Each year, The National Organization for Marriage (NOM) organizes a “March For Marriage” in Washington, D.C. And each year, the number of attendees drops significantly. Chances are, there were twice as many people at your local gay watering hole on Sunday afternoon than participants in this year’s iteration of the antigay march.
Reportedly, less than 50 people showed up. As Twitter user Beth Ethier notes, there were 47 attendees in all, including babies. (Why would you include babies?) That’s an absurd drop from the number of attendees who participated in the march’s first year back in 2013. (That number was somewhere between 2,000 to 15,000, depending on which liar did the tallying.)
Related: Bodybuilders band together for the most homoerotic antigay protest of all time
As the below photo demonstrates, they may have included cow skulls and tumbleweeds in their final headcount:
Brian Brown addressing a crowd of around 30 people at this year's anti-gay March for Marriage #equality pic.twitter.com/mKEMY5TcK2
— Beth Ethier (@missdeutsch) June 17, 2017
Right Wing Watch describes the sorry scene:
Fifteen minutes before the event was scheduled to begin, about 20 adults were milling around an empty stage while several children worked to unfurl large red and blue banners to carry during the march. One passerby wondered whether they were going to a kite festival. Gradually, a few more participants arrived, including five men wearing the signature capes of the group Tradition, Family and Property and carrying a “Honk for Traditional Marriage” sign.
The head of NOM, Brian Brown, addressed the crowd and told them not to be upset by the small numbers of attendees, comparing their cause to abolitionists in the 18th and 19th century… despite that fact that the abolitionist movement ultimately failed spectacularly. And happened in the 18th and 19th century.
“We are on the side of truth,” he said, as somewhere, a candy wrapper floated by on the breeze.
“We are on the side of true human rights, we are on the side of true civil rights. And in every fight for civil rights, it took a creative minority who were willing to stand up and speak truth to power no matter what the cost. And you know what? There may not be thousands of us here today. It doesn’t matter. There were only a few that stood with William Wilberforce when he stood up and said ‘no’ to the slave trade in England. He was mocked, he was derided, he was laughed at. We remember him as a hero now, because ultimately his life’s work was successful, but it wasn’t successful in his own lifetime.”
“Every year, we’re going to be here whether there’s thousands or hundreds or tens.”
Or ones.
Brian Brown surveying the thin turnout for his anti-gay March for Marriage, which a few years ago drew 2-3,000 to DC pic.twitter.com/PXUfmrf9Qn
— Beth Ethier (@missdeutsch) June 17, 2017
You can watch NOM’s 1-minute vid about the March below. But don’t bother.
Terrycloth
They threw a straight pride parade in San fransisco…the street was empty
NateOcean
Hell, you get more turnout when you organize a flash mob. For *any* reason.
…Or try Craigslist. You can get 30 people to show up for a Bukkake session, why not marriage?
ingyaom
You’d think they’d get more people than that just randomly walking by.
1EqualityUSA
Go away.
Harley
Boy did we miss an opportunity here by not crashing their party with all kinds of fabulousness and drag queens. Where are the sisters of perpetual indulgence when we need them. Maybe next year.
DCguy
DC threw a party for national Peanut Butter day and got a few thousand more people that this.
1EqualityUSA
These nuts are useful.