West Hollywood, California (Monday, July 20, 2009) - You read it first in WeHo News. Back in May, I observed that our community’s decision to put the issue of same gender marriage up for a vote in 2010 was ill conceived, it seemed like I had put myself out on a limb. 
Steve Martin is an attorney and former-city council member. WeHo News - West Hollywood’s ONLY Newspaper, ONLY ONLINE! |
After all, the conventional wisdom was that we needed to strike while our base was still outraged over the victory of Proposition 8.
Apparently I was not the only one who had considered the enormity of the impulsive decision to go forward with our own ballot initiative in 2010.
Despite the steady drum beat of voices against any delay in putting a marriage initiative on the ballot, people who are actually involved in the political process began to think of what was involved in regard to fund raising and organizing to launch such a State wide effort within the next eighteen months.
They began to realize that we where simply not giving ourselves enough time to organize a successful campaign.
Over the last week, they have been a cascade of concerns raised by individuals and organizations that our community will simply not be ready for a 2010 race.
Suddenly people are talking about the actual mechanics of running a State wide campaign. The groups included the Gay & Lesbian Center, Asian Pacific Islander Equality, Honor PAC and the Barbara Jordan/Baynard Rustin Coalition and represent a widely diverse slice of Los Angeles’ GLBT’s community.
WeHo News. |
It seems that a number of thoughtful and experienced activists are trying to put the brakes on before we experience a painful train wreck.
The most vocal and insistent voices about moving forward in 2010 arose from the newly minted activists who were shocked out of complacency by the victory of Proposition 8.
Prior to the election most of these people naively believed that “right would prevail” and that our community institutions were strong enough to defeat the measure. Indeed most of them did not even feel the need to be personally involved in the campaign; few volunteered or contributed to the “No on Eight” campaign. Some even admitted that the forgot to vote.
But our defeat outraged them and they mobilized for a series of noisy post election street demonstrations.
Our purported leaders, the brain trust of the “No on Eight” campaign, abashed at their obvious ineptitude in failing to counter the propaganda of the Christian right, felt that they had to yield to the frenzied voices that they heard on the streets.
Thus the decision to put a same gender marriage initiative on the 2010 ballot was made.
WeHo News. |
Given the experiences of the “No on Eight” effort, it should have been rather obvious that 2010 was never a realistic option.
Our efforts last year were hampered by disorganization, indecisiveness and lack of a consistent and coherent message, all compounded by the compacted time frame in which campaigns are waged.
A thoughtful and coherent strategy needs to be in place way before the electioneering actually starts. In our last effort our team was reactive and unsure of our own message. We cannot have a replay of the Proposition 8 campaign.
Jim Key, spokesperson for the Center, raised concerns that attempting to raise $20 to $25 million dollars during a recession would not only be difficult but would result in an unhealthy competition between the campaign and non-profits in a shrinking pool of charitable donations.
The Center and other groups are already challenged in providing AIDS and social services to our community; further competition for limited contributions would only exacerbate the situation.
Perhaps most important were the concerns raised by organizations from communities of color. Their communities offer a particularly tough challenge to the same gender marriage campaign and were our Achilles’ heel during the Proposition 8 campaign last fall.
Assuming our same gender marriage measure would be on the November, 2010 ballot, we have fewer than fifteen months to get it together. Photo by WeHo News. |
Add to the mix the almost guaranteed possibility that an anti-immigration Proposition will be on the ballot in 2010 would only serve to inflame and mobilize conservatives through out the State.
It will also bring out high numbers of Latino voters who did not support us last November. It’s like being hit by a double whammy if the marriage initiative and an immigration proposition are on the same ballot.
Assuming our same gender marriage measure would be on the November, 2010 ballot, we have fewer than fifteen months to get it together.
While there are thousands who are ready to do battle for marriage in 2010, we would be sending our troops to the front without adequate preparation or logistical support.
It has all of the makings of an encore fiasco.
The people who are a position to make this decision need to do so with a prudent and dispassionate analysis of our realistic abilities to meet the fundraising goals and our ability to sway 300,000 voters from the anti-marriage to the pro-marriage camp. That is a tall order.
While we have come an amazing distance on this issue in a relatively short time, our choice of 2010 versus 2012 cannot be based upon wishful thinking.
A third defeat of same gender marriage at the polls would have disastrous repercussions for our community.
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