Gay marriage and Free Speech

I just heard a story on NPR regarding the backlash that donors to Prop 8 received in California.  (Prop 8 passed; it overturned the legal right to marry.) 

The opponents of Prop 8 ran a campaign that was widely acknowledged was poor, and were shocked when it passed, despite CA being a strong Democratic/Obama state.  A well-funded and organized opposition ran a moderately disingenuous campaign, but apart from my strong feelings on the issue, it wasn't much worse than many political campaigns in terms of its scare tactics and half-truths.  It was funded in large part by people with direct religious affiliation, including Catholic and Mormon groups. In the end Prop 8 won, fair and square.  (There are current court cases about the merits of Prop 8, which is common in CA politics, but no one can dispute that the election itself was fairly won.)

But that's not where it ends.

To make a long story short, it's public record when you make certain kinds of political donations, and many opponents of Prop 8 got riled up AFTER they lost.  They started publicly pointing out who had given money in favor of discrimination (i.e., Prop 8), including some tactics like boycotting business.

Not surprisingly, many of the people who were "victims" of this tactic felt picked on or intimidated.  Some complained that their freedom of religion was being violated.

Nonsense.

The Supreme Court long ago settled the point that political donations are "speech".  And, frankly, conservatives have benefited from this decision because it tends to make regulation of political donations of marginal legality.  But the point is this:  Free Speech (donating money to a political cause) is surely allowed and an important political freedom.  Anonymity is not promised.  In fact, it is, in this case, forbidden.

There is a reasonable question whether the opponents of Prop 8 went over the line in civility in their response to Free Speech with more Free Speech.  But there is no question that this is - in general - the way that we are supposed to deal with what we feel is "objectionable speech":  by adding MORE speech.

For better or worse, there are reasons that many celebrities and businesses don't get involved in political causes:  they don't want to take the heat after the fact when they say/do something controversial.  The opponents of Prop 8  took this up a notch on people that weren't prepared to take that heat.

I don't want to defend every last action taken by Prop 8 opponents.  I am willing to believe that some may have crossed the line.  But the simple fact is this:  if you give money to groups that can reasonably be characterized as supporting discrimination, you should be willing to stand up for that position when called on it.  To do so will make your position stronger.  To run away from it and complain when your identity is pointed out makes it seem that you are ashamed of what you have done.

Prop 8 and the impasse on same-sex marriage

I picked up this video clip from Andrew Sullivan's blog. I'm completely with Savage on this one, and I think some of Perkins' arguments are specious. But that said, it seems to me that this is one of those times that your preconceptions completely predetermine who you think "wins" this exchange. If you come from a world view that civil gay marriage should be banned because of your religious convictions, then Perkins' arguments will ring a lot truer. Stuff like "using the court to overturn the will of the people." (Again, Savage is right that this is exactly one of the things that the courts are for, but most people don't see it that way when it's their will that's being overturned.)

As to the content, Savage makes two excellent points. First, he notes that we straights are the ones that have redefined civil marriage over the years in response to societal changes, so doing so is hardly unprecedented. Second, he gives the excellent and rational reply to the usual polygamy/slippery-slope objection to redefining marriage: that each such proposed change should be weighed on its own merit. Disliking polygamy has no bearing on any decision regarding same-sex marriage.

But again, if you think both same sex marriage and polygamy are abominations, does that color how you view that retort?

We will win this in time, but it will take a while.