Submitted by Mike Tipping on September 4, 2009 - 7:34am
WCSH's Vivien Leigh visits the headquarters and provides a snapshot of both sides of the equal marriage campaign:
Gay marriage opponents continue to push for public debates on the issue, which they obviously feel would be a good forum for their arguments. A podium to podium match-up would steer the contest towards a dry policy discussion and away from the kind of powerful and effective personal appeals from equal marriage supporters like those seen at the bill's public hearing and in their TV ads.
Interesting to see a gay
Interesting to see a gay marriage supporter admit that your side is better off if people vote by emotion and do not spend much time actually thinking about public policy.
Ha!
If it were a straight debate over policy it wouldn't be a question.
The problem isn't one of facts but of focus. In a debate, the anti-marriage side gets to tell lies about indoctrinating children in school or forcing churches to marry gay people and shift the focus away from the real people that are actually affected by the law.
They tried the same thing at the bill hearing. It's a good thing the heads of the Maine psychological and pediatricians associations were there to rebut them and support the law.
I'm a bit surprised you're on the other side of this one. What's your policy-based reasoning?
Even in a debate, S4MM would
Even in a debate, S4MM would try to bring up all the emotional arguments - their entire campaign is based on fear.
That these myths would be easily refuted by supporters of equal marriage will not keep them from using them. Look at Emrich's recent opinion piece in the BDN - same-sex marriage will eventually lead to our extinction or something.