War against gays has been won

[Strathos]

I guess with all the decisions from courts around the country and the animosity that is being displayed the republican's war on homosexuals has definitely worked and we are now going back to the mentalitiy of the 1950's.

I guess no one really cares enough to do anything.

What's next? Will this country become mandatory Christian and just keep getting worse or is there a political or religious leader that will have the balls to change it?

I'm feeling mighty hopeless.

[soothsayer]

1. Feh! We're still here, honey. This too shall pass.

[EFerrari]

2. They can never win the war because they need it. And time is

on the side of sane people.

:hi:

[Totally Committed]

3. Please don't give up hope.

I don't believe it's "over" yet at all. It took decades after LBJ signed the Civil Rights Act for things to start to move for the cause of racial equality (and it's STILL far from accomplished!!!)

We just have to keep nominating AND ELECTING the most forward-looking Liberals we can, because the public tends to move with a current government more than against it. (As we have all seen with the Bushies bringing this country to the Right.)

Chin up... I still believe better days may still be ahead for ALL Americans.

TC

[cali]

4. Don't get down.

They aren't winning. And they won't win. They're on the losing side of history.

[ForrestGump]

5. Who won?

I haven't been keeping up with the news in quite a while...too busy and, besides, I tend to take long breaks from the depressing stuff going on in our world.

I'll gladly join the Gay Underground resistance movement (as long as "don't ask, don't tell" covers my problematic straightness).

As it is, things could always be worse...and they have been. They may get better yet, if this country survives the neocon onslaught. It's been a long, long six years already... :-(

[MuseRider]

6. Don't feel hopeless

get to work. We are and things are happening, opinions are moving and people are joining. It is a lot of work but with a little effort it can be done anywhere.

Edit to add: This is what we have accomplished in less than one year. http://www.kansasequalitycoalition.org/

[marmar]

7. Don't...

They've won battles...but not the war.
I'm sure at one point in the civil rights movement, it felt the same way for African Americans living under legal segregation. And in countries like the Netherlands and Belgium, I would imagine gays and lesbians felt the same way at one time.

[salin]

8. Frankly, I think the Religious Right has ironically shifted public

opinion on the issue. Go back several years to the time when Civil Unions were upheld in Vt. General public opinion, across the country, was less than supportive. There was little difference in polls in the number of folks who were against Gay Marraige, and who were against Civil Unions.

Flash forward a few years to when the Religious Right decided that this was "the" issue to push (via referendums around the country) in order to drive voter turnout. While they (radical religious right) had some successes on ballots... public opinion started dividing up - the strident message from the right, hit a good portion of the public as, well, unreasonable - and suddenly there was a great deal more support for Civil Unions. I believe that a small majority now supports the idea of civil unions - or if not yet, the number is growing.

I recognize that the two issues are not the same. That is not my point. My point is that the public opinion - in great part due to the stridency and rigidity of the religious right - has significantly shifted. Now the 'common sense' or 'conventional wisdom' of much of the population - especially for younger voters - has shifted in favor of civil unions ala ... "sure, why not?" In the long run, that shift is significant. While we are not there yet, I do expect that over the coming years local/state laws will increasingly reflect the view of the population and will become more liberal. I also believe that the great irony in the shift and coming (imo) reality - will have been brought not by the alleged (and thus vilified by Robertson/Fallwell/Dobson etc.) so-called "homosexual agenda" folks, but instead will be a direct result of the ridiculous and radical views pushed into and through the political arena by the religious right.

It is hard, in the short term, to try to see a growing trend that appears to be in the opposite direction of the short term progress being made by the radical religious right. However, imo, the indicators (in terms of shifting public opinion, and overall voter and public fatigue - which is also growing - with the theocratic tendencies of the religious right) suggest that the tide is slowly turning - and that the longer term view is much more promising.

That is not to say that I am suggesting a "wait and let things take their course" view. I am not suggesting any thing in terms of what should be done. I am instead only commenting upon what I perceive to be an ironic (given the use of the poisonous rhetoric from the religious right) shift in the landscape of public perception.

[dsc]

9. It is easy to overestimate the results of some boneheaded

strategy. We are winning the public opinion battle which is huge. While it takes longer to win victories by legislation than through friendly courts the victory tends to be more permanent. Frankly, if Democrats win in 2008, we will have federal ENDA and hate crimes barring some very bizarre bad luck. That will free the many of us who are afraid of economic retaliation to speak out. That, in turn, will lead to an increase in our popular support. That might turn the tide in some close states to marriage or civil unions.

[nevergiveup]

10. Keep the faith

They will only win if we let them. Watch the polls.....even though progress is slow they are encouraging. Just among my group of straight friends I have seen astonishing progress in the past few years. My 25 yr old non-political straight son asked me here while back "why would anyone want to deny two people in love their dignity"? I thought it was a good question. Hang in there, Strathos. You will soon be free.

[JCMach1]

11. welcome to Sexual Apartheid...

:(

[JerseygirlCT]

12. Time is against the homophobes.

The newer generations don't see this the same way that the older people do. Equality WILL happen. It will.