'Don't Blame Gays,' Activist Says

CNSNEWS.com ^ | 11/05/04 | Susan Jones

[kattracks]

(CNSNews.com) - The head of the National Gay and Lesbian Task force issued a statement Thursday, saying it's not fair or accurate to blame the homosexual agenda for the Democrats' defeat at the polls.

"Months ago, we all knew that if George Bush was re-elected, 'gay marriage' would be blamed. A scapegoat is required. Offer up the gays," Matt Foreman said.

His statement on the outcome of the 2004 election continues as follows:

"The right wing was indeed energized. I would be too if I shared their "values." The Bush Administration has catered to their every request and fed them tons of red meat -- abstinence-only-until-marriage 'sex education,' the 'Faith Based Initiative,' the ban on late term abortion, restrictions on oversees contraception programs, the ban on stem cell research, and yes, gay marriage.

"It's sickening and fascinating that when one in five voters said 'moral values' was the most important issue for them, pundits immediately equated that with gay marriage alone.

"Frankly, the right did a better job in turning out their vote in key places. They've been building their machine -- illegally, unethically, or both -- through churches for 30 years. They have seized and occupied "moral values" for years.

"Our side is not going to make up these deficiencies in one cycle.

But to pin all of this on 'the gays' is wrong. Don't buy it," Foreman's statement concluded.

Marriage issue mattered, some say

Some conservatives see it differently, however.

"The marriage issue was the great iceberg in this election," Robert Knight, director of Concerned Women for America's Culture & Family Institute, told The Washington Post. "Most people saw only the tip and didn't realize the great mass was affecting races all over the country, right up to the presidential contest."

Knight noted that Americans passed 11 amendments defending marriage, eight of which also reject civil unions as a form of counterfeit marriage.

"We anticipate working with the pro-family 109th Congress to pass legislation, including a federal constitutional amendment to settle the matter once and for all," he said.

'Backlash'

Likewise, a report from the Baptist Press examined whether the same-sex marriage issue handed President Bush the election.

"In hindsight, homosexual activists may have triggered a backlash that does their cause more harm than good," the report said.

Ohio's constitutional amendment banning same-sex "marriage" passed overwhelmingly -- 62-38 percent - "and apparently brought out thousands of Christian voters who either had never or rarely voted," the report said.

The report quotes Phil Burress, chairman of the Ohio Campaign to Protect Marriage, which helped get the amendment on the Ohio ballot.

"The credit for this has to go back to the Massachusetts Supreme Court, because if they had not ruled on same-sex 'marriage,' we would not have put this on the ballot," the Baptist Press quoted Burress as saying.

Burress said he's been trying to get church-goers to go the polls for years -- and "this year it resonated."

[Wonderama]

I agree with a lot this guy says. The gay marriage wasn't the only issue. Funny thought how the left is turning on their own.

[mlbford2]

I don't blame the gays. They were allowed to proceed with their radical agenda without challenge from the liberals. Even 'Slick' told Lurch to pull the brakes on these goons if he wanted to win.

[Naspino]

I keep envisioning the DNC as Humpty Dumpty all taped up -- with each piece belonging to one of their corrupt "anti-values" and one piece dropped on the ground allowing the yolk to pour out. That piece is Homosexual Marriage.

[Just mythoughts]

Matt Foreman what a name!

By the way put blame where it started, the Supremes making Sodomy a civil right and a group of judges giving rights they have no authority to give in that land of Mass.

Secularists hiding the Ten Commandments, and judges playing 'god' removing God from the pledge.

[HEY4QDEMS]

[canuck_conservative]

If this election proved anything, it's that the homosexual agenda is a vote-killer. Clear and simple.

If the Dems want to run on this issue again, more power to 'em - they're going nowhere.

[bahblahbah]

"Frankly, the right did a better job in turning out their vote in key places. They've been building their machine -- illegally, unethically, or both -- through churches for 30 years. They have seized and occupied "moral values" for years.

So I guess its ok when Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton pose with Democrats in black churches.

[anniegetyourgun]

I hope they run on the adult-child sex angle next time.

[Tall_Texan]

Personally, I think Bush's victory was a show of support for the war in Iraq. I don't think gay marriage got voters to the polls as much as knowing how vulnerable our troops would be under a Kerry presidency.

