Biggots in Washington State have started a referendum to roll back the recently passed "Everything but Marriage" Domestic Partnership bill. Larry Stickney of the Washington Values Alliance recently said some things in conversations with Pastor Joe Fuiten, available for viewing on Washblog, about the reasoning behind the referendum. In a Top Ten List no less.
If there is an existing diary about this, then it's not tagged Referendum 71.
As a lifetime Washingtonian, I find this effort useless. As a human being, I find this offensive and want to discuss some methods for civil disobedience. Here is the list presented by Larry.
(1.) "If we lose marriage, we will lose our culture." (Senator Sam Brownback, R-KS)
A gross over implication meant to appeal the fearful and idiotic. It’s absurd to think that denial of any piece of culture, no matter how small, will protect a larger cultural value. If one piece can be repressed, than any piece can, and none of us have any rights at all.
(2.) By running a Referendum, we are required to gather only half the signatures needed for that of an Initiative.
The death rattle of a desperate movement. Their taking anything they can get, any way they can irregardless of how they all know things will be with more younger people voting.
(3.) A Referendum to roll back SB 5688 (which grants full spousal rights for homosexual couples in everything but the name) will keep the law from going into effect and put the measure in front of the voters in November. If we wait, the new law goes into effect in June and the Defense of Marriage Act will be challenged in the courts and likely overturned this same time next year. We have no time to waste, we have no other recourse, they are inside the wire.
Again, a useless move that just wastes the voter’s time.
(4.) Hate crimes laws were enacted within months of the passage of same-sex marriage in Canada. The federal "Hate Crimes Bill" passed the U.S. House on Thursday of this week. We may be running out of time to address this issue without fear of jail time. I believe it would be foolish to wait another 10 months to two years to run an initiative under the current circumstances.
I don’t think this really applies? Hate crime laws don’t make hate illegal, they just address hateful motivations in crimes that are already illegal. The truth is, you will never face jail time for organizing a referendum.
(5.) A Referendum to the people to roll back Senate Bill 5688 would force our opponents to get the "YES" vote, which is always more difficult. People tend to vote "NO" if confused about an issue. I am told that the advantage for the "NO" side can be as high as 9 - 13%.
Washington, especially the west side, has one of the highest rates of college education. 9-13% will not pan out. Counting on a knee-jerk "no" is just foolish. Donations to this kind of strategy may as well be sent to fight another war in the middle east.
(6.) From a fiscal standpoint, raising money for our side is always a challenge and we expect it will be this year. However, waiting until next year to run an Initiative would be even more difficult in that we would have to compete with important legislative and congressional races. The economic downturn plays no favorites and has hit our opponents as well. The leading homosexual rights group here in Washington has been forced to trim staff.
This is also the perfect reason not to waste their money at all. They will need every last penny to slow the trends. Rep. Riechart likely won’t make it another term, and will take a significant amount of funding either way.
(7.) By running the referendum now, we will not be taking something away from someone. Instead, we are bringing a controversial proposed law to the people of Washington State for ratification or denial.
He doesn’t get it. The voters approve of this law, as Pastor Joe Fuiten found out himself when he polled the state. Furthermore, Larry sees "rights" as something granted by the State. This is a Fascist perspective by definition. Rights are owned, defended and surrendered by the People. They are endowed by God. Equal Protection - marriage is a protection - is a right owned by the people, by humans, endowed by their Creator and enforced by every civil rights movement since the beginning of time.
(8.) By running a referendum now, we can carry on the momentum we gathered during this year's session when hundreds packed out the hearing rooms and thousands came to the Stand Up for Marriage Rally on the capitol steps. We do not know what the political climate will be like next year. Right now, this issue is HOT and front and center with the people of Washington. Your legislators and the folks at the legislative hotline will attest to this.
Bring it on. The iron is hot on both ends.
(9.) I believe that Christians are paying more attention to the issues at hand during these rough economic times (because of a new found reliance on the Lord) and are more willing to get involved in political matters than they were during the good times. Our best volunteer this year had time to help our organization because he was unemployed for many weeks. It may be that others temporarily out of work will be able to provide a wealth of volunteer time and labor to the referendum campaign.
A good example of someone speaking for all of Christianity. Christianity isn’t supposed to be inclusive or exclusive based on political stand points. Favoring homosexual rights is not against any commandment I’ve seen.
(10.) Faith and Freedom Network has up to date polling data by Elway that asked one simple question: "In your opinion, should homosexuals be allowed to legally marry?" A majority said NO.
That would be this poll. I’m no Nate Silver, but the 18-35 age group was the least represented, and the King County and Seattle populations are just barely under represented. I’m not going to haggle with numbers, but the best this poll can offer is a conflicting presentation of numbers.
So what can we do to stop this before it starts? What can we do to stop this from reaching the ballot where it can be twisted and funded into victory by interest groups with national finances?
Some ideas for Civil Disobedience:
- Find the petitions and take them. Is this legal?
- Void the petitions with a fat black marker.
- Sign every last petition I can find, as many times as possible, then challenge it in court. (Shooting the moon. Risky, but I like it.)
- Follow petitioners around with counter-information.
- Pledge donations and hold back the money. This would create the illusion of support and the campaign might over extend itself financially.
Ideas?