How activists can stop the ‘gay marriage’ steamroller
How can the pro-family movement – pro-family individuals – effectively fight back? Can the homosexual pseudo-marriage steamroller be stopped? Our recent article, “How the pro-family movement helped spread ‘gay marriage’ across America” got a lot of attention, with many readers then asking us what they can do.
The huge lesson from Maryland – Success and Failure
What happened in Maryland in 2011 and 2012 best encapsulates the problem we’re facing.
In March 2011 a “gay marriage” bill had just passed the Maryland Senate and was on to the House of Delegates. The Governor promised to sign as soon as it passed. In the House, over half of the members were co-sponsors of the bill. It looked completely hopeless for the pro-family side.
But then, possibly the biggest pro-family surge in modern history took place. Suddenly everyone on our side jumped into the fight. Black pastors, white clergy, pro-family activists, Republicans, conservative House members and others all stepped up, and they were on fire!
It was a full-court press on the State House like no one had seen before. The black pastors held nothing back in their sermons. Church congregations across the state confronted liberal House members in their districts with an angry promise to defeat them in the next election. The Maryland Republican Party (not the wimpy Massachusetts variety) placed anti-gay marriage robo-calls and mailed MassResistance materials statewide. Republican legislators organized media events. Prominent ex-gays came and testified.
MassResistance mobilized over 100 of our Maryland activists. Brian Camenker of MassResistance appeared on drive-time radio in Baltimore. The David Parker case (from the MassResistance website) was debated on the House floor.
Within days, a majority of the House members caved in and announced they were no longer supporting it. The bill was killed for the year. It was an incredible victory! As the Washington Post reported:
"The Senate vote was definitely a wake-up call," said Minority Leader Nancy C. Jacobs (R-Harford). "It got the churches involved. It got people involved. Quite frankly, I thought it was going to fly through the House. But once delegates started hearing from their constituents, they started thinking twice."
Read the MassResistance report of the victory and our analysis of how it happened.
Unfortunately, that’s not the end of the story. The following year, the Governor himself re-introduced the bill in the Maryland Legislature with great enthusiasm. His wife joined in, publicly calling the pro-family people “cowards.”
The pastors were fired up and ready. The evening before the House public hearing on the bill, pastors from across Maryland converged on the grounds of the State Capitol and held one of the most fiery pro-marriage rallies we’d ever seen.
But the next day at the public hearing, the Maryland pro-family “establishment” (not representative of the grass roots activists) came and took over, and dismantled everything. They had decided that our side was using too much “hateful” rhetoric, and needed to sound “reasonable” and “moderate.” ("No Bible thumping," they said.) They controlled who was allowed to testify, insisting on controlling the message. They would not allow the pastors, the activists, or even the Republican House members get out of line. (We were there and saw it for ourselves.) They were adamant that this was necessary so that our side would be taken seriously.
But the opposite happened. The pro-family side was not taken seriously this time. The new “gay marriage” bill easily sailed through the House, then the Senate, and was signed into law by the Governor. It was very frustrating to watch. Later that year, when activists tried to get a referendum passed to repeal it, most of the energy on our side was already dissipated. So now, Maryland has “gay marriage” written into law.
Each pro-family defeat has made things worse
As we pointed out in our recent article, that kind of mentality has caused great damage in the “gay marriage” fight across the country as well as the general “LGBT agenda” battles.
It has given tremendous momentum to the “gay marriage” push in the federal courts. Added to that is the growing problem of ultra-left federal judges, homosexual law clerks (even on the Supreme Court level), and anti-family people placed in other key positions throughout the federal legal system.
A reality check
Those of us under the heel of the powerful LGBT movement often feel overwhelmed, fearful that it can never be stopped. We hear it all the time from pro-family people.
That is simply an illusion. Like other oppressive movements, the LGBT dynasty is a house of cards that can continue to dominate only through force and pressure. It’s particularly true because it is based on such overwhelming lunacy and represents a complete inversion of nature.
