Washington State awarded its gays “everything but marriage” last month, expanding domestic partnership laws to give you same-sex loving freaks all the rights of straight people, just not the word marriage — nor the desire to insert penises in vaginas. So, what, you thought everybody would be happy and move on?
No.
Namely, Washington Values Alliance president Larry Stickney hasn’t. You’ll remember Stickney as the guy behind the misleading ad campaign that ran before the legislature voted on SB 5688, which provided the new rights.
Now he’s making good on a promise to get Washington’s citizens to vote on a referendum that would overturn the expanded domestic partnerships law. Stickney’s effort is called Referendum 71, and despite what his camp would have you believe, his “partners” in saving marriage aren’t banding behind him. Folks like Pastor Joe Fuiten, a director of the Family Policy Institute of Washington, are in fact against 71. And according to Fuiten, so too is the head of Human Life of Washington and the state director of Concerned Women for America. Bystanders expect these organizations to work together on their anti-tolerance measures.
How about we take this to the next level?
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The Washington Values Alliance on Saturday published 10 reasons why organizers should work to pass the referendum. Among them: “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.” LOL, right?
But in an email to his supporters, Fuiten listed all the reasons why now is not the right time for Referendum 71. The Slog paraphrases: “Primarily: A referendum would lose. “Both the polls that I have done plus what others have done consistently show us behind to a considerable degree,” he says. Second: Due to large voter turnout last year, the referendum would require 20,000 more signatures than in 2006, when Tim Eyman failed to gather enough signatures to qualify a referendum for the ballot to repeal the gay civil-rights bill. Third: People don’t care about taking away gay rights in this damned economy. Which takes us to the fourth reason: “The economic downturn has impacted a number of people who have been very supportive of this type of effort in the past,” he writes. But, Fuiten thus implies, if folks did have the money to invest in stripping rights from gay families, they would be all for it—what better way to spend your last few cents than impinging the financial and insurance rights of struggling gay families, right?—but folks don’t have the money. Fifth: If they lose a referendum, it would illustrate what a bunch of out-of-touch bigots they really are, and then the homo-lovin’ legislature would surely legalize same-sex marriage.”
Disorganized planning? Disjointed leadership? Unclear means to obtain your goals? Thankfully, this sounds as dysfunctional as whatever happened when we were fighting Prop 8.
ggreen
OMG!
Jabba The Hut got a wig!!
atdleft
Heh. Nice to see the bigots get @ss-whupped this time. 😀
AlwaysGay
A more powerful sign would be if it didn’t make it on the ballot. Do not rest. These anti-gay people are serious and will work night and day to take away every right you have. Remember they will lie to people to get them to sign their petition like saying it for a membership to Balley’s or for a prize. Make sure that doesn’t happen and undermine them at every turn.
Captain Freedom
@AlwaysGay:
I agree with you. These fascists are crafty. In Massachusetts a few years back they lied to people on the streets and had them sign a marriage amendment petition without their knowledge. Those people thought they were signing some budget bill or something. When they were confronted by a video blogger, they were stunned and horrified that they signed something like that.
We should instead keep our eyes on Maine. The Moral Masturbates will fight tooth and nail to get this law repeal through the People’s Veto law. In 2005 Maine Won’t Discriminate beat them at the ballot by 55/45 to repeal anti-discrimination laws.
Now we better be prepared because they will fight to get this on the ballot. We can’t wait now. We must have the infrastructure in place all over Maine.
andy_d
@ggreen: How DARE you insult Jabba! 😉
John Bisceglia
If Larry Stickney can do “legal” things that harm OUR family, why can’t we go to Arlington, WA to harm his family?
And since WHEN THE F*CK do we sit on our hands and allow society to vote on our family’s legal worth? A HET MAN would grab his gun to defend his family – we call in gay for a day.
If not for us, how about for our children who cannot fight?
[Queer Equality Revolution]
tavdy79
@ggreen: I think it’s actually Zorba the Hutt, Jabba’s father – Zorba had hair.