NOM and other anti-gay groups want people to equate marriage equality with an attack on religion, community values, and predation on children—but they certainly don’t have the market cornered on any of those, especially as society gets exposed to more calm, rational, and openly-gay TV characters and professional athletes.
We criticized the NYC pro-equality ads featuring two milquetoast lesbians as failing to meet the emotional pitch and engagement of their “queers will turn all kids and churches gay” ad. Well, this week NOM delivered totally predictable mailers with more of the same blather, but we thought, “Why not take off the kid gloves and aggressively respond with some of our own anti-NOM postcards turning their own words back on them?” Here they are:
First, a few quick disclaimers:
We are not professional designers, copywriters, or marriage equality advocates. We designed most of these quickly on Photoshop, wrote them quickly to give an idea of possible messaging, and used some statistics and dollar amounts as placeholders just to get the general strategic idea across. Let’s leave it to the experts to fill them in later.
We tried to focus on compelling emotional issues rather than get into too many potentially confusing specifics. We used angles taken directly from the 10 easy-to-answer yes/no questions we gave to NOM earlier this week (a letter they have still not had the guts or intellectual honesty to respond to or pose to their own members). If we can keep nailing these key messages such as the rights they want to deny committed adults and the lies they tell, we keep the issue simple and easy to understand.
Also, while any commenter can easily say, “These suck” or “They won’t work,” we’d rather hear what might work better—let’s build together, not just tear each other down.
Enjoy the show…
NOM and other anti-gay groups want people to equate marriage equality with an attack on religion, community values, and predation on children—but they certainly don’t have the market cornered on any of those, especially as society gets exposed to more calm, rational, and openly-gay TV characters and professional athletes.
We criticized the NYC pro-equality ads featuring two milquetoast lesbians as failing to meet the emotional pitch and engagement of their “queers will turn all kids and churches gay” ad. Well, this week NOM delivered totally predictable mailers with more of the same blather, but we thought, “Why not take off the kid gloves and aggressively respond with some of our own anti-NOM postcards turning their own words back on them?” Here they are:
First, a few quick disclaimers:
We are not professional designers, copywriters, or marriage equality advocates. We designed most of these quickly on Photoshop, wrote them quickly to give an idea of possible messaging, and used some statistics and dollar amounts as placeholders just to get the general strategic idea across. Let’s leave it to the experts to fill them in later.
We tried to focus on compelling emotional issues rather than get into too many potentially confusing specifics. We used angles taken directly from the 10 easy-to-answer yes/no questions we gave to NOM earlier this week (a letter they have still not had the guts or intellectual honesty to respond to or pose to their own members). If we can keep nailing these key messages such as the rights they want to deny committed adults and the lies they tell, we keep the issue simple and easy to understand.
Also, while any commenter can easily say, “These suck” or “They won’t work,” we’d rather hear what might work better—let’s build together, not just tear each other down.
Enjoy the show… 
CELEBRITY CARD – A friend suggested we use beloved celebrities like Ellen DeGeneres and 
BAD MARRIAGE CARD – We can also point out the absurdity of anti-equality arguments by showing that NOM and other “protectors of marriage” don’t really care about the quality of marriage. You can be as horrible as your want, just as long as you’re not gay. That shows where their values really lay.
ADULT CARD – Truth is anti-equality groups want to punish thousands of great Americans just for being gay. It doesn’t matter how hard you work to make your community a better place, if you’re a homo they want you to be a second class citizen. The back of the card simply calls this out for what it is WRONG, HUMILIATING, and UNFAIR. We would’ve added HATEFUL, but there wasn’t enough room.
ADOPTION CARD – NOM uses the “gays harm children” angle a lot and they like to portray themselves as a loving Christian group. To turn this back on them, we need to emphasize that their policies would force taxpayers to spend millions just to keep children rotting in orphanages. It’s not an angle, it’s not spin—it’s a fact. Denying loving homes to needy children. How Christian is that?
