I just got a polling phone call. The “pollster” was a prerecorded voice controlled by a computer, which could recognize if I said “yes” or “no.” This is a paraphrase, but I think I’ve got the gist of it.<\/p>\n
POLL: “Are you planning to vote ‘yes’ on Measure 36, the measure to stop gay marriage?”
\nME: “No.”<\/p>\n
POLL: “In Massachusetts, where gay marriage is legal, the schools are now teaching the gay lifestyle to children in kindergarten classes. Are you concerned this might happen in Oregon if Measure 36 fails?”
\nME: “No.”<\/p><\/div>\n
The recording then thanked me and hung up. (I wish I had answered “yes” to the last question, to see what the follow-up was….)<\/p>\n
I suspect the recording (if it has any factual basis at all) was referring to some liberal Massachusetts community where “Heather has Two Mommies” or something similar is read to schoolchildren. But it’s safe to guess that liberal Massachusetts communities would be doing that regardless of if same-sex marriage existed or not. “Heather has Two Mommies,” after all, was being assigned in some schools for many years before the Goodridge <\/i>decision.<\/p>\n
But that isn’t the point. The point is, the Measure 36 people want you to be afraid that gay pedophiles are coming after your children! Everyone knows gays recruit children!<\/p>\n
It’s no different from the covert appeal to racism in the “Willie Horton” commercial, or the way anti-Semites refer to the “blood libel” myth when insulting Jews. When push comes to shove, the Measure 36 folks are just another group of hateful bigots.<\/p>\n
The anti-same-sex-marriage movement is not being driven by ivory-tower concerns about the divorce rate or the state of marriage; it’s being driven by a huge mass of Christian fundimentalists who believe they have the duty to force everyone else in the USA to abide by their religion’s rules, and who can’t stand the idea of children being taught to tolorate different kinds of families. For more on the subject, check out the Village Voice’s <\/i>article on the “Mayday for Marriage” rally<\/a>, and Salon’s article on Ohio’s anti-gay ballot measure<\/a>.<\/p>\n P.S. The “poll” call came from 571-522-1899. Is there any way to find out who owns that number?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I just got a polling phone call. The “pollster” was a prerecorded voice controlled by a computer, which could recognize if I said “yes” or “no.” This is a paraphrase, but I think I’ve got the gist of it. POLL: … Continue reading