For those attempting to parse the mind of the Republican supporting electorate, I'd like to share the following email that crossed my desk this morning:
"I'm a little confused. Let me see if I have this straight...
*If you grow up in Hawaii, raised by your grandparents, you're "exotic, different."
*Grow up in Alaska eating mooseburgers, a quintessential American story.
* If your name is Barack you're a radical, unpatriotic Muslim.
* Name your kids Willow, Trig and Track, you're a maverick.
* Graduate from Harvard law School and you are unstable.
*Attend 5 different small colleges before graduating, you're well grounded.
* If you spend 3 years as a brilliant community organizer, become the first black President of the Harvard Law Review, create a voter registration drive that registers 150,000 new voters, spend 12 years as a Constitutional Law professor, spend 8 years as a State Senator representing a district with over 750,000 people, become chairman of the state Senate's Health and Human Services committee, spend 4 years in the United States Senate representing a state of 13 million people while sponsoring 131 bills and serving on the Foreign Affairs, Environment and Public Works and Veteran's Affairs committees, you don't have any real leadership experience.
* If your total resume is: local weather girl, 4 years on the city council and 6 years as the mayor of a town with less than 7,000 people, 20 months as the governor of a state with only 650,000 people, then you're qualified to become the country's second highest ranking executive.
* If you have been married to the same woman for 19 years while raising 2 beautiful daughters, all within Protestant churches, you're not a real Christian.
* If you cheated on your first wife with a rich heiress, and left your disfigured wife and married the heiress the next month, you're a Christian.
* If you teach responsible, age appropriate sex education, including the proper use of birth control, you are eroding the fiber of society.
* If , while governor, you staunchly advocate abstinence only, with no other option in sex education in your state's school system while your unwed teen daughter ends up pregnant , you're very responsible.
* If your wife is a Harvard graduate lawyer who gave up a position in a prestigious law firm to work for the betterment of her inner city community, then gave that up to raise a family, your family's values don't represent America's.
* If you're husband is nicknamed "First Dude", with at least one DWI conviction and no college education, who didn't register to vote until age 25 and once was a member of a group that advocated the secession of your home state from the USA, your family is extremely admirable.
OK, much clearer now.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Another Day, Another FTP Problem For Quest
The balky FTP server at Athena Group is acting up again this morning. Quest Online will get its morning update when its working again.
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Quest Online Has Been Updated
The Athena Group FTP server has been repaired and today's stories and links have been updated.
Server Problems For Quest Online
The Athena Group has advised that there is a problem today with their FTP server, making it currently impossible to update the Quest Online website. It will be updated with over a dozen new stories and links - incouding three Wisconsin "exclusives" - as soon as we get the go-ahead from our provider. Sorry for the inconvenience
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
The Larry Craig Debacle: What Have We Learned?
By the time you read these words, the sad saga of toe-tapping Idaho Republican Senator Larry Craig’s same-sex shenanigans in a Twin Cities airport toilet and its repercussions will be well into its fifth week.
For those who have been too preoccupied with Amy, Britney and Lindsay’s respective rehabs to notice, here’s a quick recap: On August 27, Washington’s political newspaper Roll Call publishes story of Craig’s early August plea deal to a June 11 bust by a (very hunky) vice cop for soliciting sex in a men’s room well-known by those seeking anonymous bathroom blow-jobs. Within a day, the Idaho Statesman publishes a lengthy investigative piece alleging Craig’s homo-sex trysts date back to his college days in the 60’s. Activist blogger Mike Rogers points out he published other allegations of Craig toilet sex on his Blogactive.com site nearly a year ago. The Smoking Gun tabloid website offers up the full police report and Craig’s mugshot. Snaps of sexy Sgt. Ray Karnsia show up as well.
A day later with wife in tow, Craig tells the press "I’m not gay, never have been gay." Hours later the audio tape of the cop’s interview with Craig reveals the senator at his Clintonesque best failing to remember the particulars of an incident that occurred literally just moments before. Also in the news: There were 41 busts during the month of the Senator’s collar in the same bathroom, which is listed widely on sites such as crusisingforsex.com and - would you believe? - the Twin Cities version of Craig’s List.
Virtuous Republicans from presidential hopeful John McCain to also-disgraced one-time Majority Leader Trent Lott call for Craig’s resignation. His committee chairmanships are pulled. By the weekend, Craig indicates he’ll quit at the end of September.
Or maybe not. Craig hires the same defense attorney used by dog-killin’ NFL quarterback Michael Vick and a new spin begins. Craig’s adopted kids appear on Good Morning America to vouch that their daddy’s not queer. (One of them later gets in trouble for an outstanding arrest warrant). Craig announces that he’s both reconsidering his resignation and going to get his lawyer to fight his own guilty plea. Almost immediately White House insiders spill their lack of support for Craig’s latest ploy.
Craig's attorney files a motion to withdraw his guilty plea, now allegedly "filed under media pressure." Not so the prosecutor counters - Craig was "calm and methodical" in his plea bargaining. Ever quick to latch onto a good story involving a conservative that will prove it is not the evil force destroying America that right winguts claim, the ACLU takes up Craig's cause.
Throughout the scandal radio and TV talkers, bloggers, pundits and political spokesmodels across the spectrum opined on the hypocrisy and humor of it all. Some questioned the effect on the GOP in the next election cycle, while others made note of Craig’s "wide stance" on the issues. The only thing that seems to be missing is the Weekly World News publishing a photo of Craig’s toilet tête-à-tête with that ubiquitous space alien.
I had originally suspected that the whole Craig affair likely would peter out, so to speak. Once a tape of your misdialed voice mail detailing the whole reconsideration strategy hits the web, can you make a credible case for any part of your story? However the story has had the staying power that makes a double dose of Cialis look limp.
That said, here’s a quick list of lessons learned from the whole sorry affair to date. I’m going to skip the obvious issues: hypocrisy of the Right (or the Left for that matter), sex stings, privacy issues, and so on. They’ve already been analyzed to death.
1. Larry Craig Isn’t Gay - Really. If you believe that being gay means accepting your personal sexual self-discovery and integrating it into your total being just like your handedness, eye color or other trait, then Larry Craig is about as far from gay as you can get, at least without entering a monastery. Larry Craig is at best a member of that ubiquitous breed known as "bi-married-curious," the ones who research studies show overwhelmingly populate the restrooms, rest stops, park trails and other public places of the planet. The ones social scientists and disease prevention specialists like to refer to as "MSM" (men who have sex with men).