EDITOR’S NOTE: Our 
COUPLE CARD – To dismantle the villainous face of homosexual predation, we need to continue showing gay couples and then contrast those loving images with the hateful reality that NOM, the American Family Association, the Concerned Women for America and other anti-gay groups wants. They want gay, lesbian, bisexual, trans and intersex couples to never raise kids, be able to care for loved ones in need, and basically die poor since we can’t transfer over pensions and social security. Putting it that bluntly is a shocking slap in the face to everyone.
CHILD CARD – Unfortunately, NOM works hard to convince people that gays are “icky.” Lots of voters may not know an LGBT person and so it’s not always a good idea to focus just on this bill affecting gays. Truth is, NOM and other anti-gay organizations would like to tell our children (young people who will one grow up to become adults) that they can expect a lower quality of life as second-class citizens just for being different. That’s not only hurtful to children, but telling adults to accept it is condescending to adults—who is NOM to treat American adults like children in a bid to take away freedom, rights, and quality of life from our neighbors and children?
RELIGION CARD – NOM and other anti-gay organizations like to paint marriage equality as an “attack on religion” but truth is that THEY want to take away the rights for gay-friendly churches to legally marry their own congregants. By showing images of faith leaders speaking in favor of love, fairness, and equality we not only say that marriage equality is a moral issue, it’s a civics issue too.
MONEY CARD – Some have said that Americans don’t give a crap about civil rights, they care about money. So let’s hot our opponents in the wallet and show New York business owners and community leaders just how much our entire state stands to gain if it begins welcoming loving couples to tie the knot here! The potential financial benefit is undeniably true as it will also encourage more workers and professionals to help make New York state even better.
LABELS CARD – A Joe.My.God. reader said that we wouldn’t accept discrimination against other minorities, so why should we accept it about hardworking members of our community? By putting a human face and some bio information about the people hurt by anti-equality measures, we take fire out of the anti-equality demonization. Plus, its important to show images of just how happy children are to have loving, caring parents.
Mike
I liked these mailers. I also like that the new version of Queerty is not just slamming current attempts for equality but also giving solutions as to what they’d do.
Whoever made these, would you like to make fliers for our magazine to distribute about GLBT rights ordinances in the cities/states we service? Our facebook page is linked when you click my name. 🙂
Joetx
Although they need some refinement, they’re still a helluva lot better than what Gay, Inc. has done.
paul f
I don’t know if it’s just me, but image #9 & #10 aren’t showing.
Daniel
@paul f: It was an error on our part. It should now be fixed. Please try reloading again in a few minutes!
Kevin craft
This one gets a little bit busy what with all of the color in the text and how it’s laid out. I would use just 2 colors in addition to white to break it up. The message is very strong, it’s just about presenting it in a simpler, easier to read way. “Ruin Their Lives” should be smaller so that it doesn’t take lesser stage to the tagline “Whose Side Are You On?”
Mark
This is good and my congratulations to you Daniel. Gay Inc needs to take notice and get busy! Why haven’t mailers like this been done before? Could it be that Gay inc are a bunch of chicken shits?
Kevin craft
Okay this one
You know how I feel about comic sans, Daniel! Anywho, that’s what I would change. Maybe use a sans serif like Univers or even (frowning that I’m saying it) Helvetica, and align “raising kids, financially support each other, etc. to the left.
Kevin craft
Another great concept. The type on the left looks a little crowded which would just be a matter of spacing things out. Also the red and green are kind of throwing it off, what if you used something more wedding colored, like pastels, or white and grey, or white and light blue?
tmast
OK>….this is disgusting use of a very significant photo and whoever equated what we face in Maggie Gallagher with what happened to this poor little Iraqi girl (her parents were shot in front of her, accidentally, by US Soldiers).
Gross….take this down. And shame on Queerty.
Liberal and proud of it!
Fuck the Evangelicals. Fuck those privileged Master Race white supremacist skinheads and their Puritanical Agenda in their Wal-Mart fastfood filled asses! I hope these fliers go out to every single person in the United States and expose these rats for what they stand for.
SHAME on Joe Solmonese and HRC for not using these tactics on Day One! I say we pool our resources towards people with a pair and make certain these ads are included in MN and CA where the next battles are coming.
