Two weeks ago, I wrote about the National Organization for Marriage's bus tour of the states. Designed to rally people to the cause of "protecting marraige" (from teh gays), it has provide to be a PR disaster of New Coke proportions.
Many inquired about when NOM would be rolling into their town, with many inquiries about counter-protest plans in DC. Well, NOM will be making their final stop to the nation's capitol this Sunday, August 15, 2010 2:00 PM - 4:00 PM, in the Freedom Plaza (Washington, DC) 14th Street and Pennsylvania Ave, Washington, DC 20005. Let's greet them warmly. Or at least with some heat.
More details and some ideas how how to make this a truly fun, affirming event.
Courage Campaign has teamed up with Freedom To Marry and been trailing this pathetic hateful display since the tour began, documenting the epic fail. Read the blog here.
Adam Bink, of Open Left, writing on the Courage Campaign Tour Track blog tells us the final push Sunday is called The Big Commit {A Community Response to Anti-Gay NOM}. He writes:
Led by a number of local organizations in D.C. supporting marriage equality, the Courage Campaign and Freedom to Marry are two of many organizations co-sponsoring a major community response event called "The Big Commit". It will be at 2 PM at Freedom Plaza, which is across the street from City Hall and situated between the White House and the Capitol. The event will have some special guest speakers, too. Over 400 people so far have RSVPed on Facebook, and you can do by clicking here. Hope to see you there.
Freedom to Marry's information is available here.
The ways in which the NOM tour has failed are myriad.
The optics haven't really worked out the way they wished. For one, they have been consistently met at there own rallies with protesters outnumbering them, at some stops with rations as high as 8 to 1 in Madison, WI (go cheeseheads!). Not hard to do when NOM's supporters have been numbered in the 10s.
In fact, let's not call them protesters, let us call them supporters of equality. While NOM seeks to continue the discriminatory (and, face it, theocratic) policies of our government, people who believe in equality under the law have shown up in large numbers to tell NOM they are wrong.
For another, the photos haven't really been press kit-worthy. The crowd in Albany, NY, managed to make the pictures, at a glance, look more like a gay rights rally thanks to accessorizing with a spectrum of rainbow umbrellas.
Then there is the problem of the nutcases NOM attracts (embraces?), and how they've undermined NOM's message of "We're all about Christian love!" There are reports that a young lesbian was physically assaulted by a NOM supporter at their Indianapolis site:
Represenative Barney Frank has been alerted to this incident and is looking into it, saying:
"For someone engaging in that right of peaceful counter-demonstration to be assaulted by a NOM attendee is wholly unacceptable and the leaders of this organization should be taking steps not simply to prevent any such behavior in the future, but to exclude from their ranks anyone who was engaged in it in the past."
And of course, there was this NOM supporter who sees the final solution to the question of gay marriage in the biblical text of Leviticus, calling for the execution of gay people by hanging. Way to demonstrate the Christian love. NOM organizers approached him and told him they didn't want "inflammatory" stuff but also declined to ask him to get rid of his sign.
GetEqual will be there Sunday too. They are encouraging their followers to submit their best efforts at signage:
So show us your creative, snarky, profound side — join us in DC or send us your best counter-message to NOM. If you were able to be there, what sign would you hold up? Send us a picture of your sign, and we’ll pass it along to folks who are organizing the event in DC for others to replicate — we’ll even post some of the best signs on our website!
Huffington Post recently compiled a gallery of best counter protests. They are mostly mocking in tone, which I think is appropriate. These people are not worthy of serious debate. NOM chairperson Maggie Gallagher, the wake of Judge Walker's Prop 8 decision recently said:
"There are a number of conversations going on about how to protect people’s right to vote for marriage."
Get it? They are civil rights champions! They are champion your right to vote away the civil rights of your fellow Americans! They're just fighting for the right to marginalize their fellow American citizens! How awesome is that!? (Not very.) They don't understand the idea of tyranny of majority. At least not as long as they are the majority, which may not be for much longer.
So, I encourage a light-hearted approach. We surround them. They want to couch this issue in terms of "life and death!!!" and "sky will fall!!!" Nothing is better than good humor at diffusing that. And the fun we're demonstrating, it's really all very attractive, in my opinion. Particularly when contrasted by the hate coming from their supporter and from the speakers they are featuring. They recently asked the niece of Martin Luther King to speak. She proceeded to prove herself unworthy of the legacy of MLK, by comparing marriage equality to genocide and slandering his widow, Coretta Scott King, who was a staunch, lifetime supporter of the LGBT community.
Let the hatred and venom eminent only from their side. Let them stand for their antiquated, theocratic ideals. Let's stand Equality.
And it builds on a well-know strength of the LGBT community. If there is anything American has always respected about the gays, it's our creativity and our ability to entertain.
Here's a sampling of counter-protesters from the Huffington Post and others. Let's have some fun!
And I know you know this, but you don't have to be gay to show up.