My principal fear if the anti-gay amendment goes forward after tomorrow is that we will see an increased prevalence of sexual orientation-based hate crimes. There’s a documented link between shrill anti-gay rhetoric of the sort the marriage controversy inspires and the incidence of hate crimes. And the debate over same-sex marriage has become uglier than ever in the weeks since the Nov. 9 ConCon.
The GLBT community is very vulnerable. Romney shut down prevention programming and efforts to improve law enforcement against hate crimes during his disastrous term in office. Police and even progressive activists act as though gays don’t face the same dangers we used to, but hate crimes experts know the potential for serious violence is rife in the current political climate.
Deval isn’t going to make homophobia go away on Thursday, but he can breathe new life in efforts to counteract hate crimes at the state and local level. But GLBT activists can’t persuade him alone. This issue never seems to get much attention on this web site. I’m wondering how much support for taking a tough line on hate crimes we’ll get from the process liberals who have clamoured for a vote on banning gay marriage.
So much of what you say is true, I regret to have to dislike this post.
<
p>
I’m sick to death of seeing good pro-gay-marriage progressives get bashed on this site by people who completely misunderstood the principles involved.
<
p>
Gay marriage doesn’t get enough attention on this site? Give me a f-in’ break! Half the diaries are about it (as it should be right now, given that there’s important crap going on right now on the subject). But please spare me your injured schpeal, because it’s not only unproductive, it’s completely wrong.
<
p>
I agree that the hate-filled rhetoric of these anti-gay-marriage losers might have an effect on the haters’ degree of violence against gays, and a productive discussion of this would be great, but not if it’s simply a chance for you to drag out a badly-begun grudge you’re unable to let go of.
I’m sorry not to have been more clear in my posting. Gay marriage gets too much attention in my view, and that’s hardly the fault of Blue Mass. Group. My concern is that fighting against hate crimes, which go with the marriage territory in particular, should be a higher priority for progressives who are willing to risk a referendum. ‘Cause the overheated rhetoric eggs on the bashers. I don’t mean to cast any aspersions on fellow supporters of same-sex marriage; that support means a great deal to me as a gay man.