Armand
Some may disagree with NOM but these articles against them is free advertising for the group.
In addition, these Queerty articles are following the drum of censorship (see: First Amendment in the US Constitution).
BlueStateJ
The second to last one is the best! The one with Damion Furch where it says “Don’t Let Them Poison Our State With HATE!”
I think we should hit them hard, hit them where it hurts, and show NO MERCY. It is time we get scorched Earth on NOM and bring down the motherfucking gauntlet on these fascist extremists.
oldgayvermonter
These are a great start…instead of cocktail parties and such let’s put the money into wide distribution of “truthiness” like this.
John
@Armand:
You have a point, but you’re also dead wrong. I’m tired of chicken shit liberals whining about “giving the other side free publicity.” Guess what? They have publicity. They tend to get it more than our side does.
The chicken shit liberals said the same thing when the Fred Phelps gang came to my town, Seattle. They said “Ignore them. Don’t give them any publicity.” Guess what? We ignored what Gay Inc. had to say. A small impromptu group of kids, all younger than 21, organized a counterprotest. At the counterprotest, we collected money and ended up raising more than $400 for local queer youth. One of the kids arranged for his parents’ restaurant to feed the counterprotesters. We had so much we decided to share it with a local homeless shelter.
The next day, the Westboro Baptist Church targeted a local high school. This time, the high school kids gave Gay Inc a big fuck you and more than 500 Garfield High School stood in their school colors and said LGBT people were welcome and that the WBC’s hate was NOT welcome.
I’ve been an activist for a LONG time. I’ve seen some bad shit. When I was standing there and I saw KIDS laughing, singing, chanting, flashing signs, I had to walk away and cry. I have rarely seen things so beautiful. I remembered being alone when I was younger. I remember seeing hate groups come to my town unchecked. To those who think queers “give free publicity” to hate groups when we stand up to them, I say you don’t know how fucking wrong you are.
Perhaps you are not well read or you don’t catch the evening news, but these groups are not starved for publicity. In fact, they get all they want. When the WBC clan visited Seattle, EVERY SINGLE REPORTER FROM THE LOCAL MEDIA – including a gay reporter from Dan Savage’s weekly rag – went to interview them and give them a platform. The question of free publicity is a red herring argument. What purpose does it serve? It tells queers that we should NOT fight back, that we should remain silent, that we deserve what we have and what we get.
Thank God the kids are smarter than the adults in our community. Ever since Gay Inc took the movement over from grassroots activists in the late 1970s, they’ve had a “don’t rock the boat” strategy. How’s that working out? 40 years ago, queers were legally and medically mentally ill. We changed that by standing up and fighting (and storming the APA conference demanding they change the DSM). Since then, we have created a homosexual revolution for ourselves. If you don’t know what Pre-Stonewall Gay America was like, check out the film “Before Stonewall.” Now, a majority of the country supports ENDA and gay marriage. We’ve done that for ourselves. It wasn’t the Democrats or Gay Inc. We did it ourselves.
Down with the HRC generation! Long live the Glee generation!
Greg from Denver
@John: You said a mouthful. Its often been the confrontational approach that has proceeded real change and action.Sometimes those in charge need to see that the “trouble makers” aren’t going to go away before they are willing to give any ground at all. My belief is we need a combination of strategies for our efforts to be successful. You need a combination of the GLBT people wanting to work within the system and make requests that will be considered way to radical and impossible, followed up with “True Believers” who will go to all out balls against the wall, ready to burn down the house folks, so that the powers that be no longer see the first suggestions as all that unreasonable.
@ Queerty, I think your right in going after NOM directly. Fighting NOM and their hateful rhetoric is going to bring out more active voters than saying do this because it is the right thing to do.
Andrew
Thank you for putting these mailer ideas out there. What is needed is stark, blatant, in-your-face arguments to state our case, because that is what NOM and other groups have done and are doing. Why do they do this? It works!
Most Americans think civil rights are important, but here’s a memo to bleeding-heart liberals and HRC: people don’t give two shits about “fairness.” What they want to know is who you are and why you deserve equal footing. The general public has to be convinced that rights are deserved.
