Remember how the Mormon Church went screaming to the mountain tops after marriage equality supporters published the names of every person who donated toward passing Prop 8? Now a preemptive strike in Washington State: If you sign a petition to repeal domestic partnership protections, your name will be made available to anyone with an Internet connection.
WhoSigned.org promises to publish the names of anyone supporting putting Referendum 71 — which would repeal the “everything but marriage” expansion of rights afforded to gay couples — to voters on this November’s ballot.
Says the self-described grassroots organization: “WhoSigned.org will make the petitioners names accessible online once the petition has been verified by the Washington Secretary of State and has become part of the public record. ‘This is about taking responsibility,’ said WhoSigned.org director Brian Murphy. ‘Petition signers are choosing to prolong discrimination against fellow citizens who pay taxes, contribute to their community and care for their families. This can’t be allowed to happen in secret and without a frank public discussion. We hope that potential petition signers realize the serious consequences their actions will have on gay and straight couples and their families.'”
More of this, please.
How about we take this to the next level?
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JonDorian
Man, this could get ugly. But I do support this initiative. I don’t believe anyone who would willingly take away my rights would deserve any of my business.
Robert, NYC
I totally agree. Further, any religious cult funding such legislation should have its tax-exempt status removed. Maybe that’s what we should consider next time any referenda on equality issues come to a vote. We should move to have a referendum on just that to give the religious bigots a does of their own medicine. Let them walk in our shoes for a change and find out what discrimination is really like.
Cam
Good, I have no problem with anybody knowing my feelings. If people believe that this initiative is truly wrong and evil then they should have no trouble putting their name on a petition. I support this.
Robert, NYC
Why are they so afraid to have their names published? Don’t they have any guts to own up to their hypocrisy? I’d have more respect for an opposing view if they did. They have to learn that marriage equality has nothing to do with religion, if it did, then that would be a different matter. It doesn’t affect their right to whatever they believe in, just as it doesn’t bother us when they choose a religious marriage. Its fear about something they don’t care to know about and they’re like a lot of republicans, they fear change.
Brian Miller
@Robert, NYC: Don’t they have any guts to own up to their hypocrisy?
Rhetorical question of the year! 🙂
Most of the “antis” have lots of gay friends and customers and coworkers and employees. They like being perceived as “tolerant” by all of those folks, since it’s “good business.” The idea that they can derive revenue from those relationships while secretly advancing their own prejudice long appealed to many of them.
When KnowThyNeighbor.org and other similar initiatives launched, it was a nasty wake-up call for many of them. Suddenly they were having to explain to their gay “friends” why they signed a bill taking away their rights.
Heck, I knew people in Massachusetts who were guests at same-sex wedding ceremonies who signed the anti-gay marriage ban petition up there. They had some ‘splainin’ to do when KTK.org launched and their signatures were on the petition.
Most people who hate prefer to hate in private. They know hate is unpopular in public. They hate having to resolve their private views with their public facade.
Robert, NYC
@Brian Miller:
Brian,I’ve experienced first hand the hypocrisy of straights who hate in private. One of my family members, an older married cousin once told a nephew of mine that I will go to hell because of my sexual orientation. My cousin is a devout catholic, attends church daily. Whenever I run into her at family functions as I did this past weekend, she greets me as if I were her nearest and dearest and very kissy kissy. Every time I take my leave of her she says….”I love you”. Go figure. It demonstrates clearly an acute case of hypocrisy and she calls herself a christian, passing moral judgment on me behind my back. Of course, she would never have the courage to say it to my face, christians among others don’t do that now do they? I would hazard a guess and state that the majority of so called “christians” are of the same ilk. Pretty sick if you ask me.
The_FNG
@Robert, NYC: Wow Robert, why don’t you confront this older, married cousin’s hypocrisy?
Robert, NYC
@The_FNG:
Well, I could but what a waste of energy arguing with ignorance and stupidity. On the other hand, I did raise the nonsense regarding the religious right’s mantra about marriage and procreation. I told her that if that’s their reasoning, then they’ll have to ban opposite sex couples who choose not to or cannot procreate from marrying to even the field. She couldn’t respond, left her dumbfounded. I also brought up a “what if” situation such as LGBT voters getting behind a ballot initiative to ban religious marriages altogether, to give them a dose of their own medicine. Again, she couldn’t respond. I also mentioned that I would NEVER invite her to my marriage ceremony nor would I extend an invitation as a matter of respect, no matter the outcome. I’ve left her to stew in her own ignorance. In the end, she and her kind will be the losers, if not already.