I vote every time so I don't understand the mindset of people who need a hot button issue to do so but, seems to me, the war was a greater motivator than homosexuality.

All these gay marriage laws are likely to be struck down by liberal judges anyway, much like other anti-gay laws and amendments have in the past.

[Kidan]

So I guess its ok when Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton pose with Democrats in black churches.

of course! you forget rules and whatnot only apply to conservatives.

[bayourod]

Democrats would have won the White House and recaptured both houses of Congress if only they hadn't lost votes because by embracing:

1. The homosexuals
or
2.The radical feminists
or
3. The Extreme environmentalists
or
4. The quota Blacks
or
6. The anti-business labor unions
or
7. The embryonic cell cloners
or
8. The anti-reform teacher unions
or
8. The anti-Iraq war peaceniks
or
9 The legalize drugs crowd
or
10. The Anti-Partriot Act terrorists sympathizers
or
11. The anti-Irsael/pro-Palestinian lobby
or
12. The plaintiff lawyers' bar

Stay tuned for the new Democrat Survivor's Show

[talosiv]

Looks like the "gay rights movement" is the next 'Jim Rassman' on the Democrats' swift boat.

-R

[eureka!]

"Moral Issues" was not just about gay marriage. It was also faith based initiatives, abortion and, most importantly, an honest candidate that could be trusted. The last got as many or more votes as the others, IMHO....

[stylin19a]

Frankly, the right did a better job in turning out their vote in key places. They've been building their machine -- illegally, unethically, or both -- through churches for 30 years. They have seized and occupied "moral values" for years.

Huh ???? The only politicians I saw in church pulpits were Rats.

[robertpaulsen]

Hah! And if Kerry had won, the National Gay and Lesbian Task force would be first in line taking credit for the victory.

[Recovering Ex-hippie]

I agree with you wholeheartedly and glad you posted. another voice of reason out there. I resent people telling me why I voted for Bush--whether they are Republicans or democrats. I voted for Bush because of his strong stand and actions against the war on terror, his conservative economic policies, because he and Laura are straightforward and I can trust what Bush says. I also voted AGAINST Kerry because he is an opportunist and a traitor, because he is an extreme liberal who is not pro-America and because I can't trust him.

I agree with Neal Boortz that the gay issue amendments are ridiculous. Leave everyone alone unless they affect MY or anyone's pursuit of life, liberty or property. No law should be enacted to take away another's rights. I also do not want others dictating to me Their version of Christianity nor do I want this country to become a fundamentalist christian nation.

This is my perspective.

[chiefqc]

And now showing on chanel 10, "The backbiting, finger pointing blood bath of the dumb-o-crat destruction".

[Sam the Sham]

In Ohio the pivotal state, Bush got 16% of the black vote. That jump is entirely due to the revulsion of blacks at seeing gay rights defined as a civil rights movement. It just might have been the margin of victory.

The overall issue of this election was a battle between those who want to make America politically, militarily, culturally part of Europe and those who don't. Gay rights mattered so much because it was the spearhead of a militant secularism which was determined to silence Christianity in American culture. It was a new front being openned up in the drive to use the judiciary to make America as godless as Europe. It mattered because the public saw what was coming next. ENDA. Rainbow Day at school and work. Suing into bankruptcy churches that refuse to perform gay weddings. A push to "recognize the sexual rights of children". "Hate crimes" legislation directed at Christians. Sodomite activists monitoring sermons and taking notes to denounce ministers who put the Word of God ahead of political correctness (In Europe its already happenning). The public saw what was coming and wanted it prevented.

[Tall_Texan]

In any election, it is customary for the fringe groups to claim *their* issue won the day and for the losers to claim that some repulsive issue from the other side won the day.

I'll have none of that.

The issue was George W. Bush's presidency, clear and simple. 51% of the country believed he deserved another four years. 49% did not.

The chief issue in that presidency was Iraq and terrorism (the same issue in my mind). What was all the talk about in the final week? What did the candidates focus on?

This wasn't a referendum on gays, abortion, taxes, immigration, health care, Israel, global warming or any of 100 other sidebars that might have motivated a small percentage to vote that otherwise wouldn't have.

The issue was whether George W. Bush should still be president and his presidency, like it or not, is ultimately tied to one's view on the war.

It is folly to claim that the nation was voicing their support for anything else.