The case for equality must be put out on the table in no uncertain terms, instead of the current situation in which “Gay Inc” whines about fairness.
Nick Thiwerspoon
They’re good! Keep fighting. These drongoes don’t fight fair. Hit them hard.
robert in NYC
Its already late in the evening in New Zealand and elsewhere in that hemisphere, so the “rapture” didn’t happen. Now all those right wing religious nutjobs won’t be able to use same-sex marriage heralding armageddon. What a hoot!
Flex
I like the last one!
dellisonly
@tmast:
NO! It takes strong rhetoric like this to sway the unwashed masses. If it made you angry than it was effective. If you are mad, do something.
Sparky
I LOVE THESE!!!! These mailers get right to the point and hit the right emotional chords. Make ’em! Print ’em! Stamp ’em! Mail ’em! Show them to everybody who has a mailbox. I really believe that these mailers have the power to change minds. This is exactly the type of strong-spined sharp-toothed rebuttals that the gay community has been lacking. Great Work!!!!!!
Daniel
@tmast: Before seeing and verifying your comment, we did not know the background of the image on the Orphan Card (which we found during a rushed Google image search). Out of respect for Ms. Hassan the little girl in the photo, we have replaced the image of another child. Thanks for alerting us.
Abel
These are just wonderful, but you need to find a MUCH BETTER picture of Maggie. A current one that shows her bloated face and quadruple chins. The REAL Maggie.
IAbuseGays
The fliers are good, but not enough focus on class and you need a separate campaign to work on the fairness issues that according to Nate Silver would work according to polls. In addition, your religious ones are better. Too much focus on NOM, but good demonization on them too. Demonizing the opponent is a good idea.
Not enough focus on the voters emotional side, and, more specifically, that people only care about themselves so talk to them about themselves and what they would like to believe about themselves. That’s why you need to focus separate concrete fairness campaign from their POV.
For instances, you use the term “UNFAIR” without providing the meat of why its unfair.
An Ad like this:
DO YOU BELIEVE IN FAIRNESS?
GAY COUPLE PHOTO | STRAIGHT COUPLE PHOTO
(mechanic/teacher) | (mechanic/teacher)
You want to know the difference between these two couples?
The gay couple over the time they are together must pay $100,000.00 just for the price of being gay. Do you have $100,000? Would you want others penalizing your relationship just because you want to be together?
IF YOU BELIEVE IN FAIRNESS, YOU WON’T ALLOW THIS TO CONTINUE!
I am not an adsman- it would be something like above. I would use only working class jobs as a key. The one thing that Kathy Griffith did when she showcased gays during her discussion of marriage equality, was to choose a working class gay couple, have them discuss their lack of health insurance, and how that was affecting the one member of the couple because he had a life threatening disease, but his husband insurance wouldn’t take him because they are gay.
In fact, I know several couples in NY state just like this. That’s the whole point of why its effective. People get it.
IAbuseGays
By the way- LOVE the use of racial diversity.
Mike in Asheville
I very much like the concept and messages of these mock-up flyers. (As you acknowledge, they do need some help from a graphic artist and some refinement of the text/pictures.) But these demonstrate that each facet of argument we make improves the overall message for marriage equality. Good for you.
****************
My only critique is about your (regular) criticism of others’ efforts as failures. If all the other efforts are such failures, then explain how it is that the general public is quickly moving toward approving same-sex marriage? Yesterday’s Gallop Poll is just the latest along with WaPo, CNN, ABC and other polling/news organizations, showing between 8-10 percentage point swing in the during the last year to a majority approving same-sex marriage.
You do not advance your concept and efforts by diminishing the efforts of those before you who are, at the very least, putting their hearts and money, into gaining civil rights for all lgbt.
IAbuseGays
Mike in Asheville
The answer to your question is pop culture. That’s resulting in the shift rather than the political actions by gay groups. That swing you describe is directly coming out of that.
