In mid November, one of The Fruit's readers posted to a Napa website that, among other things regarding , listed local Napans and companies who donated in favor of the ban on same-sex marriage.
The Register wrote a front-page article about the site, including commentary that the list of donators is public information (anyways) in California but that the site was still controversial. Many readers reacted, including a mormon friend of mine who still doesn't see what good it does, and ironically said that efforts like this from gay allies and activists are wrongly deterring people from their right to vote and express their political opinions.
Here's the site: http://www.h8wallofshame.com/
Here's the article from Thursday's Register. (Make sure and check out the readers' reaction section at the end of the article which, as of this posting, include more than 200 comments)
What are your thoughts? Does it do good or harm to the cause of equality by highlighting such a list of donors?
Posts
Hate leads to hate. I think we're on the 4th or 5th volley now.
ReplyDeleteI’d encourage everyone to go see the movie "Milk". Harvey Milk stood up for what he believed in but his ultimate response was "they don't know us - let them get to know us" when confronted with the Briggs Initiative.
Is the kind of tactic used by the website really how we want to be known?
Is it better to drag someone else down (which usually means stooping to their level) or to show them the truth?
Am I angry about the Prop 8 result? Damn right I am!
Can the people who gave money to "Yes on 8" be convinced that they are wrong? - probably not, and certainly not through intimidation. It will only reinforce their fear and ignorance of us.
Let's take positive steps. Get out and be visible. Help the community. Show them (those that voted “yes” with their ballots and/or their money) that we are (both figuratively and actually) their mothers and fathers; their brothers and sisters; their sons and daughters; their aunts and uncles; their employers and employees; their neighbors and friends.
If we want to put an end to H8 then let's put an end to hate.
From Newsweek, 12/5/2008:
ReplyDelete"One reason that tolerance for gay marriage and civil unions may be on the rise is that a growing number of Americans say they know someone who's gay. While in 1994, a NEWSWEEK Poll found that only 53 percent of those questioned knew a gay or lesbian person, that figure today is 78 percent. Drilling down a bit more, 38 percent of adults work with someone gay, 33 percent have a gay family member and 66 percent have a gay friend or acquaintance."
Full article:
http://www.newsweek.com/id/172399