A cross-country bus tour sponsored by the National Organization for Marriage made a stop today in Raleigh for a rally on the steps of the old State Capitol building.  Supporter turnout totaled maybe 70 people, including national staffers, speakers, and Civitas employees --  pretty light for an event that’s been scheduled for weeks. 

Across the street, though, the turnout for a counter-protest was a lot better.  Supporters of same sex marriage outnumbered the NOM attendees by roughly three to one.  The state’s official gay rights organization, Equality NC, had nothing to do with it – they didn’t even know who was in charge of it.  In the end, three Facebook users and a handful of local bloggers mobilized a counter-protest far bigger than ENC has ever managed to date.   

The counter-protestors made it hard to hear the NOM rally speakers much of the time, even for someone like me who was close to the speakers and wearing headphones.  

NOM Executive Director Brian Brown told supporters he’s gotten used to being shouted down.  He says heterosexuals with traditional values are the true victims in the battle over marriage equality, targeted for hatred, suppression, and intimidation by radical gay and lesbian activists nationwide.   Brown says heterosexuals are losing their civil rights – through activist judges, through government non-discrimination clauses, and through attacks on their faith.

“When we see children as young as first grade being told that it’s the same thing for Jimmy to grow up and marry Johnny as it is to marry Mary, and that if their parents teach them otherwise, they’re bigots, is there a civil right at stake?  That is what we’re standing up for.  That is what this tour is about.”

Brown went on,

“It is even more critical given Judge Walker’s [CA Prop 8] decision that a vote is allowed on a state constitutional amendment defining marriage as one man and one woman in North Carolina. And we’re gonna do everything we can to support that effort.  Because we have to stand tall for a message to the Supreme Court of this country that we will not be silenced.” 

Here’s the audio of Brown’s intro today. The cheers you hear were the counter-protestors across the street, whooping as one driver after another honked support for marriage equality. 

Hot air?

The NOM rally may have been short on attendees, but not on hyperbole.  Concerned Women of America state chapter president Mary Forrester, wife of state Sen. Jim Forrester (R-Gaston), spouted one debunked statistic after another, apparently unaware that the “researchers” who advanced them have been thoroughly repudiated by real scientists more than a decade ago. 

Forrester was largely drowned out by the counter-protest, but the NC Christian Action League's Rev. Mark Creech had more success in out-shouting them.  He told the congregation (because that’s what it felt like) that nothing short of the future of Western Civilization is at stake in this debate.

"Five thousand years of  documented human experience demostrates clearly that same-sex relationships are inherently inferior to what God designed."

Creech neglected to mention that a healthy handful of member-nations of that proud tradition (Canada, Spain, Netherlands, Belgium, Norway, South Africa, Portugal, Sweden, Iceland, etc.) , having legalized gay marriage, are still on the face of the Earth, and most are  doing better than the US, too, at least in economic terms.

But the hyperbolic coup de grâce was Brown’s closing argument in which he compared NOM’s “marriage protection” movement not just to the English abolitionist William Wilberforce (that's been done before), but to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  You really have to hear this one live:

Reactions

The NOM rally wasn't short on clergy, but as it turns out, there were actually more ministers and clerical types across the street at the counter-protest. 

One was Rabbi B.Z. Jernigan from Hope Mills, an interesting character with richly colored robes and a pierced nose. His partner helped set up one of the Facebook groups that brought in all the counter-protestors.   As a person of faith, Jernigan says he's offended by NOM's use of faith to appeal to its supporters.

“Any time that religion is used to disseminate division, hate, disparity, oppression, it’s evil.  Doesn’t matter where it comes from.  Religion is a wonderful thing.  But you can’t use it divide people. You can’t use it to disseminate hatred.  That is anti-God.  And that is what NOM is about.”

Sarah Lugar was also at today’s rally, taking her lunch hour from her state job.

“I came out when I was 28, and frankly, I don’t think God discriminates. I don’t think God created me so I could be discriminated against.”

Lugar is hopeful Walker’s ruling could change the public dialogue about gay marriage.

“And I’m certainly excited about that. And I hope that we can get a momentum going across the country.  But it’s going to take a lot of work, a lot of rallies like this.” 

Michael Lester was standing next to Lugar.  He’s a salon owner in Raleigh, and a former minister.  He thinks same sex marriage rights will fare better in the courts than at ballot boxes. 

“They’re going to interpret the Constitution and they’re going to ensure equal rights to all citizens without responding to fear, responding to hate.”

It's about love

On the NOM side of the street, folks were a little less optimistic.  John Markham of Raleigh came early with a lawn chair and a bottle of ice water. He said he was disappointed by the turnout.

“Ma’am, I have a dream that the streets of all the cities would be full of people protesting this kind of mess.   So far I’ve not had the dreams fulfilled, but hopefully…. I pray for it everyday.” 

I asked Markham if he thought Walker’s Prop 8 ruling would change anything in North Carolina.  

“It shouldn’t.  That will be knocked down sooner or later.  It’s in the Bible that you don’t do that kind of stuff across the road.  I read the Bible, I pray every day.  It’s in the Bible, between a man and a woman.  It’s been that way since the beginning of time, probably.”

Brown and other speakers repeated over and over that their marriage campaign is about love, not hate or anger.  They even asked attendees to raise their right hand in loving prayer toward the gay marriage supporters across the street, a gesture with an unfortunate historical referent.   (For more on this, check out Josh Ellis's video here.)

Another attendee, David Hartman (top photo, center), jogged up a few minutes late, carrying a handmade brown cardboard sign declaring “Marriage = One Man One Woman” on the front, and “Straight Pride” on the back. He took a moment on his way in to make an obscene gesture into the camera of a counter-protestor who was filming the rally. 

Hartman stood next to me throughout the rally, and it was clear he was pretty fired up by it. He ended up in a couple of my photos, so afterward, I tried to interview him, along with AP’s Gary Robertson.

Hartman gave us his name and hometown (Raleigh), but declined to say where he worked or what his age was, offering only that he’s “proud to be straight” and that’s he’s passionate about defending traditional marriage. 

As it turns out, Hartman’s on Facebook here, talking about today's rally.   He also says he’s a Tea Party fan who's thought about giving the “fat gay dude” in his martial arts class a piece of his mind… or his elbow, or his knee. 

But remember, it’s not about hate or fear.  It’s about love. 

Just ask Brian Brown. 

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