Blogs Jun 23, 2014 at 12:23 pm

Whenever Anyone Says They're Not Comparing Gay Marriage to Slavery...

Dan Savage
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Comments

1
Ralph Reed's screed sounds like that of someone who hasn't actually studied slavery. Among the main arguments supporting slavery were that it was part of "traditional values" (slavery was a fact of history for thousands of years and the foundation of the South) and that Jesus never spoke against it (and that it was protected in the Ten Commandments "thou shall not covet ... thy neighbor's manservant or maidservant"). Traditional values and religious idiocy were why that holocaust lasted so long. Guess what other types of oppression those two factors are trying to do today?
delirian on June 23, 2014 at 12:26 PM Report this
2
It's not about same sex marriage. It's about making a cushy living from people stupid enough to give this guy their money. Because as long as he rants, he keeps the cash coming in.
Pope Peabrain on June 23, 2014 at 12:28 PM Report this
3
Many straight marriages are about slavery! Just ask the homemaker.
rshoff on June 23, 2014 at 12:30 PM Report this
4
The "because Baybeez" thing is doubly mendacious because the main purpose of anti-interracial marriage laws was precisely to prevent the births of mixed-race babies, who were seen as a threat to the racial privilege system and who were stereotyped as maladjusted and confused about their identity. The homophobic arguments about why gays shouldn't be allowed to raise kids - they'll be maladjusted and confused! - are the exact same arguments once made for why blacks and whites shouldn't make babies together.
Always east coaster on June 23, 2014 at 12:36 PM Report this
5
"The country, by the way, doesn’t agree with same-sex marriage," Reed concluded.

Ralph, stop reading the data the only syncs with your opinion. You make yourself look so stupid. The vast majority of the country is just fine with gay marriage. Not just your bigotribe.
skyweaver on June 23, 2014 at 12:38 PM Report this
6
Also, it doesn't matter which branch of government promulgates a particular policy. If some people are vehemently opposed to it, they will fight it with everything they've got, regardless of whether it came through legislation, executive order, court ruling, or public referendum. The people who hated the Dred Scott decision were the exact same people who hated the Fugitive Slave Law. No one ever truly cared that Dred Scott was a court ruling while the Fugitive Slave Law was an act of Congress. If you were against one, you were against the other one too.

Abortion and gay marriage are the same. No one truly cares which institution brings about a given policy, they just want their side to win, so they try to delegitimize institutions that are currently favoring the other side. The "unelected activist judges, boo" argument is a kitchen sink argument, floated not because the speaker actually cares but because they hope it will persuade others. Same for "minority rights shouldn't be up for popular vote."
Always east coaster on June 23, 2014 at 12:45 PM Report this
7
Celis is typical of a religious conservative. Being a Republican may correlate with his being so stupid, but it is his religion that makes him vain, arrogant, malicious and wilfully ignorant. He is so dimwitted as to imagine that religious officiation makes a marriage legal, which it does not. In every state, legal marriage requires that it be done by someone licenced by the state (who need not have any religious affiliation, and many who do this are secular Commissioners) and follow the forms set out in the state Marriage Act, regardless of any church doctrine. The character of the premises (if any) in which the marriage occurs is irrelevant.
Chris Vogel on June 23, 2014 at 12:59 PM Report this
8
Reed and Abramoff were so evil in Saipan where real slavery goes on, and the most horrific crimes, There is no reason why Ralph Reed should ever get out of prison, let alone be presented on TV as anything other than a disgrace.
auntie jim on June 23, 2014 at 1:01 PM Report this
9
"Social conservative activist..."

What are their rallies like? "What do we want? Social inequality!" "When do you want it? Actually, it's currently in effect."
themightywoozie on June 23, 2014 at 1:05 PM Report this
10
what a chimp.

homosexual "marriage" is not like slavery.

it is like polygamy.

speaking of relics of barbarism....
on June 23, 2014 at 1:06 PM Report this
11
The Dred Scott case works on multiple levels as a dogwhistle issue.