In a new century where gay teenagers are now coming to grip with their genetic affectional and sexual predisposition at the same time their straight peers, our community does not need to welcome Senator Craig to the family. He is the dinosaur from the Boomer generation whose heroes made GayLiberation possible. Craig’s species may still exist, but the comet of full gay visibility has already hit the culture - in a generation or two Larry and his fellow Craigosaruses will be but a memory.
But there is also a warning for you Gayactivosaurs: that same comet is wiping out your species as well. Check with the rank and file of today’s twentysomethings who hang equally with their straight buddies, living fully integrated lives in the what-you-like-to-call the "mainstream" community. You got your wish: gay is equal to blue eyes or left-handedness now. As such it will be “no big deal” in years to come. Your task? Polish up the leftover identity based politics now - time is short. Your other choice? Evolve and get involved with a new progressive movement such as CommonThread, one that offers our community members a place at their diverse table as equals.
2. GOP Stands For "Gag On Penis." Since Craig’s cruising crash, we’ve been inundated with jokes about the "Gay Old Party," or "God’s Own Party," but my definition really explains it all. For those playing the counting game, the list of Republicans caught in the same-sex spotlight just keeps getting longer and longer: this last month alone Craig, Florida Rep. Bob Allen and Young Republican Federation chair Glenn Murphy, Jr. made the list. When you add the outed and semi-outed Mark Foley, Ted Haggard, Jim Kolbe, Ed Schrock, Ken Mehlman, David Dreier, Duke Cunningham, Rick Perry, etc. plus the RNC politicos’ gay staffers (Rick Santorum’s Robert Traynham, Trent Lott’s Dirk Smith, etc.) to the still-not-completely-outed (at least according to outing blogger Rogers) Lindsey Graham, James McCrery and others, the list boggles the mind.
Why, it’s even longer than faux White House "correspondent" Talon News’ Jeff Gannon-Guckert’s alleged, advertised, for-hire manhood. More importantly, with the exception of the Jim Kolbe, all handled their revelations poorly. You might even say they choked. That list also is certainly longer that the one neocon apologists are rattling off from their talking points du jour: Barney Frank, Gerry Studds and Bill Clinton. Bill Clinton? Now I understand: the Republican holier-than-thous weren’t morally outraged over Monica’s Oval Office oral efforts, they were upset Bill didn’t offer them sloppy seconds.
3. Thanks For The Dance Lesson! I can only speak for myself, but until I saw the tearoom tap dance played out on YouTube, I had no clue that was how to get sex in the stalls. I asked a lot of friends. I also asked co-workers who do prevention outreach with the MSM community. Some talked about lingering glances and southward gazes. Only one had heard of footsie frolicking. None were up on the toe tapping. Thanks, Larry for one more bit of useless information to store for the rest of my life.
Actually I’ve learned a lot about the most bizarre sexual practices from homo-haters when I think about it. I have to thank Rantin’ Ralph Ovadal andhis Pink Swastika author buddy Scott Lively for getting me up to speed on something they called "mud dipping." Good luck finding it on Google. As I recall it involves a bath tub and feces. There are probably people out there in fetish communities who get into that sort of thing. But it ain’t gay per se - it only homo if the two people of the same sex are involved, you know.
4. Next Time Hit The VIP Lounge. The experienced gay travelers in my social circle have little doubt about what Larry was up to in that Twin Cities toilet last June. They know that if you want to avoid the crowds, the mess, the smells and the damp spaces you have to drop your carry-ons in - not to mention any unwanted come-ons - the only place to go - in every sense of the word - is to and in the VIP lounges provided by every major airline in every major hub in the world. Even if Senator Craig wasn’t a member of any frequent flyer clubs, my guess is that the same business card he dropped on the cop plus his boarding pass would have gotten him easy access to any VIP stall available from his flight provider. Of course, there aren’t many productive peeks when you’re accessing such perks.
5. For The GOP, It Ain’t Over Yet. Even if Craig ups and goes away quietly by the time this piece hits the streets, the embarrassment is not over for the Republican Party. Have you heard where the already-booked 2008 RNC national convention is going to be held? Welcome GOP Delegates To Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. Would you prefer your stall to be sex or no-sex?
The above is an updated version of a piece that appeared in the September 12 edition of Quest.
For those who have been too preoccupied with Amy, Britney and Lindsay’s respective rehabs to notice, here’s a quick recap: On August 27, Washington’s political newspaper Roll Call publishes story of Craig’s early August plea deal to a June 11 bust by a (very hunky) vice cop for soliciting sex in a men’s room well-known by those seeking anonymous bathroom blow-jobs. Within a day, the Idaho Statesman publishes a lengthy investigative piece alleging Craig’s homo-sex trysts date back to his college days in the 60’s. Activist blogger Mike Rogers points out he published other allegations of Craig toilet sex on his Blogactive.com site nearly a year ago. The Smoking Gun tabloid website offers up the full police report and Craig’s mugshot. Snaps of sexy Sgt. Ray Karnsia show up as well.
A day later with wife in tow, Craig tells the press "I’m not gay, never have been gay." Hours later the audio tape of the cop’s interview with Craig reveals the senator at his Clintonesque best failing to remember the particulars of an incident that occurred literally just moments before. Also in the news: There were 41 busts during the month of the Senator’s collar in the same bathroom, which is listed widely on sites such as crusisingforsex.com and - would you believe? - the Twin Cities version of Craig’s List.
Virtuous Republicans from presidential hopeful John McCain to also-disgraced one-time Majority Leader Trent Lott call for Craig’s resignation. His committee chairmanships are pulled. By the weekend, Craig indicates he’ll quit at the end of September.
Or maybe not. Craig hires the same defense attorney used by dog-killin’ NFL quarterback Michael Vick and a new spin begins. Craig’s adopted kids appear on Good Morning America to vouch that their daddy’s not queer. (One of them later gets in trouble for an outstanding arrest warrant). Craig announces that he’s both reconsidering his resignation and going to get his lawyer to fight his own guilty plea. Almost immediately White House insiders spill their lack of support for Craig’s latest ploy.