It is the same reason that I advocate reaching out to people of color and low income groups in similar fashion. Why groups like GLAAD, which does seem to get this issue better than other national groups, are pushing for more inclusive representation of gays in the media- including a report now on the racial make up of the representation of gays on TV.
However, the deeper point is to really start digging deeper into different groups as to how they assimilate information and to reach out to them through those ways of assimilating information.
The political end is necessary, but not sufficient. Where the political groups fail is that they provide no effective strategies on their end in addition to the cultural forces at play. Thus, they don’t reach out at all to people of color or low income communities. So, the dearth of representation there is exacerbated by gay groups as it is by the general media, which frames it as gays (which apparently means upper class whites) against people of color or the low income or the religious etc.
I am not saying these are the only issues. They are just ones that I have spent time considering. Nor are these short term solutions. They are long term ones. BUt if you want to understand the shifts- the presentation of gays in media- is a big factor.
Abel
You are so right about HRC and Gay, Inc. They want us to be good li’l queers and know our place. Just send them checks and bide our time. Enough of that shit. To the barricades.
These flyers and GREAT. Is anyone gonna send them out?
Lucas
So simple yet so effective. This ads have me ready to march in the streets.
Steven B
Ummm, you forgot about NOM’s strongest playing card: “Gays want to Indoctrinate your Children!” If we are preparing mailers, we need to diffuse this issue.
IAbuseGays
@Steven B: Agree.
Marvin
I particularly like 1-3 and the first page of 11.
Daniel
@Steven B: I agree as well. How might we begin diffusing this issue?
IAbuseGays
@Daniel: By doing what Queerty is doing, but not in exactly the words they are using- hit the issue head on. Don’t cede the territory to the right. Say, yes, we won’t to tell children that its okay to be gay because (a) we don’t want gay children harmed and (b) because we want children to not harm other children who are gay.
To teach them that it is uniquely American (not true, but a useful trope) to treat everyone as equal. that in the face of NOM trying to tell children that there is something wrong with being gay, it is important to teach children a healthy perspective to counter the bigots. In other words, don’t let them have any ground to stand on.
Let them argue their positions. they will lie. they will demonize, but over time- it defuses the argument, because lies can only work in the short term if you consistently combat them.
That’s the whole point of attacking it head on. 15 years ago marriage equality seemed like a fantasy, right? 20 years ago so did repealing DADT.
Well, what’s happening now, its been pushed so much that in the span of 15 years it is now seen as inevitable. What seemed true 20 years ago has actually been repealed and is accepted by 70 percent of Americans as the right decision. that’s how these things work.
The same is true of this talking point. Diffuse it by shining light on it. You take away the power of a lie for many by talking about it over and over and over again rather than denying the lie is being spread. The repetition allows one to gain the upper hand. that’s how basic marketing works. They say you got to (as I am learning with my business- have 6 points of contact with a potential customer on the bubble to have an effect on them.
You aren’t going to win over everyone. In fact, the whole conversation will seem controversial at first. Just like marriage equality to gay groups seemed controversial in the 90s. They avoided it like the plague. Remember?
You don’t need to win over everyone. You just need to win enough so that the “the children” argument loses its power with the persuadable voters.
So a simple flyer:
NOM will lie to you by saying we want to indoctrinate your children.
NOM is lying.
We want all Americans regardless of age to see all other Americans as equal. TO believe in fairness. We wall them to believe this whether someone is gay or straight, black or white, Christian or Jewish.
Why is NOM against children seeing people as equal under the law?
Steven B
I believe that the general population may be relatively uneducated regarding gay people, but they are not like the anti-equality groups, who are radical and sometimes unhinged in their opposition to gay people. I want to believe that most of society can be reasonable if given the facts without the fear-mongering we have witnessed during the constitutional amendment campaigns.
So we can “begin” to diffuse the Gay Indoctrination issue by changing the rhetoric from “indoctrinate” to “educate.” But even the idea that gay activists want to educate America’s children is still frightening to many Americans.
So we have to mitigate that fear.
