In this Weekly Standard piece “The New Blacklist”, a painter, Maureen Mullarkey, tells from her point of view what it’s like when the tolerant folks with class power decide support for marriage itself is a form of bigotry, akin to racism. (i.e. They make it clear they want to hurt and if they can figure out a way to do so, they will):
In November, the San Francisco Chronicle published the names and home addresses of everyone who donated money in support of California’s Proposition 8 marriage initiative. All available information, plus the amount donated, was broadcast. My name is on that list.
Emails started coming. Heavy with epithets and ad hominems, most in the you-disgust-me vein. Several accused me, personally, of denying the sender his single chance at happiness after a life of unrelieved oppression and second-class citizenship. Some were anonymous but a sizable number were signed, an indication of confidence in collective clout that belied howls of victimhood. New York’s Gay City News asked for an interview because I was “one of only four New Yorkers who contributed more than $500.”
I ignored the request, trashed the emails, and forgot about them. But the West Coast bureau chief of the New York Daily News did not forget.
One night in early February, I drove home to find two cars, two men, waiting for me, unannounced, in the dark. Reporters for the Daily News, they were publishing a story on me and Prop 8 the next day and wanted a live quotation. . .
Note: I know that many gay-marriage advocates (and gay people in particular) would be appalled at the kind of tactics described in Maureen’s story. But to many marriage supporters, this is what your movement looks like right now.
You can see Maureen Mullarkey’s paintings, here.