Craig's attorney files a motion to withdraw his guilty plea, now allegedly "filed under media pressure." Not so the prosecutor counters - Craig was "calm and methodical" in his plea bargaining. Ever quick to latch onto a good story involving a conservative that will prove it is not the evil force destroying America that right winguts claim, the ACLU takes up Craig's cause.
Throughout the scandal radio and TV talkers, bloggers, pundits and political spokesmodels across the spectrum opined on the hypocrisy and humor of it all. Some questioned the effect on the GOP in the next election cycle, while others made note of Craig’s "wide stance" on the issues. The only thing that seems to be missing is the Weekly World News publishing a photo of Craig’s toilet tête-à-tête with that ubiquitous space alien.
I had originally suspected that the whole Craig affair likely would peter out, so to speak. Once a tape of your misdialed voice mail detailing the whole reconsideration strategy hits the web, can you make a credible case for any part of your story? However the story has had the staying power that makes a double dose of Cialis look limp.
That said, here’s a quick list of lessons learned from the whole sorry affair to date. I’m going to skip the obvious issues: hypocrisy of the Right (or the Left for that matter), sex stings, privacy issues, and so on. They’ve already been analyzed to death.
1. Larry Craig Isn’t Gay - Really. If you believe that being gay means accepting your personal sexual self-discovery and integrating it into your total being just like your handedness, eye color or other trait, then Larry Craig is about as far from gay as you can get, at least without entering a monastery. Larry Craig is at best a member of that ubiquitous breed known as "bi-married-curious," the ones who research studies show overwhelmingly populate the restrooms, rest stops, park trails and other public places of the planet. The ones social scientists and disease prevention specialists like to refer to as "MSM" (men who have sex with men).
In a new century where gay teenagers are now coming to grip with their genetic affectional and sexual predisposition at the same time their straight peers, our community does not need to welcome Senator Craig to the family. He is the dinosaur from the Boomer generation whose heroes made GayLiberation possible. Craig’s species may still exist, but the comet of full gay visibility has already hit the culture - in a generation or two Larry and his fellow Craigosaruses will be but a memory.
But there is also a warning for you Gayactivosaurs: that same comet is wiping out your species as well. Check with the rank and file of today’s twentysomethings who hang equally with their straight buddies, living fully integrated lives in the what-you-like-to-call the "mainstream" community. You got your wish: gay is equal to blue eyes or left-handedness now. As such it will be “no big deal” in years to come. Your task? Polish up the leftover identity based politics now - time is short. Your other choice? Evolve and get involved with a new progressive movement such as CommonThread, one that offers our community members a place at their diverse table as equals.
2. GOP Stands For "Gag On Penis." Since Craig’s cruising crash, we’ve been inundated with jokes about the "Gay Old Party," or "God’s Own Party," but my definition really explains it all. For those playing the counting game, the list of Republicans caught in the same-sex spotlight just keeps getting longer and longer: this last month alone Craig, Florida Rep. Bob Allen and Young Republican Federation chair Glenn Murphy, Jr. made the list. When you add the outed and semi-outed Mark Foley, Ted Haggard, Jim Kolbe, Ed Schrock, Ken Mehlman, David Dreier, Duke Cunningham, Rick Perry, etc. plus the RNC politicos’ gay staffers (Rick Santorum’s Robert Traynham, Trent Lott’s Dirk Smith, etc.) to the still-not-completely-outed (at least according to outing blogger Rogers) Lindsey Graham, James McCrery and others, the list boggles the mind.
Why, it’s even longer than faux White House "correspondent" Talon News’ Jeff Gannon-Guckert’s alleged, advertised, for-hire manhood. More importantly, with the exception of the Jim Kolbe, all handled their revelations poorly. You might even say they choked. That list also is certainly longer that the one neocon apologists are rattling off from their talking points du jour: Barney Frank, Gerry Studds and Bill Clinton. Bill Clinton? Now I understand: the Republican holier-than-thous weren’t morally outraged over Monica’s Oval Office oral efforts, they were upset Bill didn’t offer them sloppy seconds.
3. Thanks For The Dance Lesson! I can only speak for myself, but until I saw the tearoom tap dance played out on YouTube, I had no clue that was how to get sex in the stalls. I asked a lot of friends. I also asked co-workers who do prevention outreach with the MSM community. Some talked about lingering glances and southward gazes. Only one had heard of footsie frolicking. None were up on the toe tapping. Thanks, Larry for one more bit of useless information to store for the rest of my life.
Actually I’ve learned a lot about the most bizarre sexual practices from homo-haters when I think about it. I have to thank Rantin’ Ralph Ovadal andhis Pink Swastika author buddy Scott Lively for getting me up to speed on something they called "mud dipping." Good luck finding it on Google. As I recall it involves a bath tub and feces. There are probably people out there in fetish communities who get into that sort of thing. But it ain’t gay per se - it only homo if the two people of the same sex are involved, you know.
4. Next Time Hit The VIP Lounge. The experienced gay travelers in my social circle have little doubt about what Larry was up to in that Twin Cities toilet last June. They know that if you want to avoid the crowds, the mess, the smells and the damp spaces you have to drop your carry-ons in - not to mention any unwanted come-ons - the only place to go - in every sense of the word - is to and in the VIP lounges provided by every major airline in every major hub in the world. Even if Senator Craig wasn’t a member of any frequent flyer clubs, my guess is that the same business card he dropped on the cop plus his boarding pass would have gotten him easy access to any VIP stall available from his flight provider. Of course, there aren’t many productive peeks when you’re accessing such perks.
5. For The GOP, It Ain’t Over Yet. Even if Craig ups and goes away quietly by the time this piece hits the streets, the embarrassment is not over for the Republican Party. Have you heard where the already-booked 2008 RNC national convention is going to be held? Welcome GOP Delegates To Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport. Would you prefer your stall to be sex or no-sex?
The above is an updated version of a piece that appeared in the September 12 edition of Quest.
