We’ve already made the case that gay rights is about branding as much as the cause itself. So when you look at the two marketing tactics from each side of Washington’s marriage debate, one thing is clear: the marriage equality advocates are losing the messaging war.
These are the two yard signs being distributed to supporters on both sides of the aisle. One is a generic, easy-to-ignore suggestion. The other is a bold demand. And yes, the latter refers to Protect Marriage Washington’s “reject” signage.
Is a single yard sign design going to change the outcome? No, but it’s endemic of Washington Families Standing Together’s approach to the issue: going for the soft sell. The other side isn’t playing that game. Let’s at least show voters, in explicit terms, the damage about the be done if voters say No on 71.
(An earlier version of this post erroneously stated the signs were in Maine. They are in Washington.)
How about we take this to the next level?
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Zach
These are signs from Washington’s ballot initiative to reject or preserve domestic partnerships. They do not relate to Maine at all.
AlwaysGay
Those are not signs for Question 1 in Maine. http://tinyurl.com/l4hru8
Robert, NYC
I guarantee we will lose in Maine, we’re far outnumbered as we were in California, messaging aside. We need to fight the religious cults with everything we have, having civil dialog with them is useless, they’re not interested. We can start by having a national movement to go after those cults who violate their tax-exempt status and hopefully have it removed. Without those tax breaks and privileges they enjoy unlike you and I, they’ll find their power and influence diminished. Nobody should be above the law and no religious cult even the very few good ones should get a free pass at our expense. Let the parasites pay up or STFU.
jwalker666
Sadly, I have to agree with Robert, I don’t see a win in Maine keeping marriage equality. I think it is unconstiutional to allow voters to take away civil rights of people. It should not be up to them whether we can marry or not. However, in New England, Maine is the most conservative state, and even that being said the current poll has 49-46% against gay marriage. So it is still possible that come November the law could stand.
Lloyd Baltazar
Hey fairy assholes, California gays are doing EVERYTHING they can to help Maine gain Marriage Equality for Gays and Lesbians and you all spew negative opinions such as this.
IF Gay Marriage in Maine LOSES this November, There is no hope for California to Defeat Prop 8 in 2010.
Why don’t YOU do PhoneBanking calls and give donations to LGBT Maine groups so you can help the gays in Maine protect Gay Marriage in the November ballot rather than predicting that the Gay Marriage battle will be lost. Stop sitting around the fucking couch and get your butts off the seats and HELP Maine to allow Gay Marriage you lazy queens.
Robert, NYC
@jwalker666:
That’s the reality unfortunately. The catholic cult will make absolutely sure that SSM is overturned. They outnumber us plus they have other cults involved.
As for Lloyd Baltazar’s comment, some of us ARE doing something about it including myself, so don’t paint us all with the same brush. Believe it or not, some gays in California voted for Prop. H8, yes pal, they voted for it and I dare say there will be some in Maine doing exactly the same. We also have our handful of our own anti SSM gay voters in NY state who will do their utmost to ensure that marriage equality never passes. Again, the roman cult is the protagonist in the fight to defeat us. It has nothing to do with defeatism on our part, the fact of the matter is, we are NOT organized and not confrontational enough. All of the PC nonsense hasn’t worked, time for the gloves to come off and confront the bigots head on and draw a line in the sand with our representatives.
Josh Friedes
I just want to remind folks that Maine and Washington State are facing different measures. In Washington State there is an attempt to repeal the State’s domestic partnership law while in Maine there is an attempt to repeal marriage equality. Winning in both states is important not only for the movement but because in both states the laws translate into vital protections for LGBT families. In Washington we must Approve Referendum 71 to keep the domestic partnership law and in Maine we must VOTE NO on Question 1 to keep marriage equality.
In Washington State the radical right is trying to make Referendum 71 about marriage. But as we all know domestic partnerships are not equal to marriage. In Washington State we have an exciting opportunity to both keep the domestic partnership law by approving Referendum 71, while at the same time explaining to voters why domestic partnerships are not enough.
Please visit http://www.approve71.org to learn more about what is happening in Washington State.
Brian
It seems the religion-lead effort to REJECT same sex marriage in Washington is very secure in their religious belief that homosexuals are “wrong.” Our side, the LGBTQ advocates, seem to be simply “hoping for acceptance or tolerance.” It’s very weak.
If we rejected the religious lie that we are wrong we would not need to be “accepted” or “tolerated,” because we’d be the “same.” Same, as in “equal.”
We are Not Wrong.
Merv
The bigots will win this time, just as they have every other time. The sad fact is that we live in a very very bigoted country. That’s not going to change within our lifetimes. We have three choices: Learn to live with it, leave the country, or forget about working within a “democratic” system that is stacked against us. Option one obviously isn’t working and never will work. Time to explore the other two.
YellowRanger
Shit like this is exactly why we always fail and will continue to fail.
These nice, clean campaigns based on tolerance and acceptance don’t work. The average American is a bible thumping bigot who has no interest in tolerating or accepting you.
Josh
@Merv: Their “bigotry” come from the traditional Christian belief that homosexuals are wrong. 70% of Americans believe we are “morally wrong.” Until we change that, we can never be equal.