HomoQuotable - Dan Savage

"African American voters in California voted overwhelmingly for Prop 8, writing anti-gay discrimination into California’s constitution and banning same-sex marriage in that state. Seventy percent of African American voters approved Prop 8, according to exit polls, compared to 53% of Latino voters, 49% of white voters, 49% of Asian voters.

"I’m not sure what to do with this. I’m thrilled that we’ve just elected our first African-American president. I wept last night. I wept reading the papers this morning. But I can’t help but feeling hurt that the love and support aren’t mutual.

"I do know this, though: I’m done pretending that the handful of racist gay white men out there—and they’re out there, and I think they’re scum—are a bigger problem for African Americans, gay and straight, than the huge numbers of homophobic African Americans are for gay Americans, whatever their color.

"This will get my name scratched of the invite list of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, which is famous for its anti-racist-training seminars, but whatever. Finally, I’m searching for some exit poll data from California. I’ll eat my shorts if gay and lesbian voters went for McCain at anything approaching the rate that black voters went for Prop 8." - Dan Savage.

According to the math at Obsidian Wings, if a slight majority of California's blacks had voted against Prop 8, rather than the 69% who supported it, the measure would have failed.

On the other hand, maybe the No On 8 side just tippy-toed too fucking gingerly around outright attacks against the religious right, for fear of appearing to attack religion in general. Most of the No On 8 ads (especially the early ones) were weak soap operas - silly, trifling, soft-selling of basic human rights that didn't even have ACTUAL GAY PEOPLE in them. We should have been screaming bloody murder from the very start.

Only that Mormon Home Invasion ad had the proper tenor....and that one came from the Courage Campaign, not No On 8. When the Mormon millions began to flow, what we should have done is point out the outrageous hypocrisy of a church that is mostly known for its historical affinity for racism and polygamy DARING to tell other people how to live. My ad would have started with, "This is Mormon founder Joseph Smith. And this is his wife. And so is this. And so is THIS. And so is THIS....." Smith's 33 or so wives would have fleshed out a 30-second clip very nicely.