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
A Look Behind The Startling Defeat For Wisconsin Marriage Equality
Marriage Amendment Passes 59-41%
A Look Behind The Startling Defeat For Wisconsin Marriage Equality
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Madison - It had all the earmarks of success: $5 million in its war chest, thousands of volunteers, hundreds of prestigious supporting groups, 72 county coordinators, dozens of supportive broadcast and print media endorsements, a half-dozen attention-getting TV spots, nearly three years of preparation, the unprecedented coalition of the state’s two most powerful gay activist groups and one of the most politically savvy campaign managers available in the country: Mike Tate.
t
Yet only two hours after the polls closed November 7, it was painfully clear Fair Wisconsin’s campaign to defeat the constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage and civil unions had not only lost, it had lost big. 59% to 41% big, a spread that was greater than even the most conservative political pundits in the state had predicted.
t
One state - Republican-leaning Arizona - had defeated a similar ban, using a strategy that mirrored Fair Wisconsin’s nearly note for note (see story in the national news section). Six other states joined Wisconsin in adopting similar anti-gay marriage measures, though several by much narrower margins than here in the original “Gay Rights” state. Nearly a quarter century after Wisconsin had led the nation in its acceptance of its gay and lesbian citizens as equally deserving of jobs, housing and public accommodation, its voters had stamped “second class” on every long-term committed gay relationship, not to mention the nearly 50% of straight couples living together in the state without the benefit of a marriage license.
t
For ban opponents who looked beyond the amendment question, there was plenty to be cheerful about. The state’s Republicans who had engineered this year’s ban ballot to serve as a sickening sequel to the successful 2004 national GOP strategy were breath-takingly bitch slapped at the voting booth. The State Senate switched to Democratic Party control and the Republican majority in the Assembly shrank from fourteen to five. Most importantly, openly gay-supportive Governor Jim Doyle, who had passionately called for the amendment’s defeat at every public opportunity, handily won re-election, the first Democrat to win a second term in over 30 years.
t
Particularly pleasing to long-time activists were the defeats to some of the primogenitors of the Right’s more than decade-long DOMA march. Mark Green, who as Assembly Speaker in the mid-1990’s successfully shepherded Lorraine Seratti’s AB-104 to a win in the lower body, was roundly defeated in his bid for governor. His successor John Gard, who over a year ago openly strategized with the Family Research Institute of Wisconsin’s Julaine Appling on the timing on the amendment vote, lost to political neophyte Dr. Steve Kagen in his race to replace Green as Eighth Congressional District Representative.
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In the State Senate, Tom Reynolds, a staunch amendment supporter best known for his attendance at Ralph Ovadal’s infamous 2003 “International Conference on Homofascism” (when he wasn’t reproducing Rantin’ Ralph’s “anti-sodomite” screed at his Waukesha print shop), was defeated. Also down-for-the-count:Eau Claire amendment supporter Dave Zien, who two years ago threatened to shut down a hearing on the amendment after then Action Wisconsin president Tim O’Brien publicly asked which of his three marriages he was trying to protect; and fellow Eau Claire area senator Ron Brown who chose politics over paternity when he voted to pass the amendment bill a second time after revealing to opponents his own son was gay.
t
Fair Wisconsin’s involvement in turning out the student vote clearly had an impact on many of the upsets the Republicans suffered. In counties where Fair Wisconsin had organized significant “get out the vote”(GOTV) efforts, voters turned out a a rate 6% higher than had been expected. Counties where Fair Wisconsin did not have a GOTV campaign saw only a 4.8% higher than average turnout. (Statewide 51% of eligible voters turned out, 5.5% higher than had been projected.)
t
Voting districts with heavy student populations saw a double digit explosions in voter turnout. In Madison student turnout was 43.1% higher than in 2004. Even more dramatic was the 232% increase in student voting at UW-Whitewater, where Democrat challenger Kim Hixon appears to have defeated incumbent Republican Debi Towns by just 11 votes to represent the 43rd Assembly District.
t
As had been predicted throughout the Fall, the marriage amendment issue had energized Democrats of all stripes. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel political columnists Cary Spivak and Dan Bice summed up Fair Wisconsin’s pyrrhic victory in their November 8 column: “If you can win by losing, score one for Fair Wisconsin, the well-funded grass-roots group that led the unsuccessful fight against the amendment,” Spivak and Bice wrote. “In his victory speech, Gov. Jim Doyle, who scored his own impressive seven-point victory over U. S. Rep. Mark Green, also put a spotlight on the group, thanking it for its efforts.”
t
“Even Republican honchos begrudgingly credited Fair Wisconsin (November 8) for a strong get-out-the-vote effort that helped Democrats up and down the ticket,” the column continued, quoting the GOP’s executive director Rick Wiley saying “Fair Wisconsin did a good job of turning out the college vote. They ended up being Doyle's turnout vehicle.”
t
Though Fair Wisconsin’s Tate wouldn’t take credit for Doyle’s win, he did seek kudos for the Democrats’ legislative wins, according to Spivak and Bice. “‘We have, running away, the highest young voter turnout in the nation,’ boasted Tate, who saw Democratic victories as the silver lining to his group's decisive loss on the amendment,” the pair wrote.
t
With bipartisan control of the legislative process and Doyle in the governor’s mansion, the Republican Right’s “God, Guns and Gays” agenda likely will be a non-starter for the next two years according to most pundits and political strategists. Unfortunately that probably doesn’t sufficiently salve the wounds inflicted by the amendment’s passage for many in the gay community.
t
While most have lauded the Fair Wisconsin effort to defeat the ban, a few brickbats have been tossed as well. Some of those peripherally involved with the the effort - most notably a coalition of Dane County progressives who organized a November 17 protest against the ban’s passage - have complained about the lack of focus on arguments for gay marriage in the opposition’s strategic plan.
t
“We shouldn't be too surprised by the success of the ban,” an email announcement from protest organizers read. “The majority of Wisconsin has never heard an argument in defense of gay marriage. Let's begin to change that!”
t
Others in the LGBT community questioned what appeared to be the change in message in the final television spots run in the campaign. Early spots brought significant attention to the second sentence of the amendment and appeared to many to be changing a lot of undecided voters’ minds. However, the “nothing’s going to change” message of the final TV spots, referencing far right “special rights” and “no gay marriage” rhetoric, may have confused some voters as to which way to vote.