You can take this to the bank: There will come a time when people will wonder how that movement could have even existed, much less dominated society. Like other periods of depravity, it will seem like a fictional account of history. Those who cooperated with it will all seem like unbelievable fools.
Right now the LGBT activists – and the lawmakers and judges who drink their Kool-Aid -- love to use the Marxist refrain that they are “on the right side of history.” -- just like the old Soviet Union.
And like the Soviet Union, with enough pressure it will all come down. The question isn’t “if.” The question is: “when.” The answer to that is up to us.
The New Movement: A change of philosophy, attitude and action
MassResistance has been participating in the “culture war” and observing the overall pro-family movement for over twenty years.
The recent national outrage over threats by homosexual activists and their allies to pastors in Houston and an Idaho town are hopeful signs that more people understand how important the issue is.
We believe that to fight this battle effectively takes a certain attitude, a certain mental state, and the willingness to do certain things.
Change of Attitude
- Understand the “gay marriage” battle. In the short run the “gay marriage” fight is all about forcing the normalizing of homosexuality on society. In their own way, that’s even how the courts see it. If you already concede that “domestic partners” or “civil unions” are fine, or that the behavior is not destructive and must be respected, then logically you eventually lose the argument. In the long run it’s about removing the timeless basis of morality from all our laws. We mustn’t let it get that far.
- Change your mindset to offense, not defense. Our side spends all its time in a defensive posture, reacting to things. Constant defense leads to eventual surrender. That’s become our mindset. We need to start becoming aggressive, taking ground, and charging forward. And think that way. That’s easier said than done, of course. But we’re focusing on that more than anything.
- Tell the truth. Use the vast storehouse of medical dangers, diseases, psychological problems, addictions, domestic violence rates, multiple partners, “gay pride” perversions, or suicidal behavior, etc. associated with homosexuality, in this battle. Talk about the emotional trauma suffered by children growing up around homosexual behavior. Talk about the ex-gay movement (proof that homosexuality is not inborn) and the changes that come with healing. Don’t avoid this just because the Left doesn’t like it.
- Natural law and morality are winning arguments. If these were good enough for Martin Luther King to use, why can’t we? Homosexual acts are intrinsically against nature. The left absolutely hates to hear about that. But natural law and morality have a ring of powerful truth that penetrates deeply.
- Don’t concede any of the other side’s talking points. This is among the worst things the pro-family establishment does. For example: Homosexuality is not a legal “class” of people, i.e., born that way. It’s a disordered behavior that tragically affects individuals. Something that hurts individuals and society is not deserving of “respect.” There is no such thing as “transgender students.” And of course, terms like “bigot” and “homophobe” are simply harassment techniques with no legitimacy whatsoever.
- Don’t use dumb arguments just because it feels good. For example, the “every child needs a mother and a father” argument is completely ineffective in this fight. Everyone knows that lots of homosexuals don’t get “married” but still raise kids. Getting "married" doesn't change that. And there are millions of single-parent families that this argument offends. Trust us on this: Dumb arguments make our side sound stupid.
- Stop over-intellectualizing about marriage. Another cop-out, in our opinion. Nobody outside of the pro-family movement, especially judges and politicians, cares about the historical underpinnings of marriage as a social institution, or cares to read musings on conjugal union. If people were willing to engage in deep thinking and a rational dissection of ideas, we wouldn’t be in this mess. This war is about emotion, not reason.
- Get over your fear. The 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence risked certain death for doing so. Many of them suffered greatly and lost everything before the Revolutionary War finally ended. It’s a good thing they’re not around today to see the waves of cowards on our side who are afraid to do or say the wrong thing, because the homosexuals (or liberals) might call them names, etc.
- Do we hide behind Scripture to avoid confronting the issue? There’s no question that the demonic nature of what we’re fighting brings us all closer to God. But there’s been no religious-based movement in America up until now where people claimed that Biblical teaching puts being “respectful” and “tolerant” on a higher level than protecting children from being seduced by profoundly destructive influences, or society from degradation.
