Homocons Co-Sign Statement Denouncing "Punishment" Of Mozilla's Former CEO

A coalition of well-known homocons and others today released a public statement on the resignation of former Mozilla CEO Brandon Eich. The statement is titled, "Freedom To Marry, Freedom To Dissent: Why We Must Have Both." An excerpt:

Is opposition to same-sex marriage by itself, expressed in a political campaign, beyond the pale of tolerable discourse in a free society? We cannot wish away the objections of Christian, Jewish, and Muslim faith traditions, or browbeat them into submission. Even in our constitutional system, persuasion is a minority’s first and best strategy. It has served us well and we should not be done with it.

Much of the rhetoric that emerged in the wake of the Eich incident showed a worrisome turn toward intolerance and puritanism among some supporters of gay equality—not in terms of formal legal sanction, to be sure, but in terms of abandonment of the core liberal values of debate and diversity.

Sustaining a liberal society demands a culture that welcomes robust debate, vigorous political advocacy, and a decent respect for differing opinions. People must be allowed to be wrong in order to continually test what is right. We should criticize opposing views, not punish or suppress them.

The freedom—not just legal but social—to express even very unpopular views is the engine that propelled the gay-rights movement from its birth against almost hopeless odds two generations ago. A culture of free speech created the social space for us to criticize and demolish the arguments against gay marriage and LGBT equality. For us and our advocates to turn against that culture now would be a betrayal of the movement’s deepest and most humane values.

The statement does not address the fact that all LGBT groups remained completely silent as the controversy unfolded and came to its conclusion. Nor does it note that the campaign against Eich was spawned by Mozilla staffers and developers themselves. Instead, the "blame" for Eich's resignation is laid squarely at the feet of phantom gay activists.

Homocon signers: Ken Mehlman, Peter Thiel, Rich Tafel, William Saletan, Jamie Kirchick, Jonathan Rauch, and former GOP Rep. Jim Kolbe. Among the others: Andrew Sullivan, John Corvino, David Blankenhorn, and Box Turtle Bulletin bloggers Jim Burroway, Timothy Kincaid, and Rob Tisinai.

HomoQuotable - Jonathan Rauch

"Justified or not, fear spread in conservative circles that getting on the wrong side of gay marriage could cost you your job. 'People tell us that their livelihoods have been threatened solely because of their public advocacy opposing same-sex marriage,' said Maggie Gallagher, founder of the National Organization for Marriage. 'Fine,' say some gay rights activists. “'If they’re going to be bigots, they should be afraid to speak out.' Wrong. What the gay-rights movement has always really stood for is a country where we can all express our identities and convictions without fear: a country without closets, gay or straight." - Homocon writer Jonathan Rauch, in an essay published by The Daily. NOM has approvingly posted the above excerpt on their own blog. Rauch is the cofounder of the homocon site, Independent Gay Forum.

HomoConQuotable - Jonathan Rauch

"There are real antigay bigots out there, but they are fading in number and strength. The people who matter now are the persuadables who are struggling to believe they can make room for us on equal terms even if they cannot agree with our 'lifestyle' — people who wish us no harm but who are struggling to adapt old ideas to a new situation and who worry about the dizzying pace of cultural change. Our job is to open their eyes, not slap their face.

"No, I’m not saying that the b [bigot] word should be banished like the n word or that we all have to agree on who does and does not deserve to be called a hater. All I am suggesting is that with majority standing must come a mental adjustment: a recognition that rhetorical overkill is a weapon that backfires, one that our opponents are already using to paint us as the real bigots, the real haters, the real threat to minority rights and tolerant values. [snip]

"As gays become a majority, the burden of toleration—and it is a burden—shifts to us. This is the most difficult adjustment a minority rights movement can make. Our opponents are betting we will fail to make it. In fact, that is now pretty much their entire strategy. Gay Americans and our allies are not ready to think of ourselves as a majority. And we are not fully there yet, certainly not solidly. But the benefits and, yes, burdens of majority status are descending with wonderful speed. We will miss the turn if we don’t start braking now." - Jonathan Rauch, co-founder of the homocon site Independent Gay Forum, saying that gay activists need to stop tossing around words like "bigot" and "hater" at our enemies.