t
News reports about significant voter confusion on the amendment question surfaced the weekend before the election. A week earlier amendment co-sponsor Mark Gundrum (R-Berlin) made similar complaints about the spots’ “deceptive message” on right-wing talk shows. Vocal amendment opponent State Sen. Dave Hansen (D-Green Bay) cornered me at the Democratic victory party the night of the election, reporting the dozens of calls he got personally from other amendment opponents asking how they should vote.
t
Some also questioned Fair Wisconsin’s decision to use canvassing to identify voters statewide. Though the technique is a very effective means to identify potential voters, it is also very labor intensive, requiring thousands of volunteer hours to be successful. Historically voter ID canvassing has been used in targeted, urban districts. Where Fair Wisconsin had the volunteers to conduct significant voter canvass efforts, such as in Dane, Milwaukee and LaCrosse counties or on college campuses where dorm outreach could yield hundreds of likely “no” voters in a few hours, the group’s efforts were successful.
t
However, unofficial election results in rural counties where Fair Wisconsin had only token efforts showed the amendment consistently passing by 2-1 - and in several cases even 3-1 margins - far outweighing the “no” margins in urban areas. Dane County was the only county of 72 to veto the ban and LaCrosse County came close, with the measure losing by 300 votes.
t
Also, successful canvassing involves peer-to-peer interaction. Fair Wisconsin has proudly pointed to the campus efforts with statistical proof of their success. Missing in the mix outside of urban areas, however, were sufficient numbers of canvass volunteers who were in long-term, same-sex relationships.
t
Factors beyond Fair Wisconsin’s control also played into momentum for and against the amendment. Though neither pro nor anti-amendment reportedly did internal polling (polls not released to the general public) on the issue because of its prohibitive costs, that did not mean other, even better funded campaigns didn’t add amendment questions to their private research. And the one factor that clearly hurt the amendment’s chances of defeat was the Mark Foley scandal.
t
According to insider reports obtained by Quest from both the Doyle and Green campaigns, support for the amendment rose dramatically in the weeks following the revelations of Foley’s emails and instant messages with underage pages. Though Foley impacted Republicans in ways outside the focus of this piece, the reinforced images of the stereotypical homosexual predator “recruiting” innocent young men into the “lifestyle,” combined with the “evil walks openly among us” aspect of Foley’s semi-closeted public persona cruising page dormitories after hours even as he chaired a committees to protect minors from online and other sexual predators during the day served to shore up the amendment among values voters. Particularly impacted were Catholic voters, for whom Foley only served as a reminder of their own church’s still-festering priestly sexual scandals, consistently blamed on the “disordered” nature of same sex attraction according to church leaders.
t
However, the Foley scandal faded to allow some rebound in opposition to the Wisconsin amendment. Then came Ted Haggard.
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There was no time to assess the damage caused by the Ted Haggard gay sex scandal, which erupted just days prior to the vote. However, the image of a married father of five, leading a double life of meth-fueled sexual encounters with a gay male prostitute who admitted he brought out the liasons to influence the marriage ban vote in his own state of Colorado had to have energized some of the “yes” voters.
t
Another factor that likely helped sink opposition to the amendment: the New Jersey Supreme Court decision. Despite public proclamations that “nothing changes here” by both Fair Wisconsin’s Tate and FRI-WI’s Julaine Appling, the late-breaking decision by the New Jersey Supreme Court on legal recognition for gay couples in that state certainly reinforced amendment supporters’ long-standing and oft-repeated claims about “activist judges.” Though it got little play nationally, exit polling in states with marriage ban questions on the ballot suggested a heightened awareness of the New Jersey court decision among gay marriage opponents.
While outside factors certainly did not help opposition to Wisconsin’s marriage and civil union ban, and additional question ultimately needs to be asked: was the ban ever defeatable? Though like Oz’s Cowardly Lion I could publicly repeat “I do believe, I do, I do I do!” deeper reflection suggests the odds were always stacked against us - and probably stacked a lot higher than we’d like to admit. Here’s several reasons why ban opponents may never have had a chance this time around (and why the future may be brighter than we realize).
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1. 2006 is not 1982. Fair Wisconsin rhetoric indirectly but consistently referenced Wisconsin’s ground-breaking inclusion of sexual orientation in equal rights legislation as part of the progressive past that would reassert itself in the defeat of the amendment. They even got the GOP governor who signed the bill - Lee Sherman Dreyfuss - to publicly condemn the proposed constitutional ban. But 24 years ago, movement conservatism had just begun to find its voice in the Teflon presidency of Ronald Reagan, HIV/AIDS was a two sentence filler story popped in to balance newspaper columns, the state’s Religious Right was at best only a nascent political force, Democrats were in control of both houses of the state legislature, and Assembly Minority Leader Tommy Thompson was tickling fellow GOPers with Tomah stories. Gay marriage wasn’t even on the radar here.
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Fast forward through four terms of Governor Tommy, the Republican takeover of both Congress and the Wisconsin Legislature, the rise of right-wing radio and Fox News, gay marriage decisions from Hawaii to Massachusetts, ten years of DOMA debate in the Wisconsin legislature and much much more. Twelve full election cycles have taken place - politically that’s not just epic, its epoch.
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2. It’s A Concept, Not a Candidate. Selling Wisconsin on the idea that the ban was bad was going to be a tough sell from the start. Mike Tate knew it and wasn’t afraid to say it out loud to anyone who’d listen. It’s one of the reasons why canvassing was seen as so important. There was a lot of story to tell to get people to grasp the complexities of the issue. The only way to win was to get the straight majority to agree with our position: not only would the ban really hurt us and our kids but it also went so far that it might even hurt them in the process as well.
t
Our sound bites were complicated even convoluted. Theirs weren’t. Marriage, family, kids, tradition fits a lot easier into six seconds than did our talking points - advanced directives, visitation rights, health insurance benefits, etc.
t
3. It’s Hard To Mess With Holy Mother Church. No matter how you talk around it, the gay marriage ban battle was also a stalking horse for deeper issues about the validity of gay life.
t
Fundamentalists don’t believe in gay people. National Association For Research & Therapy Of Homosexuality (NARTH) founder Joseph Nicolosi, Ph.D says it best when he claims “there are no homosexuals, only heterosexuals with a homosexual problem.” NARTH spends most of its time trying to find holes in scientific research that suggests the possibility of a genetic component to homosexuality.
t
Roman Catholics - the dominant denomination of Wisconsin voters - are only a little less intolerant. For them homosexuality is merely “disordered,” but not inherently sinful.
