Madison, Wisconsin, is one of the most liberal towns on this planet. I hope Brian Brown and Maggie Gallagher weren’t actually surprised by what happened when they pulled the hate bus into town. The NOM Tour Tracker reports:
…a hand-counted crowd of 466 pro-equality supporters, my friends. Four hundred and sixty-six. Easily the biggest crowd yet!
NOM’s side? Arisha counts 54.
(…)
Poor Brian. Just as he and his family decided to re-join the tour, NOM was met with its largest equality counter-demonstration to date. 466 equality activists marched down the streets of Madison and up the steps of the State House to greet a decent-sized crowd of NOM supporters – relative to their other tour stops – that at one point reached 54 people.
Nonetheless, the massive upstaging of NOM couldn’t go by without a little spin from NOM’s speakers.
“Thank you all for coming,” Julliane Appling , a representative from Wisconsin Family Action began. “[We hoped our turnout would be larger], but our people actually have jobs.”
Maggie and Brian both cheered.
Ha ha, that’s great. When confronted by the fact that hordes of young people support love and equality, they’re forced to apologize for the absence of the chairborne shut-ins who support them by making pathetic comments about how all their people are “at work.” Riiiiiight.
Picture evidence:
There are lots more pictures at the above link, as well as one of Maggie Gallagher glomping her be-purpled body all over a podium, surrounded by her three biggest fans and some guy who just happened to be passing through the area. What adorable failures!
[h/t Timothy Kincaid]
Tags: Bigotry, Brian Brown, equality, hate, Madison Wisconsin, Maggie Gallagher, National Organization for Marriage, nom, NOM hate bus8 Comments »
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Mags has fans?
Really?
How low would your self-esteem have to be to look up to her?
Comment by Bill S — July 27, 2010 @ 3:59 pm
My big problem with body counts is this:
Wisconsin’s constitutional ban against marriage equality is firmly established, because these large crowds of equality supporters don’t translate into political power. While the state legislature has allowed very limited civil unions, the enthusiasm of Madison progressives isn’t representative of statewide sentiment about marriage.
We have similar problems in Indiana and other states with constitutional bans: Crowd counts don’t measure current or near-future political influence. NOM doesn’t need large turnouts to successfully promote bigotry, especially among churches.
If you count the number of people who attend antigay churches every Sunday in Wisconsin, those body counts will be far larger than that of the Madison equality supporters.
Comment by Michael Airhart — July 27, 2010 @ 4:11 pm
I don’t mean to rain on Madison’s party. It’s a great city with great people. I’m just trying to be realistic about the bigger picture.
Comment by Michael Airhart — July 27, 2010 @ 4:18 pm
I am truly heartened by the large numbers of Marriage Equality supporters who were in attendance today and who have been making their presence known at all the NOM rallies. I would hesitate to say that the lack of bodies at their rallies translates to lack of actual support. These people are very afraid to publicize their bigotry, they prefer to vote or donate or sign petitions in secrecy (and object when these signatures/donations are lawfully made public). At the beginning of the NOM’s Summer Tour of Empty Places, bus driver Martinelli’s blog was open to all, but the only supportive postings he got were anonymous. So he made it by registration only. Surprise, all of the supporters disappeared. (Now its by invitation only and surprise! I wasn’t invited).
I’m glad that Brian and Maggie’s fans have jobs, that way they can continue to fund Brian and Maggie’s chosen lifestyles (eating and driving around the country).
Comment by Christopher Mongeau — July 27, 2010 @ 4:33 pm
It’s all about image, though, Mike. We’ve reached a point where it’s not socially acceptable in many places to express anti-gay hatred. That DOES translate to votes. When they still had the momentum on their side, it was a different situation. The fact that they can’t get more than 50 people anywhere they go is extremely revelatory because it shows that, while there still may be many people who would vote for a marriage ban, those numbers are dwindling every day, and the fervency of their support is dying out.
Comment by Evan Hurst — July 27, 2010 @ 4:37 pm
Michael, I’m glad you’re hear to pop everyone’s balloon. How dare we celebrate a good turnout opposing NOM when everything isn’t perfect. Whether this translates into any actual change or not there is the possibility that it will energize the people who attended.
Comment by db — July 27, 2010 @ 4:39 pm
db, it wasn’t my intent to dampen anyone’s enthusiasm.
I am simply concerned that many bloggers are focusing way too much on crowd counts at NOM tour stops, to the exclusion of more important measures.
I’m grateful to Fair Wisconsin and the Courage Campaign for all that they’ve done to counter the NOM tour.
Comment by Michael Airhart — July 27, 2010 @ 5:03 pm
We still love you Michael. :-)
Comment by Gary (NJ) — July 28, 2010 @ 10:58 am