Rauch contends that the feminist movement "missed the turn" and faded into obscurity with the failure of the Equal Rights Amendment. Andrew Sullivan adds: "When you are tempted to use the word 'hate', substitute 'fear' or 'bias'. It's usually more true and dials down the temperature a notch - where the rational advantage held by the case for gay equality still holds."

Protect Marriage's Prop 8 Appeal Quotes Homocon Writer Jonathan Rauch

The work of homocon writer Jonathan Rauch, co-founder of the Quisling site Independent Gay Forum, is cited in Protect Marriage's emergency motion to maintain the stay on Judge Walker's overturn of Proposition 8. Because even "same-sex marriage advocate Rauch recognizes the wisdom" in holding some states back from full equality. From page 58 of their petition.

HomoQuotable - Jonathan Rauch

"Walker was right to say that separate isn't equal. Civil unions are hardly ideal. But his decision treats civil unions as if they were trivial or worthless. By refusing to give them any weight and declaring them not just inadequate as a matter of policy but prohibited as a matter of law, Walker uses the Constitution to put compromise out of bounds. [snip]

"So I think the decision is a radical one, but not, ironically, as it pertains to homosexuality or to marriage. No, Walker's radicalism lies elsewhere: In his use of the Constitution to batter the principles of its two greatest exponents - Madison and Abraham Lincoln, a Burkean who was steadfast in his belief that ideals must be leavened with pragmatism.

"History will, I believe, vindicate Walker's view of marriage. Whether it will see him as having done gay rights a favor is less clear. For all its morally admirable qualities, his decision sets the cause of marriage equality crosswise with moderation, gradualism and popular sovereignty. Which, in America, is a dangerous place to be." - Jonathan Rauch, writing for the New York Daily News. Rauch, who gay-married in Washington DC in June, is the co-founder of the homocon site, Independent Gay Forum.

HomoQuotable - Jonathan Rauch

"Ms. Kagan seems to reject both forms of absolutism. Civil rights, she implies, are important, but so is judicial modesty, and a sensible judge balances the two. A sensible judge can say something like, 'Same-sex marriage may indeed be a civil right, but not all civil rights demand immediate judicial intervention, and other important interests militate against imposing this one on the whole country right now.'

"Viewed in that light, the argument for upholding California’s gay marriage ban has merit — not because the policy is fair or wise (it isn’t) but because it represents a reasonable judgment that the people of California are entitled to make. Barring gay marriage but providing civil unions is not the balance I would choose, but it is a defensible balance to strike, one that arguably takes 'a cautious approach to making such a significant change to the institution of marriage' (as the lawyers defending Proposition 8 write in one of their briefs) while going a long way toward meeting gay couples’ needs." - Jonathan Rauch, writing for the New York Times.

Rauch is the vice president of the homocon site Independent Gay Forum. His column for the Times has already been approvingly noted by NOM.

HomoQuotable - Jonathan Rauch

"Re-enter your childhood, but imagine your first crush, first kiss, first date and first sexual encounter, all bereft of any hope of marriage as a destination for your feelings. Re-enter your first serious relationship, but think about it knowing that marrying the person is out of the question.

"Imagine that in the law's eyes you and your soul mate will never be more than acquaintances. And now add even more strangeness. Imagine coming of age into a whole community, a whole culture, without marriage and the bonds of mutuality and kinship that go with it.

"What is this weird world like? It has more sex and less commitment than a world with marriage. It is a world of fragile families living on the shadowy outskirts of the law; a world marked by heightened fear of loneliness or abandonment in crisis or old age; a world in some respects not even civilized, because marriage is the foundation of civilization.

"This was the world I grew up in. The AIDS quilt is its monument." - Jonathan Rauch, from an op-ed piece in the Wall Street Journal.

Rauch makes some interesting points elsewhere in the piece, but I'd hardly blame the AIDS pandemic on the unavailability of gay marriage.