The “It Gets Better” campaign was hugely successful. That may be partly due to public reaction to the number of well publicized youth suicides. We should build upon that. American society doesn’t want to see young people kill themselves, and they will similarly be sympathetic to the harsh reality of bullying and hate crimes committed against LGBT citizens. We may not want to exploit these tragedies, but the truth is, if there is an agenda to educate school children about gays, it is to reduce the level of bullying and brutality experienced by LGBT citizens.
The response to NOM’s “classroom consequences” mailers is to educate the public about Gay-Straight Alliances and the excellent work that GLSEN is doing to increase awareness and tolerance of diversity in the classroom and among the rising generation. The general population needs to be educated to the fact that diversity education is a worthy goal and that forbidding gays to marry will not change that fact.
The wingnuts would spin this response, but I’d like to think the moveable middle would be rational and reasonable.
So when NOM says that “gay marriage will be taught in the schools and it’s already happened in Massachusetts,” our response is to say, “Curriculum that may include gay people and diverse families is to help teach our youth to treat everyone with tolerance and respect. Our educators consider this a valuable element in preparing our youth to be responsible and caring citizens!”
ScottNH
YES! YES! More of this! We’ll never see this kind of thing from HRC. It’s finally fighting fire with fire. NOM knows the gut emotional response is why ballots often don’t go our way and they will milk it to the end. I don’t know what organization is going to pick up on this so I vote we all chip in towards printing and mailing costs and see how many we can get out in New York, or how about Michigan, Tennessee…
Steve
Childish.
We are married and it means shit. I’m sick of these people and want nothing to do with them. Give me a dignified civil union and make it available to everyone on the same terms as marriage. And I don’t want to hear it about ‘separate but equal’. I’d prefer it and we’d all be better off.
Galen Brooks, M. D.
This is precisely the appropriate tack to take against these bigots. The folks who did these cards should have been in charge of the gay rebuttal to the Proposition 8 campaign in CA instead of the totally ineffective people who took the money and did nothing productive.
Mykelb
Also, I believe you should use the images of Peter Labarbera, Matt Barber, Bryan Fischer, and Tony Perkins, Beverly LaHaye. These leaders of SPLC certified hate groups need to be called out for what they are and villified most ardently. They need to be likened to David Dukes, David Koresh, Joseph Goebbels and Joseph McCarthy, the great liars of our past.
Mykelb
Please let me know when and where to send money and against what campaigns you are moving against.
Thank you for getting down to brass tacks with these reich wingers.
JohnAGJ
I agree that these need some refinement but over all I think they are fantastic! I’m sick and tired of the weasely crap coming from Gay, Inc. to combat the horrendous lies from NOM and FRC.
You might want to use a different placeholder image for #8. The one you currently have shows leaders from the Ethiopian Orthodox, Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic Churches, all of which strongly oppose same-sex marriage.
Kudos on the “cute factor” for the line “Mark: Cookie Eater” on imag 9 or 10!
boneil
I love these and I say go ahead and mail them. I wish we could have used these in Rhode Island this year.
Disgusted Gay American
I like the post cards alot…but whomever is making them – Find the WORST pictures Available & the MOST UN-Flattering of these 2 miscrients Brian Brown and Maggie Gallagher- and stop using her maiden name – USE her Married name!
Scott Lumry
The one thing I see missing from ALL of the cards is the placeholder for a website, facebook page, twitter account dedicated to the ongoing conversation that each card starts. You need to involve ALL of your media resources for this campaign to be successful. Then, clean the visual imaging up a little, clarify the message, and keep it simple.
Very good start and it is something that should be applied nationwide where a large coalition of individuals (we “grassroots”) will be able to fund the cause.
I believe many of us have been looking for an opportunity to play politics like winners.
SteveL
These are great! Too often I have pondered gay ads wondering what the heck they were trying to say. They were trying so hard to hide the fact that they were gay oriented that they lost their message completely.
I am ALL for attack ads at this point. People need to see how hateful these groups are. It’s amazing what you came up with. And I bet you don’t even have a $100,000 creative budget! I would run most of them as is, personally.
uraomniac
Bravo! How much would it cost to get these all mailed to every household in NY? How much for the districts with anti-equality politicians?
