Fear Tactics and Gay Rights

Satya

Satya

C'est la vie
Retired Staff
MBTI
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What do you think of this new trend?

http://www.sanfranciscosentinel.com/?p=78103

One of the hot new trends in litigation this year is fear. Witnesses in important gay-rights cases have claimed they were too afraid to testify because they feared they would be subject to reprisals for their views.

It’s one thing to hear this kind of talk from eyewitnesses in gang shootings. But now it has become a common complaint among opponents of gay rights who say they are afraid to take part in civic life.

Concern about witness intimidation was the reason offered in January for the last-minute decision to unplug TV cameras in California’s landmark fight over Prop 8—the state referendum to ban gay marriage.
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In mid-January, when the supporters of Prop 8 cut their witness list from six to just two, they again said that their witnesses were too afraid to testify. Andrew Pugno, from the organization Yes on Prop 8, explained that they were afraid “that as others have, that they will be targeted for retaliation, both professionally and personally.”
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http://www.kjonline.com/news/anti-gay-marriagegroup-seeks-endto-fundraising-probe_2010-06-20.html

The National Organization for Marriage donated more than $1.9 million to Stand for Marriage Maine, a political action committee that helped repeal a Maine law that allowed gay and lesbian couples to marry.

Bostrom said NOM did not raise more than $5,000 specifically for the Maine campaign but instead took money from its general operating budget to help the Maine repeal effort.

Further, he said, the group does not want to reveal the names of donors because they fear harassment.
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Do you think these people are genuinely afraid or simply trying to paint pro gay rights people in a bad light?
 
I'm allergic to ignorance and I fear I may break out if I click those links. Could you give us a summary that I can make snarky comments on?

Edit: Wow... speechless.
 
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Of course it's all genuine. You know how fearsome those pro gay rights folk are. Puts the Russian mafia to shame.
 
seems like a ploy to play into the sub-human deal...

now all of a sudden people are "afraid" of gay folks? whatevz.
 
GayMafia.jpg
 
If so many people signed those petitions and then once defeated wanted their names to be kept private then they must not fully believe the tripe they're promoting. That is despicable. But it doesn't mean some of these can't be true. Every group has their crazies, gay or straight. However, if an opponent of same sex marriage can stand up to fight his case in the public sphere then he should be just as capable of reporting a death threat to an authority to protect himself and family. Ideally with some supporting evidence of who/what/why. Not that I've looked that hard but I haven't heard of any death threat investigation cases with regards to same-sex marriage from either side.

I have a hard time believing its genuine. I'm probably very bias but I hope its really because the arguments against gay marriages are so weak that people realize its fighting an uphill battle that shouldn't have to be fought.

NOM. It's the organization the people from high school that beat up and made fun of gays probably ended up joining because it was simply too much fun for them to give up. Now only they're adults and have to play by the rules. Which they suck at doing.
 
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I was going to vote against gay marriage, but this guy came at me with two dildos!

Sacha-Baron-Cohen-as-Brun-003.jpg
 
Well... I think they probably are legitamately afraid of being harassed in some manner, because the truth is, most people around them probably know and love someone gay, (if they are straight) and would probably find their views somewhat repugnant. Repugnant enough to throw eggs at their cars, anyway. (says the article) Everybody has gay co-workers, neighbors, friends, etc. and very, very few people like the thought of their friends being subjected to bigotry, so the opponents would find themselves in uncomfortable situations professionally and personally, I have no doubt.

The article also said
The same folks who oppose making signatures public are waging a war to do away with campaign-finance rules that would require disclosing the names of campaign donors.
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They're trying to hide unpopular views in both cases.

In a way, it is a good thing from the point of view of promoting gay rights that the opponents know their views are unpopular.

People should still be allowed to have unpopular views, though, and the death threats the article mentioned are pretty extreme and actually work against the cause of promoting gay rights, I should think. But car egging? Ah, get over it.
 
Well, isn't it the nature of being conservative that makes you afraid of f-ing EVERYTHING?
I think that would explain it.
 
I don't know. I'm not particularly conservative, but death threats do make me a bit jumpy. Seems they'd have that effect on everyone. Shrug.

(The article said that the gay-marriage opponents had received death threats. I am not arguing against gay marriage, I am only pointing out that death threats as well as car egging and the other things the article mentioned might legitimately make people afraid.)
 
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Janet said:
I don't know. I'm not particularly conservative, but death threats do make me a bit jumpy. Seems they'd have that effect on everyone. Shrug.

(The article said that the gay-marriage opponents had received death threats. I am not arguing against gay marriage, I am only pointing out that death threats as well as car egging and the other things the article mentioned might legitimately make people afraid.)
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The degree the fear and threats were exaggerated (to be that ALL proponents of anti-gay legislature were going to be lynched if they so much as peeped) is what struck me as BS. A FEW people had threats, and now people are making it out that EVERYONE will die.
 
It's too hard to tell if the fear of repraisals is real or concocted as a ploy in their campaign.

It's probably that there is some fear but it is being exagerrated for political purposes.

Nevertheless, if one decides to engage in politics, one should be prepared to be considered a pariah by the opposing campaign.
 
Dunno, but if you are gonna have the balls to stand up and try to repress an entire group of human beings on the basis of sexual orientation, you damn well better have the balls to look every single one of them in the eye while you do it.
 
both, I'm sure there are some whom do actualy fear speaking(whom have no reason to fear), some who are faking it and some who do actualy have a reason to fear.

I coudln't possibly give numbers to it other then to say the fakinging it and the irational fear are probably on top.
 
Skathac said:
Dunno, but if you are gonna have the balls to stand up and try to repress an entire group of human beings on the basis of sexual orientation, you damn well better have the balls to look every single one of them in the eye while you do it.
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Agreed.
 
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