Additionally Roman Catholics have a stricter sense of marriage than their evangelical counterparts. No church sanctioned divorce, only the always expensive and often slow-moving annulment process is available to Catholics who want to separate but stay in the good graces of the church.
t
Most importantly, religion is organized. Imagine if Fair Wisconsin could have held weekly rallies rousing the spirits of ban opponents in every city, village, town, nook and cranny of the state. The other side did: they’re called church services.
t
4. Evolution takes time. The exit polling on the Wisconsin marriage ban vote was telling. The older you were, the more like you were to vote “yes.” Straight line, no bell curve. Baby boomers were pretty evenly split on the issue and turned out in droves. However, older voters far outnumbered younger voters statewide. Therein lay the margin of defeat. Ironically, the final solution to the gay marriage question many not be political but biological.
t
Despite nearly three years of preparation, there still wasn’t enough time to make the case for “no” on the marriage ban. In his eloquent “concession” speech November 7, Tate pointed out that “this debate was forced on us at a time and a place not of our choosing.”
t
It seems also somewhat ironic that on the day of Fair Wisconsin’s “defeat” at the ballot box another 60-40 poll was released on the gay marriage issue nationally by Fox News. The poll showed a full 60% of Americans supported either gay marriage or civil unions, while 40% opposed both. Legal recognition of some sort for same-sex couples is becoming a winning bet politically. Less than a week after the ban’s passage Senator Jon Erpenbach (D-Middleton) announced his plan to amend the amendment to essentially take out the second sentence. Another four year struggle in the works? Perhaps.
t
More importantly for the state’s gay community will be how to protect the progress - and there has been genuine progress - that has been made on the marriage equality issue. Fair Wisconsin sits on a huge database of political and financial support. Financially the organization appears from public filings to have been fiscally conservative. No devastating deficit looms to be paid off. When the campaign closes the door for the last time at the end of the year, the gay community in Wisconsin could actually be more empowered than at any time in its history to date.
t
But loss can be divisive as well. Wisconsin activists should look with caution to the decimated ranks of marriage equality supporters in states that voted overwhelmingly to enact bans in 2004. Just as the state’s Republicans learned the hard lesson that sequels don’t always guarantee success, hopefully our community will find the means to heal without inflicting additional hurt. Both the parent organizations of Fair Wisconsin - Action Wisconsin and Center Advocates - need to seek ways to maintain the ties that currently bind. That is truly one gay marriage that needs to be blessed by your support.
t
But even as you support them, share your ideas for where they should focus next. Short-term and long-term goals will have be set to minimize and eventually reverse the effect of the marriage amendment’s passage.
t
Finally, for most gay and lesbian couples in long-term committed relationships, little has changed in the realities of their everyday lives. They continue to live their lives with grace and dignity, proving to all who care or dare to see that true marriage is not about the private parts of its participants, but the core values of fidelity and commitment. Those are the true family values.
This analysis appears in the current issue of Quest, now on the streets.
A Look Behind The Startling Defeat For Wisconsin Marriage Equality
t
Madison - It had all the earmarks of success: $5 million in its war chest, thousands of volunteers, hundreds of prestigious supporting groups, 72 county coordinators, dozens of supportive broadcast and print media endorsements, a half-dozen attention-getting TV spots, nearly three years of preparation, the unprecedented coalition of the state’s two most powerful gay activist groups and one of the most politically savvy campaign managers available in the country: Mike Tate.
t
Yet only two hours after the polls closed November 7, it was painfully clear Fair Wisconsin’s campaign to defeat the constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage and civil unions had not only lost, it had lost big. 59% to 41% big, a spread that was greater than even the most conservative political pundits in the state had predicted.
t
One state - Republican-leaning Arizona - had defeated a similar ban, using a strategy that mirrored Fair Wisconsin’s nearly note for note (see story in the national news section). Six other states joined Wisconsin in adopting similar anti-gay marriage measures, though several by much narrower margins than here in the original “Gay Rights” state. Nearly a quarter century after Wisconsin had led the nation in its acceptance of its gay and lesbian citizens as equally deserving of jobs, housing and public accommodation, its voters had stamped “second class” on every long-term committed gay relationship, not to mention the nearly 50% of straight couples living together in the state without the benefit of a marriage license.
t
For ban opponents who looked beyond the amendment question, there was plenty to be cheerful about. The state’s Republicans who had engineered this year’s ban ballot to serve as a sickening sequel to the successful 2004 national GOP strategy were breath-takingly bitch slapped at the voting booth. The State Senate switched to Democratic Party control and the Republican majority in the Assembly shrank from fourteen to five. Most importantly, openly gay-supportive Governor Jim Doyle, who had passionately called for the amendment’s defeat at every public opportunity, handily won re-election, the first Democrat to win a second term in over 30 years.
t
Particularly pleasing to long-time activists were the defeats to some of the primogenitors of the Right’s more than decade-long DOMA march. Mark Green, who as Assembly Speaker in the mid-1990’s successfully shepherded Lorraine Seratti’s AB-104 to a win in the lower body, was roundly defeated in his bid for governor. His successor John Gard, who over a year ago openly strategized with the Family Research Institute of Wisconsin’s Julaine Appling on the timing on the amendment vote, lost to political neophyte Dr. Steve Kagen in his race to replace Green as Eighth Congressional District Representative.
t
In the State Senate, Tom Reynolds, a staunch amendment supporter best known for his attendance at Ralph Ovadal’s infamous 2003 “International Conference on Homofascism” (when he wasn’t reproducing Rantin’ Ralph’s “anti-sodomite” screed at his Waukesha print shop), was defeated. Also down-for-the-count:Eau Claire amendment supporter Dave Zien, who two years ago threatened to shut down a hearing on the amendment after then Action Wisconsin president Tim O’Brien publicly asked which of his three marriages he was trying to protect; and fellow Eau Claire area senator Ron Brown who chose politics over paternity when he voted to pass the amendment bill a second time after revealing to opponents his own son was gay.