NOM is raising millions of $$$ through anonymous deep-pocket donors.
This is the time where we have every right to go to out straight allies (including churches who claim to be accepting) and pass the hat.
This isn’t being “uppity” or “confrontational” – it’s defending our honor by TELLING THE TRUTH – something that NOM hasn’t done since day one.
It might ALSO be nice to have one card basically listing all the places where NOM has broken campaign finance laws and asking “why would they do any differently in NY?”
Kim
I like the general gist of it, but I would suggest two things:
1. Make them catchier. Most of these are too wordy. Brew it down to one catch phrase. This is one of the main problems we have to get the message out. “Straight supremacy” tells it all.
2. Make them more explicit. For example, the foster care child that is denied loving parents. Put a stamp like print over her with “Love Denied”, signed off by Brain or Maggy and with under that something like “Gay parents unfit to provide loving home?”.
3. I would add one with a pre-teen child saying: “Why do you punish me?” With under that: “Gays have children, why do we withhold them the same protections as children from straight parents?”
Jeffrey
Yup. Good sentiments. I agree that ads like these is what we need to see. Now, instead of putting them on this crappy blog, why doesn’t Queerty have a fundraiser event so you can actually DO these mailings instead of just write about them? Put your money where your mouth is, Queerty. If I wasn’t so broke and underpaid, I’d be happy to donate some dollars to a legitimate event you guys were to put on.
But, if your aim is to get hits on your blog just by making a scene, then you’ve achieved your goal. Now that you have everyone’s attention (for better or for worse), DO something.
As a side note, I think your “rushed Google image search” of the “adoption card” photo with Ms. Hassan is a very clear example of how you guys operate. Knee-jerk reactions, unconfirmed details, sloppy journalism, and an “it’s easier to ask for forgiveness than permission” attitude really has your blog looking like a hot mess that the anti-gay side is gonna sop up and eat with a biscuit. You really didn’t know that photo? I remember seeing it in Time Magazine or somewhere. I can’t believe you guys would be so off the radar.
Be mad. Be angry. But, be responsible.
Jim
You’ve sold me. Great mailers. This is what EQ CA should have done in 2008.
Great work and thanks.
If you run a campaign, I’ll contribute.
AdBo
love the push and the in-your-face-ness.
Quick overview:
1. Sports – eh… not my thing, but I get it.
2. Bad Marriage: Needs to be tweaked to focus more on the disparity of NOM’s message (protect marriage) vs action (hurt gay people)
3 – EXCELLENT use of the word ‘humiliate’. Very emotional!
4. Orphans – brilliant! NOM hates kids AND causes taxes. Double play!
5, – meh… maybe focus more on the imbalance: “So you think gay couples are protected like married couples?” etc etc.
6: good, although less emotional than some of the others. And I’d be veeeery careful how the word ‘sick’ is used.
7: Meh.. there are much better ways to approach the religious angle. Maybe have a spread of Religious figures and say “How many same-sex marriages were these people forced to perform? NONE. Because civil marriage is a civil issue.” Then expand on the baseless lies of NOM.
8: Good
9: Focus more on discrimination in general: “Are you RACIST? Antisemitic? Sexist? Then why is it okay to be homophobic?”
10: NEEDS NOM’s FACES. Seriously, any time you broadcast their hate-speech you need to SHOW THEIR FACES so everyone knows when Maggie blathers on CNN that she’s responsible.
A suggestion for another card:
“Does marriage equality hurt kids? Not according to the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Psychological Association, the American Psychiatric Association and the American Association of Social Workers. …But that’s not enough for NOM. They say they know better than over 100,000 medical professionals.”
Go Galt. Please.
The orphan card made me cry a little. Excellent! Perhaps another card could contrast a childless gay couple being refused a child while a professional foster family (6+ kids, earning thousands, unable to give individual attention to the children) gets approved.
Giselle
I particularly liked the ‘Mark cookie eater’ bit! It’s the everyday situations that we all know and recognise that will build bridges of understanding and empathy.