First of all, Civil rights are not granted by popular vote.
I'll let you crunch the numbers. In America's history, what percentage of civil rights were denied by popular vote? I bet it's a fucking lot.
Historically, what is the most effective way to protect civil rights? The courts and the legislature
With the courts, you just have to be persistent. You gotta cover for the cases that are going to be dropped and the ones that will be lost. Eventually, the courts will realize that it's their job to protect the rights of citizens...
With the legislature, you have to protest. Congress only hears the loud and multiple voices. A healthy dose of boycotting never hurt anyone.
But if you insist on wasting your time trying to get people to vote for your cause then you have to learn how to campaign. From what I've seen, gay rights activists suck at campaigning.
They suck because they don't seem to put any thought in their campaigns... it's a lot of preaching to the choir. And for gay rights, the choir's pretty small.
And a whole lot of too little too late. I think I've heard more about prop 8 AFTER it passed than I did before it was voted on.
Word of advice... Don't fuck yourself.
Do You know the best way to fuck yourself? Alienation.
Common sense. If you alienate people, they won't vote for your causes.
I love Rachel Maddow; but I was a little disappointed in her for questioning Obama for Campaigning in Red states. She thought he was wasting his time. So, what would have happened if Obama just campaigned in Blue states? He would have lost. Why, because he would have been alienating Republicans, independents, and democrats who were ripe for the picking.
What happened to McCain who picked a running mate that was very attractive to the conservative base... he lost. Why? Because she alienated democrats and independents.
First mistake, you don't just assume that people are going to vote for your cause because it seems glaringly obvious to you that your cause is just. People don't work that way.
First obstacle, people are selfish. (With the exception of animals and babies)If a cause doesn't affect them or someone they know personally, they're going to be apathetic at most. At worse, those who oppose your cause are going to fill them with all types of reasons why your cause will affect them negatively. They will tell them that you are a threat to their way of life. And they will believe them.
Second obstacle, people are ignorant. Of course, this can be attributed to their apathy.
You have to educate the people about your cause. Regarding issues that are seen as moral, education comes in the form of intimate conversations. It's putting a FRIENDLY face on your cause. It's going door to door. It's having real conversations with ALL of your friends about the issue (Don't just assume that they support your cause just because they're your friend). It means coming out to your family and showing them that you are not a threat to their way of life.
Second mistake, the whole "my people are more oppressed than your people" is just so fucked up. When someone tells you the story of their oppression, you don't try to drown them out with, "Well, I've been oppressed too, you're not special."
What you're supposed to say is, "I'm sorry to hear about your oppression. I too have suffered oppression. LET'S WORK TOGETHER TO STOP OPPRESSION."
Try it one day. It's not so hard.
I can't believe I'm going to address this race issue; but it's so fucking stupid I can't resist. First of all, ANYBODY can be a bigot. When you talk shit about a group of people because they're not like you... that makes you a bigot. When you don't support a group because they're not like you... that makes you a passive aggressive bigot. And IMO, a majority of people are passive aggressive bigots.
When you try to blame an entire group for the failure of your cause...that just makes you a stupid bigot. And... calling people bigots... doesn't make them sympathetic to your cause.
So let's be realistic. Say you live in a community that has the church as its base. The best way you can organize this community is through the church. AND their church don't like the gays.
So, what happens if you're a gay person in this community? You keep it to yourself. (Side note, how feasible is same-sex marriage when you can't even come out of the closet?)
If you keep it to yourself, then how many of the people in this community are going to be truly educated about gay life? How many are going to be sympathetic to something they really know nothing about?
But, let's say you do come out to your family. What do you think the family dynamics look like when the church is telling your family that you are morally wrong? Do you really expect conversations that focus on truly understanding the gay family member?
And if these people don't know any out gay people, who are they going to get their information about homosexuality from? The church. And we've established that the church doesn't like gay people.
How do you reach out to these people? You teach them that their church doesn't know what the fuck they're talking about. How do you do that without alienating them? Encourage the gay people in their community to come out. How do you do that? This is the part where people outside of their community have to come in and show them support. This support will give them the courage to come out. Hopefully they can then use their intimate relationships and show their community that you're not of the Devil.
Food for thought...
You can't have true equality unless you achieve true unity.
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