Change of Action
- Do something! We outnumber the other side but their activists do much more that’s effective. We wring our hands, read a lot of bad news, and send emails to each other. Occasionally we’ll go to meetings, rallies, or marches, which rarely accomplish anything. In the New Movement, people need to confront the politicians, corporations, the media, and others. Even ten minutes a day can be effective. That’s how things get done!
- Challenge and confront. As mentioned above, this is something our side rarely does. But it really makes a difference. Challenge the judges (and their clerks) who are openly biased taking these cases. Confront the school boards that push this in the schools. Confront the reporters who twist the facts in their articles. Confront the businesses who march in their parades and fund their organizations. Confront the politicians who use your tax money to support their agendas, or who extend the “public accommodation” laws to include perverse behaviors. And stand up to liberals everywhere who seek to intimidate you in social or business settings.
- Civil disobedience, I. We could write a thesis on this. This is hugely important. Do not recognize the absurd fiction of “gay marriage” in any legal, business, or social venue. If you’re a baker, do not bake their cake and be very public about why. Do not go along with their agenda on any level, no matter what the price you must pay.
- Civil disobedience, II. Public officials in states where “gay marriage” has been maliciously imposed by the courts need to be strongly encouraged to ignore the out-of-control federal courts and hold to their state constitutions. This is already starting to happen in a few states. The framers of the US Constitution never intended judges to be able to act as unelected dictators, creating, changing, and removing laws as they pleased, and re-defining basic terms. And the federal courts have no authority over state law on marriage.
- Work against pro-LGBT candidates for office. Why is this so hard for us to figure out? What has happened in Houston and Idaho, and similarly in other places across America where religious and civil rights are squashed under harsh LGBT laws, happens because there’s no price to pay for supporting that agenda. That’s also why it’s now become prevelant in the Republican Party.
We realize that this isn’t an easy struggle to take on. Homosexual activists, even more than liberals, love to terrorize and intimidate and humiliate, often in vicious and extremely profane and obscene ways. They are the ultimate bullies. But the flip side is that they will eventually back down and collapse if you stand up to them. The sad truth is that deep down almost all of them are broken, disordered, and often wounded people who need healing. Those who have gotten it properly have changed for the better dramatically.
Leaving the old behind
We are not suggesting that everyone will suddenly change what they’re doing just because we say so. There needs to be a friendly split in our movement with the “establishment” being left to continue its approach, and the New Movement acting independently with its own strategy.
In fact, judging from our experience over decades the current pro-family establishment is not going to change. They are going to continue with their current mindset and approach. That is their emotional and philosophical DNA. It doesn’t make them bad people. We love them as brothers in this fight and respect them. But there’s room for different approaches.
Nor are the major pro-family lawyers going to change from their defensive posture. That's how defense lawyers think. The ACLU, on the other hand, has a prosecutor mentality. They attack. We've found one or two pro-family attorneys in that mold; we need a lot more.
But also, the current conservative “big donor” community is not going to change, either. The wealthy conservative businessmen who write six-figure checks have not up until now shown much interest in funding “confrontational” pro-family organizations, particularly those that directly take on the LGBT agenda. They prefer the comfort of “respectable” organizations. That’s their mindset. (It’s the opposite attitude of the huge donors who fund the frontline radical LGBT movement, as we all know.) It’s probably the biggest problem we face. But until a new group of wealthy funders appears, frontline pro-family groups will continue to depend on raising money from “regular” people.
The New Movement - Going forward
We’ve outlined an aggressive approach to pro-family activism that is fairly revolutionary. We strongly believe it is the only answer. We don’t anticipate current groups, even Tea Party groups, to move in our direction, but we are going to begin doing this ourselves.
We have already started the process of scheduling meetings across Massachusetts to engage and re-orient activists. We are also open to helping form groups in other states and even other countries. The future is now!
Reprinted with permission from MassResistance.