t
Fair Wisconsin’s involvement in turning out the student vote clearly had an impact on many of the upsets the Republicans suffered. In counties where Fair Wisconsin had organized significant “get out the vote”(GOTV) efforts, voters turned out a a rate 6% higher than had been expected. Counties where Fair Wisconsin did not have a GOTV campaign saw only a 4.8% higher than average turnout. (Statewide 51% of eligible voters turned out, 5.5% higher than had been projected.)
t
Voting districts with heavy student populations saw a double digit explosions in voter turnout. In Madison student turnout was 43.1% higher than in 2004. Even more dramatic was the 232% increase in student voting at UW-Whitewater, where Democrat challenger Kim Hixon appears to have defeated incumbent Republican Debi Towns by just 11 votes to represent the 43rd Assembly District.
t
As had been predicted throughout the Fall, the marriage amendment issue had energized Democrats of all stripes. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel political columnists Cary Spivak and Dan Bice summed up Fair Wisconsin’s pyrrhic victory in their November 8 column: “If you can win by losing, score one for Fair Wisconsin, the well-funded grass-roots group that led the unsuccessful fight against the amendment,” Spivak and Bice wrote. “In his victory speech, Gov. Jim Doyle, who scored his own impressive seven-point victory over U. S. Rep. Mark Green, also put a spotlight on the group, thanking it for its efforts.”
t
“Even Republican honchos begrudgingly credited Fair Wisconsin (November 8) for a strong get-out-the-vote effort that helped Democrats up and down the ticket,” the column continued, quoting the GOP’s executive director Rick Wiley saying “Fair Wisconsin did a good job of turning out the college vote. They ended up being Doyle's turnout vehicle.”
t
Though Fair Wisconsin’s Tate wouldn’t take credit for Doyle’s win, he did seek kudos for the Democrats’ legislative wins, according to Spivak and Bice. “‘We have, running away, the highest young voter turnout in the nation,’ boasted Tate, who saw Democratic victories as the silver lining to his group's decisive loss on the amendment,” the pair wrote.
t
With bipartisan control of the legislative process and Doyle in the governor’s mansion, the Republican Right’s “God, Guns and Gays” agenda likely will be a non-starter for the next two years according to most pundits and political strategists. Unfortunately that probably doesn’t sufficiently salve the wounds inflicted by the amendment’s passage for many in the gay community.
t
While most have lauded the Fair Wisconsin effort to defeat the ban, a few brickbats have been tossed as well. Some of those peripherally involved with the the effort - most notably a coalition of Dane County progressives who organized a November 17 protest against the ban’s passage - have complained about the lack of focus on arguments for gay marriage in the opposition’s strategic plan.
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“We shouldn't be too surprised by the success of the ban,” an email announcement from protest organizers read. “The majority of Wisconsin has never heard an argument in defense of gay marriage. Let's begin to change that!”
t
Others in the LGBT community questioned what appeared to be the change in message in the final television spots run in the campaign. Early spots brought significant attention to the second sentence of the amendment and appeared to many to be changing a lot of undecided voters’ minds. However, the “nothing’s going to change” message of the final TV spots, referencing far right “special rights” and “no gay marriage” rhetoric, may have confused some voters as to which way to vote.
t
News reports about significant voter confusion on the amendment question surfaced the weekend before the election. A week earlier amendment co-sponsor Mark Gundrum (R-Berlin) made similar complaints about the spots’ “deceptive message” on right-wing talk shows. Vocal amendment opponent State Sen. Dave Hansen (D-Green Bay) cornered me at the Democratic victory party the night of the election, reporting the dozens of calls he got personally from other amendment opponents asking how they should vote.
t
Some also questioned Fair Wisconsin’s decision to use canvassing to identify voters statewide. Though the technique is a very effective means to identify potential voters, it is also very labor intensive, requiring thousands of volunteer hours to be successful. Historically voter ID canvassing has been used in targeted, urban districts. Where Fair Wisconsin had the volunteers to conduct significant voter canvass efforts, such as in Dane, Milwaukee and LaCrosse counties or on college campuses where dorm outreach could yield hundreds of likely “no” voters in a few hours, the group’s efforts were successful.
t
However, unofficial election results in rural counties where Fair Wisconsin had only token efforts showed the amendment consistently passing by 2-1 - and in several cases even 3-1 margins - far outweighing the “no” margins in urban areas. Dane County was the only county of 72 to veto the ban and LaCrosse County came close, with the measure losing by 300 votes.
t
Also, successful canvassing involves peer-to-peer interaction. Fair Wisconsin has proudly pointed to the campus efforts with statistical proof of their success. Missing in the mix outside of urban areas, however, were sufficient numbers of canvass volunteers who were in long-term, same-sex relationships.
t
Factors beyond Fair Wisconsin’s control also played into momentum for and against the amendment. Though neither pro nor anti-amendment reportedly did internal polling (polls not released to the general public) on the issue because of its prohibitive costs, that did not mean other, even better funded campaigns didn’t add amendment questions to their private research. And the one factor that clearly hurt the amendment’s chances of defeat was the Mark Foley scandal.
t
According to insider reports obtained by Quest from both the Doyle and Green campaigns, support for the amendment rose dramatically in the weeks following the revelations of Foley’s emails and instant messages with underage pages. Though Foley impacted Republicans in ways outside the focus of this piece, the reinforced images of the stereotypical homosexual predator “recruiting” innocent young men into the “lifestyle,” combined with the “evil walks openly among us” aspect of Foley’s semi-closeted public persona cruising page dormitories after hours even as he chaired a committees to protect minors from online and other sexual predators during the day served to shore up the amendment among values voters. Particularly impacted were Catholic voters, for whom Foley only served as a reminder of their own church’s still-festering priestly sexual scandals, consistently blamed on the “disordered” nature of same sex attraction according to church leaders.
t
However, the Foley scandal faded to allow some rebound in opposition to the Wisconsin amendment. Then came Ted Haggard.
t
There was no time to assess the damage caused by the Ted Haggard gay sex scandal, which erupted just days prior to the vote. However, the image of a married father of five, leading a double life of meth-fueled sexual encounters with a gay male prostitute who admitted he brought out the liasons to influence the marriage ban vote in his own state of Colorado had to have energized some of the “yes” voters.
t
Another factor that likely helped sink opposition to the amendment: the New Jersey Supreme Court decision. Despite public proclamations that “nothing changes here” by both Fair Wisconsin’s Tate and FRI-WI’s Julaine Appling, the late-breaking decision by the New Jersey Supreme Court on legal recognition for gay couples in that state certainly reinforced amendment supporters’ long-standing and oft-repeated claims about “activist judges.” Though it got little play nationally, exit polling in states with marriage ban questions on the ballot suggested a heightened awareness of the New Jersey court decision among gay marriage opponents.
