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Gays Consider Go-slow Approach
Did the gay rights lobby overplay its hand after the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled last year to overturn that state’s ban on gay marriages?
If the results of the presidential election and 11 statewide ballots on Nov. 2 are any indication, the answer is a resounding “yes.”
Residents in all of those states voted overwhelmingly to adopt constitutional amendments banning same-sex unions.
Now, in the wake of these defeats, the gay rights lobby is considering whether it should adopt a go-slow approach for the foreseeable future, abandoning its emphasis on gay marriage and instead preaching about strengthening existing relationships.
But that more moderate approach has created a wide rift within the movement, the New York Times reported Thursday.
In an effort to bow to the political realities following the election’s results, Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest gay rights group, is willing to make changes to its strategy.
For starters, the organization has accepted the resignation of its executive director and has appointed its first non-gay co-chairman.
Also, the group is considering supporting President Bush’s Social Security reform effort in exchange for provisions allowing gay couples to receive similar benefits.
“The feeling … was that we had to get beyond the political and return to the personal,” Michael Berman, a Democratic lobbyist and consultant who was elected the first non-gay co-chairman of the Human Rights Campaign’s board last week, told the Times following a meeting in Las Vegas last weekend.
“We need to re-introduce ourselves to America with the stories of our lives,” he said.
Others within the movement, however, see the moderation as a wrong-headed retreat.
newsmax.com/archives/ic/2004/12/9/115830.shtml
Did the gay rights lobby overplay its hand after the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled last year to overturn that state’s ban on gay marriages?
If the results of the presidential election and 11 statewide ballots on Nov. 2 are any indication, the answer is a resounding “yes.”
Residents in all of those states voted overwhelmingly to adopt constitutional amendments banning same-sex unions.
Now, in the wake of these defeats, the gay rights lobby is considering whether it should adopt a go-slow approach for the foreseeable future, abandoning its emphasis on gay marriage and instead preaching about strengthening existing relationships.
But that more moderate approach has created a wide rift within the movement, the New York Times reported Thursday.
In an effort to bow to the political realities following the election’s results, Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest gay rights group, is willing to make changes to its strategy.
For starters, the organization has accepted the resignation of its executive director and has appointed its first non-gay co-chairman.
Also, the group is considering supporting President Bush’s Social Security reform effort in exchange for provisions allowing gay couples to receive similar benefits.
“The feeling … was that we had to get beyond the political and return to the personal,” Michael Berman, a Democratic lobbyist and consultant who was elected the first non-gay co-chairman of the Human Rights Campaign’s board last week, told the Times following a meeting in Las Vegas last weekend.
“We need to re-introduce ourselves to America with the stories of our lives,” he said.
Others within the movement, however, see the moderation as a wrong-headed retreat.
newsmax.com/archives/ic/2004/12/9/115830.shtml