You may be shocked to hear that GetEQUAL has done something disruptive and confrontational.
This time it happened in North Carolina, where legislators are considering a constitutional ban on marriage. GetEQUAL members scurried out onto the Assembly floor to shout for “liberty and justice for all,” and were promptly carted away.
According to a statement over at Pam’s House Blend, protestors “demanded full legal recognition for LGBT North Carolinians,” which sounds like a fine idea.
We’re looking at several more months of stunts like this, according to a timeline laid out by the Senate. The bill probably won’t be voted on until September, so if you missed yesterday’s rally, there’s still plenty of time to get arrested.
How about we take this to the next level?
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Are actions like these helpful or damaging? Share your thoughts in the comments.
SteveC
I think they’re helpful in the long run, these stunts.
Cam
@SteveC:
They put enough pressure on Pelosi that she pushed through repeal after Frank and the White House said there would be no repeal in Congress that year.
John
Honestly I feel like anything that causes you to get arrested can’t possibly help the movement or the movements name. Is there not a better way to do this? Could they not have all for example done something symbolic like put duct tape over their mouths and set in at the meeting instead of parading in and causing disruption?
Even if what they did wasn’t that serious, our opponents will use it as ammunition. They’ll twist the truth of what happened in to a headline that screams “Gays parade into congressional assembly and disrupt peace in North Carolina.” Surely there was a just as effective manner to proclaim our message without at the same time creating degradation for our cause.
I guess what I’m really trying to get at is, is that really the kind of attention the Gay equality community wants?
Cam
@John:
Ghandi, Nelsom Mandela, Martin Luthor King, Susan B. Anthony, etc…. were all arrested. Were their causes degraded?
Imarko
Act Up! Fight back! GetEqual!
John
@Cam Implying Get Equal protesters have the same social power as those specific individuals. If Joe Solmonese, Lady Gaga, or someone with status got arrested, it would be completely different. I apologize if I offend you when I think publicity stunts that disturb the peace and change the focus of what we’re fighting for degrade the cause. Because then we not only have to defend why we fight for the cause, now we have to defend individuals disruptive actions.
Cam
@John: said…
@Cam Implying Get Equal protesters have the same social power as those specific individuals.
___________________________-
The question I put to you was were their causes degraded by their arrests.
The fact that you think Joe Solomnase being arrested is somehow different than an actual activist out there fighting pretty much shows that you are some troll from HRC.
These are the people that did sit in’s in Pelosi’s office and forced her to take the DADT repeal to the White House and force it on them, even after Obama and Barney Frank said there would be no repeal voted on that year. It was done by people like this, not some apologist for everybody who stabs us in the back like Solomnase.
Josh
@Imarko: I agree. When we actually do those things stuff actually gets accomplished
John
I’m not going to sit here and argue with someone who refuses to see how much the HRC has done for the LGBTQ community.
Lets take a look
NY – Over 20 HRC staff in NY right now working for marriage.
NY – Chelsea Clinton joins massive grassroots effort for NY marriage.
US – HRC condemns hockey agent’s hateful comments after sports star announces support for marriage equality.
US – HRC takes on school bullying with a new video PSA from kids.
NY – HRC partners with cast of ‘The Normal Heart,’ Larry Kramer’s Broadway play about the early days of the AIDS epidemic.
NV – HRC applauds passage of bill to add gender identity protections to employment anti-discrimination law.
NC – HRC fights two anti-LGBT measures in state legislature.
US – HRC promotes diversity and equality at HBCU Summit.
US – HRC celebrates Mothers’ Day, recognizing “Mothers of the Year.”
How much has Get Equal done lately? Ohright, get arrested. Keep on with the civil disobedience and getting yourself in legal trouble, THAT’LL show ’em.
Jeffree
HRC & GetEqual use different tactics because they’re different organizations with different priorities. I say we need big national orgs along with smaller, more nimble groups, acting nationally & locally.
I don’t know how effective GE will be but it’s pointless to say their actions are fuel for the fire beneath NOM, FRC, etc.
Why? Anytime we point out inequality, work for equal rights, and appear in public, they already have enough material to claim we’re haters & bigots looking for “special rights.”
We’re never going to convince the hard-right people to love us, but when we can sway opinions in the more moderate middle, we need to do that.
snt
@John: Complete bullshit, HRC only gave money, ENC and other groups in NC has done more then HRC ever did in NC. HRC is a con
Poster2
Who cares what happens in N.C. anyway?! Dumbest state in the country.
John
@snt Yeah, have you ever tried to do anything worthwhile without money? You probably haven’t, because its not really possible. If you don’t think that financing is a huge part of any cause then you are sorely mistaken.
I don’t understand why our community is so adamant on fighting each other instead of the real enemies. I recognize that Get Equal can be good, but publicity stunts aren’t the way to do it. I also realize HRC doesn’t ALWAYS represent what every LGBTQ American wants. But the truth of the matter is if we waste time and energy fighting each other, who’s really going to fight for us?
Chapeau
Great work GetEQUAL NC.!.
If you want to GetEQUAL goto GetEQUAL.org and sign-up to participate in your LOCAL AREA with the GetEQUAL group in your State.
Because .. Sitting back and doing nothing is working out so well.
Cam
@John:
Oh PLEASE! HRC has attacked every single court case as it was filed, that ended up GETTING us married. They were against fighting for those rights and so the community had to leave them behind on that issue.
They were trying to give elected officials cover and told the community to sit back and shut up, again, the community ignored them so HRC followed, late to the game.
They said that DADT and DOMA didn’t matter, because of course, if THOSE last two federal lawss against gay rights go away, well then there isn’t a huge amount for HRC, as a federal lobbying group to fight against now is there?
As far as YOUR list goes, don’t even try it, we know all about HRC’s tactics. They send a few interns to some event to pass out nametags, then take the hourly rate of those interns, put it in their books as a donation and claim that they sent that money.
But I have to say…my FAVORITE one of your comments about how much HRC has done for the community is the following…”NV – HRC applauds passage of bill to add gender identity protections to employment anti-discrimination law.”
Oh MY!! They APPLAUDED a something. WOW! What would the community EVER do without somebody to “APPLAUD” something that OTHER people got accomplished. LOL
clearly
john has drank the HRC kool aid
AndrewW
We are not still living in the 60s – grow up. It is 2011 and this old tactic of protest is counterproductive. The majority of Americans support our full equality and it is our challenge to get them to stand with us. Being disruptive will not work and it does not help.
We are LGBT – we are not “black” and we are not being oppressed. We have to work towards re-branding what it means to be “gay” and that isn’t accomplished by trying to irritate or inconvenience people – it is accomplished by educating, enlightening and enrolling people.
GetEqual has hurt our movement with these childish outbursts. People should not support them financially or otherwise. Their “actions” are not helpful.