A Massachusetts same-sex couple intends to publish on their website the names and addresses of any Massachusetts voter who signs a petition to revoke gay marriage in that state.
Which, for some inexplicable reason, seems to be upsetting some gay rights advocates:
“If they really wanted to be helpful in protecting equal marriage rights, they can show their support by talking to people and sharing stories, not by putting up this silly, mean-spirited Web site,” said Marty Rouse, campaign director for MassEquality, a coalition of gay rights groups.
This is, of course, utter nonsense.
It’s quite simple, really. This is public information. The couple in question, and their website — KnowthyNeighbor.org — are just making the information slightly more public.
It was Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis who wrote “sunshine is the best disinfectant.” It was, perhaps ironically, Chief Justice William Rehnquist who wrote that one must “take the bitter with the sweet.”
There is nothing “mean-spirited” about de-hooding a Klansman. Their is nothing “mean-spirited” about working, legally and peaceably, for one’s equal rights and basic human dignities. There is nothing “mean-spirited” about a name-and-shame campaign; activists of every stripe do it all the time. Should the Congressional Record be classified? A petition is not the ballot box. What are you ashamed of?
There’s nothing “mean-spirited” about perfectly legal strategies used against perfectly despicable people. There is no right, indeed there can be no right, to “public anonymity.” There can be no right to “privately-public bigotry.”
The bigots started this, and now they’re upset that we’re trying to end it?
Too bad so sad…
More thoughts from Andrew Sullivan, Downtown Lad.
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5 responses so far ↓
Link FaerieWizard // Sep 10, 2005 at 7:06 pm
Something tells me the religious right isn't above releasing names of "sinners" and those who support them, which thereby makes them "sinners" too.
I'm pretty sure they've already done as much somewhere at some point in time
Link Modesitt // Sep 10, 2005 at 7:55 pm
FaerieWizard: I'm not sure if that smilie at the end is supposed to be sarcasm, but I can cite you the most famous example of them doing so: The Nuremburg Files. Or, as they put it on where the Nuremburg Files used to reside -
The Web Sites Above Have Been Censored. The List of Abortionists On This Web Site and the Live Cameras Posted Outside butchertoriums across the Nation Have Been Removed By the Federal Government of the USA Because It Deterred People From Aborting Unborn Babies, Thereby Depriving Satan of the Daily Allotment of Dead Babies Committed to Him by the Federal Government. Your Continuing Support of the Federal Government Made This Possible.
Or as another site put it -
Specifically cited was the website known as the Nuremberg files. The purpose of this website is to record those involved in the babykilling trade for future legal prosecution when this country returns to sanity and make the slaughter of the unborn the felony it should be.
Link KipEsquire // Sep 10, 2005 at 8:47 pm
Modesitt,
First of all, it's "Nuremberg," not "Nuremburg."
More importantly, to analogize knowthyneighbor.org to the Nuremberg Files is disingenuous. The right-to-lifers who created NF were directly and knowingly inciting violence in an attempt to stop what they considered to be an atrocity. One version of the site has graphics of dripping blood and promises links to "Horrible Pictures Smuggled From Baby-Butcher Lab!" Another version had lines drawn through the pictures of doctors who had been murdered by right-to-life zealots.
Knowthyneighbor.org is a mailing list, nothing more. No disturbing graphics, no histrionics, no calls for violence or bloodshed. If that changes, then let's discuss it at that time.
The targets of the Nuremberg Files are people who simply wish to practice their profession (as gruesome as it may be to some) in private. The voters to be listed at KTN.org are people going out of their way to be politically active.
I say again: a petition is not the ballot box, and there can be no such thing as a "right to be publicly anonymous."
Link Andrew1 // Sep 11, 2005 at 4:09 pm
People oppose gay marriage for a variety of reasons. One reason is due to religious beliefs. Should we just go ahead and post a list of all known Catholics? What about all known Jews or Muslims? Or better yet, since you think it is acceptable to post a list of people exercising their rights in the political process as part of a "Name and Shame" campaign, why not post a list of all known homosexuals as a "name and shame" campaign to encourage them to stop being gay?
Link dolphin // Sep 12, 2005 at 12:09 pm
Actually Andrew1, I think it would be completely acceptable to post a list of "all known homosexuals" who personally and intentionally sign a public form stating as much.
How can you sign a public petition, knowing that all petitions are a matter of public record, and then be upset because the PUBLIC information you KNOWING SHARED WITH THE PUBLIC was made public?
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