When Majorities Rule

Jesus' General gives us a little history lesson.


(Photo via LA Times)

The Mormons

Mittens 2012.

They Pissed Wanda Off

Footage of Wanda Sykes at the buttseks rally.

via omg

Toothless

On Props 8, 2, etc. : Where was the HRC?

We've never been a fan, and today Sully succinctly sums up his disdain:

You will notice that the website of the biggest gay rights group in the country has one single mention - it's a blog about a celebrity, of course - of the massive protests that occurred for marriage equality across the country yesterday. (A letter from Joe Solmonese tells us to be nice.) You will also notice that a handful of young non-professionals were able to organize in a few days what HRC has been incapable of doing in months or years. You will know from brutal experience that in the two decades of serious struggle for marriage equality, the Human Rights Campaign has been mostly absent, and when present, often passive or reactive.

...They will argue that this was a state, not a federal, measure. Sure - but its implications were obviously national, as protests in almost every state revealed. They are supposed to have "expertise" - but the ads that ran in No on 8 were the usual fearful, focus-group driven, conviction-free pap. So in the biggest national struggle in the history of gay civil rights, this organization - which has vacuumed money from the gay community for years - were by-standers. Why is that not a scandal?

How many struggles do we have to wage with these people always, always failing to lead - before we demand accountability and reform? Losing a battle this important should mean, at least, the rolling of some heads. Or we have no accountability at all. What are we: the Bush administration?

The Day Gay People Did Stuff

Sodomists united today and held protests across the country. LA alone reported between 12 and 10k.

Sully's been keeping up with the action, with plenty of local reports.

Take this one from Tally:



A reader writes:

Just came from the protest in Tallahassee, where folks marched from the Westcott fountain in front of Florida State University through downtown Tallahassee to the old state capitol building. One official estimated the marching group at 350, which is pretty good for an uncharacteristically chilly day in FL. The state capitol sits at the intersection of two main streets in Tallahassee and as pastors and community leaders spoke from the capitol steps, marchers stood along the street with signs, enjoying the encouragement, cheers and honks of cars passing by. One elderly African-American man stood amid the protesters holding up a sign that read "Same Sex Marriage: Evil, Unholy," but he was the only counter-protester present.


Oh, and Wanda Sykes came out.

Judgement Day

Protests against bigotry are being organized across the country, scheduled for this Saturday.

Locally, there are 2 venues: Panama Shitty and Pcola.

We'll be in Pensacola because it's closer...and because Panama Shitty is a shit hole.

Liveblogging and video will be attempted...pending on alcohol comsumption before and after.

Prop 8: NEVER FORGET

The backdraft continues...as it should:

Utah's growing tourism industry and the star-studded Sundance Film Festival are being targeted for a boycott by bloggers, gay rights activists and others seeking to punish the Mormon church for its aggressive promotion of California's ban on gay marriage.

It could be a heavy price to pay. Tourism brings in $6 billion a year to Utah, with world-class skiing, a spectacular red rock country and the film festival founded by Robert Redford, among other popular tourist draws.

..."At a fundamental level, the Utah Mormons crossed the line on this one," said gay rights activist John Aravosis, an influential blogger in Washington, D.C.

"They just took marriage away from 20,000 couples and made their children bastards," he said. "You don't do that and get away with it."

Today's Godtube Moment

A re-post, but a refresher on what Mormos believe.

Stunning.

It's A Reckoning

Condsidering the Space Jesus money poured in to the successful Cali Prop 8 agenda, it's time for retaliation:

Gay people are fed up and have learned a thing or two about mobilizing themselves -- and not just for angry rallies. Some pro-Proposition 8 folks may come to regret their not so private support of hate. And were you thinking about skiing in Utah this year? Hmmm, Colorado's looking pretty appealing these days.

Yet somehow an economic boycott doesn't feel direct enough; those who team up against gay people must learn that there are consequences.

That's why we are seeking to strip the Mormon church of its status as a religious organization. According to IRS law, "no organization, including a church, may qualify for IRC section 501(c)(3) status if a substantial part of its activities is attempting to influence legislation (commonly known as lobbying)." [Emphasis added.]

Please join our efforts and show the world that gay people -- and their friends and families -- know how to hit back. Sign this petition to support the legal effort to strip the Mormon Church of its tax-exempt status.


Again, we reiterate... SIGN THIS PETITION

It's a reckoning :

Black Community Lynches Equality

Prop 2 here in Florida was going to pass no matter what.

However, new numbers in California show that Prop 8 passed with the aide of higher black turnout:

A few people seem to be interested in whether or not the black vote was decisive.

If the following standard analysis assumptions are true the answer is probably a very close ‘no’, but at least one of the assumptions seems very possibly false and with other fairly likely assumptions the answer looks like a ‘yes’.

My assumptions are:

1. that the vote among black people was as reported (69% Yes on 8).

2. that black people make up 6.7% of the CA population

3. that black people represented a share of the votes equal to their share of the population

I further assume that 8 passes with 52% which seems the likely number at this point.

Given each 1000 voters, black people in CA represent 67 of them.

There are 520 Yes votes and 480 No votes for each 1000.

At 69%, Black voters voted 46 Yes and 21 No for each 1000.

If they voted like White voters (55% No) they would have voted 31 Yes votes and 36 No votes.

That would make the final tally 505 Yes and 495 No votes. (50.5% to 49.5%). [numbers very slightly rounded]

But this analysis is VERY sensitive to assumption #3. It appears that black people in CA may have voted in a greater share than that of their representation of the population. Right around 10% of the vote.

That would mean that given each 1000 voters black people in CA represent 100 of them.

At 69% Yes on 8 that would be 69 Yes and 31 No for each 1000. If they had voted like White voters they would have voted 45 Yes and 55 No. That would make the final vote equal 496 Yes and 504 No (proposition loses 49.6% to 50.4%).

Interestingly, at the 10% vote share level, if a small majority of black people voted against the measure it would have lost (49% Yes, 51% No gives the measure a loss at 49.9%).

Basically, if the black voter share is 10% or higher, the black vote difference from the white vote made the difference so long as the final total is at or below 52%. And if the black voter share is any higher than 10%, it made the difference even if black voters had only split 50-50 instead of the 45-55 shown in white voters.

Bruno Crashes Prop 8 Rally

Link:

VGL On Prop 8

via Jeffery Self