Prop. 8 Boycotts Backfire

Gay activists went crazy when Prop. 8 passed banning gay marriage, using intimidation and ridicule on those who donated and/or supported Prop. 8.

I blogged before about the bullying tactics used by those who opposed Prop. 8:

The activist gay community has only hurt it’s cause by resorting to intimidation and threats to those individuals and businesses that disagreed with gay marriage California.

Take for example Marjorie Christoffersen, co- manager of a popular eatery in Hollywood called El Coyote’s. When the gay activists discovered that she had contributed $100 to support Prop. 8, protests began at her restaurant.

Marjorie Christoffersen is a Mormon and known for her kindness. When one of her gay employee’s partner died from AIDS, Marjorie paid for his mother to fly out for his funeral.

Christoffersen met privately with 60 LA LGBT activists after the protests started and expressed regret in her decision to donate $100 to the “Yes on Prop 8″ campaign. She insisted that the donation had been personal and because of her faith and had nothing to do with the restaurant. It seemed clear she didn’t want the employees of the restaurant to suffer because of her. She said to them, “I’m sick of heart that I’ve offended anyone in the gay community. I have had, and do have family, friends, and people I work with of course who are gay…and you are treasured people to me.” She went on to say, “Over the years Coyote has financially supported many charities and thousands of dollars most particularly have been given to the gay interests and charities. The restaurant does not support any political group.” She then became too emotional to continue. She has since resigned from El Coyotes’.

The openly-gay restaurant manager Billy Schoeppner, announced that El Coyote would make two $5,000 contributions, each to the Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Center and the Lambda Legal Defense Fund.All this has not been enough for the gay activists though. They felt there wasn’t an “outright apology.”

See how this works? While it clear that Mrs. Christoffersen cares for her employees, including and especially it’s gay members, she still felt that gay marriage is wrong. But she is not allowed to believe that. Not according to the gay activists of Prop. 8. Her business, which employs gay and straight alike, also must suffer. Such is the way of intimidation of these activists.

These types of protests happened all over California. Gay activists were posting names and addresses of those who donated to to support Prop. 8. The Wall Street Journal chronicles some of the boycotts to those businesses here.

This led to NoMobVeto.org, part of the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, to place an ad in the New York Times speaking out against the religious bigotry of the Prop. 8 gay activists. It was signed by notables such as Nathan J. Diament Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, Rich CizikNational Association of Evangelicals, and Martin Luther King’s niece, Dr. Alveda C. King Civil rights activist. It reads in part:

We’re a disagreeable lot. We differ about a great many important things. Most, but not all of us, are religious believers. We likewise differ on important moral and legal questions, including the wisdom and justice of California’s Proposition 8, banning same-sex marriage.Nevertheless we’re united in this: The violence and intimidation being directed against the LDS or “Mormon” church, and other religious organizations–and even against individual believers–simply because they supported Proposition 8 is an outrage that must stop.

This is the activists response to that ad.

All this led to another outrage when Obama asked Pastor Rick Warren, a supporter of Prop. 8, to give the invocation at his inauguration.

The netroots were a bit upset. To them he is a “preacher of hate” because he disagrees with them.

All of this has backfired on the gay activist community, making them seem shrill, vindictive, and mean. Even supporters of gay marriage are turned off by these tactics of intimidation. People should be free to give to causes they believe in without worry that some radical group is going to use that information to attack them and the business they work for. It’s just wrong and any reasonable person can see that.

For the life of me I cannot see why the gay community doesn’t put the full force of their passion into getting civil unions passed in all states. The majority of Americans are fine with that, and it would give gay couples the legal rights of any married couple.

I’ve certainly learned in the causes I believe in, that gentle persuasion and accepting what I can get from the government and laws, goes a long way in getting people to see your side.

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