heat for joining forces with the "enemy". His solution for Manchester to give money and free hotel services to marriage equality and other LGBT organizations has been derided as too little, too late. But I think it is a good step for Doug Manchester to bring Bragman into the process. It shows (no matter what his motives are) that Manchester recognizes that there is a problem and he is trying to figure out how to correct it.
It would be valuable to have some sort of informal process in which groups or individuals who want to earn or regain favor in the gay community could follow. When someone makes inappropriate remarks about other groups and communities there is a group of (sometimes self-appointed) leaders that need to be brought into the discussion.
But for the LGBT community there doesn’t seem to be an established leadership that can be useful in setting things right. It isn’t in our best interest to keep them out there as "the enemy" just to get more attention. It will be interesting to see how successful Bragman will be in bridging this gap and then to see how that model might be useful for other people and groups in the future.
Fred Karger is moving in the right direction when he suggests that "Rather than offering lip service, perhaps Manchester should create a more direct dialogue with union and community leaders" and giving other similar advice.
Let’s figure out how to turn these former opponents into allies.