While outside factors certainly did not help opposition to Wisconsin’s marriage and civil union ban, and additional question ultimately needs to be asked: was the ban ever defeatable? Though like Oz’s Cowardly Lion I could publicly repeat “I do believe, I do, I do I do!” deeper reflection suggests the odds were always stacked against us - and probably stacked a lot higher than we’d like to admit. Here’s several reasons why ban opponents may never have had a chance this time around (and why the future may be brighter than we realize).
t
1. 2006 is not 1982. Fair Wisconsin rhetoric indirectly but consistently referenced Wisconsin’s ground-breaking inclusion of sexual orientation in equal rights legislation as part of the progressive past that would reassert itself in the defeat of the amendment. They even got the GOP governor who signed the bill - Lee Sherman Dreyfuss - to publicly condemn the proposed constitutional ban. But 24 years ago, movement conservatism had just begun to find its voice in the Teflon presidency of Ronald Reagan, HIV/AIDS was a two sentence filler story popped in to balance newspaper columns, the state’s Religious Right was at best only a nascent political force, Democrats were in control of both houses of the state legislature, and Assembly Minority Leader Tommy Thompson was tickling fellow GOPers with Tomah stories. Gay marriage wasn’t even on the radar here.
t
Fast forward through four terms of Governor Tommy, the Republican takeover of both Congress and the Wisconsin Legislature, the rise of right-wing radio and Fox News, gay marriage decisions from Hawaii to Massachusetts, ten years of DOMA debate in the Wisconsin legislature and much much more. Twelve full election cycles have taken place - politically that’s not just epic, its epoch.
t
2. It’s A Concept, Not a Candidate. Selling Wisconsin on the idea that the ban was bad was going to be a tough sell from the start. Mike Tate knew it and wasn’t afraid to say it out loud to anyone who’d listen. It’s one of the reasons why canvassing was seen as so important. There was a lot of story to tell to get people to grasp the complexities of the issue. The only way to win was to get the straight majority to agree with our position: not only would the ban really hurt us and our kids but it also went so far that it might even hurt them in the process as well.
t
Our sound bites were complicated even convoluted. Theirs weren’t. Marriage, family, kids, tradition fits a lot easier into six seconds than did our talking points - advanced directives, visitation rights, health insurance benefits, etc.
t
3. It’s Hard To Mess With Holy Mother Church. No matter how you talk around it, the gay marriage ban battle was also a stalking horse for deeper issues about the validity of gay life.
t
Fundamentalists don’t believe in gay people. National Association For Research & Therapy Of Homosexuality (NARTH) founder Joseph Nicolosi, Ph.D says it best when he claims “there are no homosexuals, only heterosexuals with a homosexual problem.” NARTH spends most of its time trying to find holes in scientific research that suggests the possibility of a genetic component to homosexuality.
t
Roman Catholics - the dominant denomination of Wisconsin voters - are only a little less intolerant. For them homosexuality is merely “disordered,” but not inherently sinful.
Additionally Roman Catholics have a stricter sense of marriage than their evangelical counterparts. No church sanctioned divorce, only the always expensive and often slow-moving annulment process is available to Catholics who want to separate but stay in the good graces of the church.
t
Most importantly, religion is organized. Imagine if Fair Wisconsin could have held weekly rallies rousing the spirits of ban opponents in every city, village, town, nook and cranny of the state. The other side did: they’re called church services.
t
4. Evolution takes time. The exit polling on the Wisconsin marriage ban vote was telling. The older you were, the more like you were to vote “yes.” Straight line, no bell curve. Baby boomers were pretty evenly split on the issue and turned out in droves. However, older voters far outnumbered younger voters statewide. Therein lay the margin of defeat. Ironically, the final solution to the gay marriage question many not be political but biological.
t
Despite nearly three years of preparation, there still wasn’t enough time to make the case for “no” on the marriage ban. In his eloquent “concession” speech November 7, Tate pointed out that “this debate was forced on us at a time and a place not of our choosing.”
t
It seems also somewhat ironic that on the day of Fair Wisconsin’s “defeat” at the ballot box another 60-40 poll was released on the gay marriage issue nationally by Fox News. The poll showed a full 60% of Americans supported either gay marriage or civil unions, while 40% opposed both. Legal recognition of some sort for same-sex couples is becoming a winning bet politically. Less than a week after the ban’s passage Senator Jon Erpenbach (D-Middleton) announced his plan to amend the amendment to essentially take out the second sentence. Another four year struggle in the works? Perhaps.
t
More importantly for the state’s gay community will be how to protect the progress - and there has been genuine progress - that has been made on the marriage equality issue. Fair Wisconsin sits on a huge database of political and financial support. Financially the organization appears from public filings to have been fiscally conservative. No devastating deficit looms to be paid off. When the campaign closes the door for the last time at the end of the year, the gay community in Wisconsin could actually be more empowered than at any time in its history to date.
t
But loss can be divisive as well. Wisconsin activists should look with caution to the decimated ranks of marriage equality supporters in states that voted overwhelmingly to enact bans in 2004. Just as the state’s Republicans learned the hard lesson that sequels don’t always guarantee success, hopefully our community will find the means to heal without inflicting additional hurt. Both the parent organizations of Fair Wisconsin - Action Wisconsin and Center Advocates - need to seek ways to maintain the ties that currently bind. That is truly one gay marriage that needs to be blessed by your support.
t
But even as you support them, share your ideas for where they should focus next. Short-term and long-term goals will have be set to minimize and eventually reverse the effect of the marriage amendment’s passage.
t
Finally, for most gay and lesbian couples in long-term committed relationships, little has changed in the realities of their everyday lives. They continue to live their lives with grace and dignity, proving to all who care or dare to see that true marriage is not about the private parts of its participants, but the core values of fidelity and commitment. Those are the true family values.
This analysis appears in the current issue of Quest, now on the streets.
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