First, at heart the case was about disqualifying a whole category of people as human beings, let alone as citizens. This is why there is usually a strong tie between this and women's reproductive rights among some conservatives - our past national attitude toward slavery being tied to our present national attitude towards abortion.

It also works because the case is typically perceived by American historians as the incident that led to the creation of the Republican Party. So, rebellion by Republicans, which eventually led to rule. (It also feeds well into the "We're repressed, and we're morally correct on this issue!" meme.)

How Dred Scott links to same-sex marriage.... Frankly, I think Mr. Reed is being lazy. He's using a dogwhistle activist conservatives are comfortable with, adding "judicial activism" for spice, and hoping they'll get the blood boiling at appropriate levels.

palamedes on June 23, 2014 at 1:45 PM Report this
12
Dan, I am disappointed in you. OF COURSE there is information available on how Americans reacted to the Dred Scott decision. Granted, it was not the polling currently in use. But one need look no farther than Wikipedia (Wikipedia!) to see that most Americans did, in fact, disagree with the decision. As implied by the year of the case (March 1857), the decision was soon followed by the American Civil War (start date: spring 1860). As Wikipedia (Wikipedia!) states, "The decision would prove to be an indirect catalyst for the American Civil War." You can't get from court case to full-on war in three damn years without an existing strong polarization between conflicting sides (in this case, states for and against slavery).

As Palamedes points out, this *was* an important phase of Republican history. What today's Republicans fail to embrace is that at the time the Republicans were the left-wing party. The right wing was the Whig Party. Today's Republicans are the Whigs of yesteryear: the jerks standing in the way of rights for all people. And their habit of winding up gay rights, abortion, sex-phobia, and Abraham Lincoln's good intentions in a big ball of conflated nonsense serves no one.

But seriously, Dan... is it too much to ask for you to fact-check your statements before you post them? Here's the page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dred_Scott_…
Hi_It's_CIS on June 23, 2014 at 2:18 PM Report this
13
I doubt Reed actually supports the Loving decision.
fletc3her on June 23, 2014 at 2:20 PM Report this
14
@12--the Civil War started in the spring of 1861, not the spring of 1860.

I missed this question in a quiz bowl in the fifth grade, and I've never gotten it wrong again.
Clayton on June 23, 2014 at 2:34 PM Report this
15
It's sleight of hand, not slight of hand.
midwaypete on June 23, 2014 at 3:04 PM Report this
16
Dan, thank you for posting this. I always appreciate this kind of info being spread. We all need to know what the enemies are up to, and many Stranger readers don't necessarily read Towelroad, RightWingWatch.org, etc, so again - thanks for helping to get info out there about the hate mongers like Reed.

(Also, #15 is correct - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleight_of_…)
IndicaDogwalk on June 23, 2014 at 3:14 PM Report this
17
You're right, it was April 1861.

I took my own advice and checked Wikipedia. The exact dates are April 12, 1861 – May 10, 1865. (It was "Across Five Aprils," like the famous book says.)

I will never miss it again, either.
Hi_It's_CIS on June 23, 2014 at 3:24 PM Report this
18
Ralph Reed looks like Hitler's son...go ahead, part the hair and draw the 'stache...he's a dead ringer for the father of his ideals.

...and he's got a lisp.

...and he's a lying shit-stirring drama queen who lusts after power and attention.

...dig a little, and we're sure to find self-hate and/or a sociopath.

...dig enough, and we may find pics of him, Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell in some twisted positions in decades past.
on June 23, 2014 at 3:49 PM Report this
19
Gay marriage is like slavery...hell, ALL MARRIAGE is like slavery for that matter!
collectivism_sucks on June 23, 2014 at 5:09 PM Report this
20
@17. I remember because Lincoln was president. He was elected in 1860, but was not inaugurated until 1861. My fifth grade self didn't know what inauguration was.
Clayton on June 23, 2014 at 5:16 PM Report this
21
@9, themightywoozie: Yeah, absolutely, grin. Well put!

Gaudior on June 24, 2014 at 7:06 AM Report this

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