Welcome to the lunacy! There’s plenty of it to go around these days. Whether it may be a group of gays picketing in front of a movie theater whose owner contributed to support passage of Proposition 8 when that same theater is scheduled to show a gay positive film, or keeping tabs on misinformation being maliciously spread by organizations that profess to be pro-family. If we are going to be successful in attaining equal marriage rights in this country, we need to face our own demons and foibles as well as those who oppose us. And what better place to start than with a misguided picket line a couple weeks ago in Evanston, Ill.
My partner and I went to see “The Boy in the Striped Pajamas” at the Century Theatre in Evanston on Nov. 22, and outside was a crowd of picketers with signs proclaiming that the theater’s owner was some kind of anti-gay bigot. Time Out Chicago had a bit on the picket as well. I was confused about what the point was, especially after I saw a preview to the new Sean Penn movie “Milk.” It was through the TOC article that I learned that Alan Stock, the CEO of the Cinemark movie chain that owns the Century Theatre, donated $9,999 to support Prop 8 in California. So the protesters attract all this negative attention to a theater in Evanston managed by someone other than Stock and which will be showing a pro-gay movie. Nice move.
More silly tactical errors from well-meaning gays and the people who support us, such as what I wrote about at ChicagoPride.com. Boycotts are pointless. It’s money spent on an effective message that wins these things. Besides, how many other people went into the theater that night and saw the same preview for “Milk” as I did and wonder, what the heck are those people complaining about? A better strategy would be to stop calling our foes anti-gay or bigots or haters or whatever, and start identifying them as anti-marriage. That would be a twist in their panties! And besides, it’s true. I will be spending time explaining this concept in future posts.
My partner and I went to see “The Boy in the Striped Pajamas” at the Century Theatre in Evanston on Nov. 22, and outside was a crowd of picketers with signs proclaiming that the theater’s owner was some kind of anti-gay bigot. Time Out Chicago had a bit on the picket as well. I was confused about what the point was, especially after I saw a preview to the new Sean Penn movie “Milk.” It was through the TOC article that I learned that Alan Stock, the CEO of the Cinemark movie chain that owns the Century Theatre, donated $9,999 to support Prop 8 in California. So the protesters attract all this negative attention to a theater in Evanston managed by someone other than Stock and which will be showing a pro-gay movie. Nice move.
More silly tactical errors from well-meaning gays and the people who support us, such as what I wrote about at ChicagoPride.com. Boycotts are pointless. It’s money spent on an effective message that wins these things. Besides, how many other people went into the theater that night and saw the same preview for “Milk” as I did and wonder, what the heck are those people complaining about? A better strategy would be to stop calling our foes anti-gay or bigots or haters or whatever, and start identifying them as anti-marriage. That would be a twist in their panties! And besides, it’s true. I will be spending time explaining this concept in future posts.
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1 comment:
I don't feel one drop of sympathy for these boycott "victims". I guess gay Californians aren't good enough to marry, but the sure as hell ARE good enough to spend their dollars at your establishment. Convenient.
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